Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1857-09-03
Edi,orinI CorrespOndence.

paddock, including funny, or horse mackerel'
weighing about hundred pounds which Char
ley, the cook, had captured the first thing after
breakfast, not, however, without sOmel assist
ance from his comrades Each fish was taken up
separately, and ripped open with sharp knileby
one mAn, who passed him TO another, who tore
out the bowels and, after reserying the lyers for
the purpose of extracting the oil, threw the fish
nto large tub upon deck, and the offal into an
other. The large tub wa, speedily filled with sea
water, aud, after thorough rinsing, the fish were
assorted and passed into the hold, which was, in
fact. great refrigerator where they
slowed in layers with pounded ince above and
below The work expeditiously performed,
and it not long before the dories abroad
again, "bobbing around" upon the waves, while
two Of the crew and myself were hauling in the
new customers over the vessels side. So passed
the day, until the sun descended, when the dories
again returned, unloaded the fish as before, and
all hands went into the cabin for supper. Our
tea served in large yellow mugs. Each was
provided with huge iron spoon with which to
stir it, and although we had plenty of sugar, there
was no milk Our bread was excellent, and we
had in addition thereto some nice huckleberry
cake. CelQOfnJ II ever, nave enjoyed meal
better, whether at home or elsewhere.
After tea the afternoon catch was " iced up,"
in the manner which have described, a quiet
game of whist was INDUCED in by four of the
party, and then all hands to bed except the watch
upon deck, which set at nine o'clock, and so
arranged that each man should take spell of an
hour and quarter upon deck, in regular sue.
oession, leaving him the rest OF the night for
sleep. But no dreams visited my slumbers on
this night, as the one previous. l had had
fishing enough for one day, and was fairly tired
out. My fingers were cramped, my hands were
swollen, and my back ached, as l used to sup
pose, when a school-boy, the dorsal column of Mr..
Hneas ached, when from the flames of Troy,
upon his tired shoulders, he bore his old grand.
father Anchses.
After bestowing myself in the half of the bunk
allotted to me, and duly considering whether my
strength would hold out to the end Of the cruise,
in case l should put in as hard on the morrow,
tried to moralize upon the general subject of
catching fish, and to solve in my own mind the
question, why it is that all mankind with only
here and there exception, love to angle, either
for great fish or small. 1t certainly is not from
the motive of profit, for your millionaire who has
his thousands to give away, will sometimes angle
for half day, expose himself to wet feet in
quagmires, and run the risk of being eaten up by
mosquitoes, for one poor little trout, which he
will give to his cat when he returns home. 1t
certainly is not for exercise, for no man could
take such pleasure in pulling rock out of water,
attached to so long line as to be willing to
repeat the experiment. And it certainly is not
from love of inficting torture upon things be-
meath him, for no man ever had kinder heart
than old Izaak Walton, a keener appreciation
of all that is tender lovely, and beautiful.
had progressed thus far in the proem of the
discussion proposed to have with myself, when
weary Nature asserted her preTogatiye, and was
asleep. Next morning at daylight, the sails were
again set, the anchor weighed, and we shift
ed our location to another part of the fishing
ground, and in this we we're fortunate, for we
found the fish plentier and larger, and rapid pro-
gress was made in filling up. At dinner time,
when the dories came in, and each fisherman had
emptied .hiz "catch" upon deck, the pile doomed
up to such an extent that the skipper declared
his purpose to take advantage of the fair wind
that then prevailed, and run for Boston, expect
ing, as he said, il the breeze held, to be at the
wharf in season for the Saturday morning mar.
ket. Among the fish we had taken were five fine
halibut, one of which weighed nearly hundred
and fifty pounds, and quite a number of Goldfish
that weighed from thirty to sixty pounds each.
After bountiful dinner of baked halibut and
hasty pudding, all hands went to work with
will, in cleaning and icing up, after which lines
were reeled dories taken on board, surplus bait
thrown over, the decks washed, anchor weighed
and sails hoisted, and we headed for home. With
fair breeze, and steering west-Southwest, we
made the land in the lofty hills of Cape Ann, at
about four o'clock, and by seven we were pretty
well up with the Eastern Point lighthouse.
Deeply laden as she was with the lumber we had
picked up, and the fish we had caught, our little
vessel SKINNED the water like bird and it was
pleasing to me to notice that we outsailed every
thing in the Bay, whether " fore and-aft" or
"square-rigged." And in this was to be seen the
great advantage of the build and rig of these lit
tie craft, which capacitates them for fast sailing
and encountering the toughest weather.
With market fisherman, time is everything,
for it often happens that detention of a few
hours, either from calms or head-winds, loses
good market, and SO reduces very materially the
receipts or profits of the trip. On our way home
we spoke several mackerel fishermen in the Bay
who had been cruising for that excellent fish, but
had found none. We also saw several vessels at
anchor, but few miles off the Cape, which were
denominated "hakers by our skipper and his
crew. The term being a new one to me. inquiry
was made to the meaning of such designa.
tion, and l was told that there was a class of
shore-fshing vessels, exclusively engaged in
catching hake-a large, coarse-grained fish, which
at some seasons very abundant upon the
coast, and which bite mostly in the night. These
shakers" are, like the market fishermen, seldom
absent more than few days at time, and after
sailing down the scatch Of several successive
nights, they return home to various harbors
about the Cape, land their fish to be dried upon
the shore, and start again for new supply.
After a delightful sail Of about twelve hours,
our little vessel entered Boston harbor, and, at a
few minutes past eleven o'clock, we we're safely
made fast at the end Of Commercial Wharf, and
my first trip-but hope not the last-with
Swampscott fisherman, was ended.
But had not seen all that desired to see, or
learned all that wished to know, about the bus
mess, and so concluded to stay aboard until
morning, for the purpose of seeing how such
cargo would be disposed Of
by twelve O'Clock all hands were turned in,
and the heavy snoring of NV cnmnan;on illps,ra.