New-York daily tribune., 1858-09-21
4 SUMNER CRUISE on THE COAST or
NEH ENGL1ND..~L
Corre.I.r S.Ie. q TIE y I. TateBe.


duh and cloudy, and my companions, exhausted BY
the fatgues Of the previous evening were IN 10
hurry 70 get up. AZ seven, The seamen came on
board and got ready our breakfast, consisting
mainly of the Goldfish We had captured Yesterday
The old pilot had selected three Of these t-h 70
cook, throwing the rest overheard. ! noticed that
be- selected them with care, and without any refer
ence 10 size. ssked him Why be picked out those
three in particular He replied that they were
the best-much the be-, Of the lot He could not
tel why. exactly. He judged by the look-by tue
shape. Some cod Here loey. heavy. dull others
were lively .prghily. These lat were best for
food, though all cod were good eating. HI. ex.
planation reminded me Of the New England
prOyerb Al desc0Ds are good. but there odds
IN descOns.'
At : o'clock We made sail for Shrowdens Bank,
noted fishing place nine miles distant. We took
our last look at Swampscot, whose name by the by.
j. Indian, though apparently compounded OF two
familiar English words. II was once iay0rlte re-
sort oi the Indians. and the site of one Of their
villages. The tribe by whom II was inhabited were
called AbergOnlans aud at the time OF the settle
ment of the colony they were governed by
sduaw sachem.' From 1854 - 164l, swamp
scott va. occupied a. farm by Sir John HumPh-
For more than two centuries Il was part al
Lynn. remember II ten or twelve years ago as =
small, dirty fishing village, romantcally situated,
with succession Of picturesque caves, beaches and
rocky points. The Summer .oi0urners az Nshant
fond Of visiting it as a drol, queer place very
hhe.the Scotch fishing village described In The
Antiquary. Now, il is fourishing populous
town-clean and neat, its houses universally
respondent with white paint. and IL bcache. lined
with the most elegant seaside mansions in the State.
We anchored on Shrowdens Bank, and began
fishing with cod lines. with pound of lead for
snker We balted with hardheads. and caught in
a few minutes twenty or thirty Goldfish averaging
about three pounds weight The pilot and the
skpper expected here 10 catch hsiDut, which they
evidently regarded as the greatest of prizes. AZ
length | hooked something Of greater size and
vigoT than anything We had yet taken. Observing
the force with which ii resisted capture the sea-
men watched with eagerness its arrival At the sur
face in the hope that il might be hallbut. IL
proved tO be- catfish, or w0lt-hsh. or seawolf, "a
il is sometimes called. 1t was hIdeous looking.
black and Shiny monster ~ inches long by IL
wide weighing 10 ft. The head was large, fiat on
top. aud blunt al the snOut; the jaws filed with
long thick k-pointed teeth, with which the creature
snapped ferOclOusly whenever We touched him.
These jaws have great strength, and our fishermen
handled their owner very cautiously. They shook
their heads with marked disgust at o proposal 10
COOK tHe bUlInhl LOT dinner; Yet Ut. StoTtT >
the catfish Is excellent food. He la. had il upon
his own table, and found it, when boiled, very del
icate and palatable. The flesh, when smoked, IL
said t. have the favor of salmon. IL Is caught as
far south az ROckaway Beach on Long Island, and
abOunds high northern ATTITUDES, where II attains
the length of SIX or eight feet
Half an hour afterward hooked another catfish,
OF such size that when ! attempted 10 lift him over
the vessels side the stout codline broke and h. es
capped.
The Assyrian, seated comfortably at the stern Of
the slOop, with his inyariable cigar in his mouth.
was sziy pulling up the occasional cod or haddOck
flat We're accommodating 10 fix themselves
on hs hook, when suddenly he started to his feet
exclalming-
i've got habut now. / think"
We all gathered round him as with surprising
animation, he pulled in bis line, of which he had
out a great quantity, the tide having carried it
away from the vessel. 4 brief observation of the
process of hauling in satisfied the old pilot. He
stepped back TO his own line, saying, " You've got
no hallbut there.
1t was evidently, however, large fish of some
sort, and in time arrived at the surface. On catch
ing sight of it the Assyrian paused, if paralyzcd
with astonlshment.
What in tophet i this ," he muttered.
Lift il up" said the Artist and let u look
at IT,"
The Assyrian reluctantly complied. Ii was
frehtful spinous, blood-red creature, about two
feet long.
A sea Raven" said the Professor.
The old pilot laughed. "You may call il a sea
raven but lis sculpin-a deep water sculpin."
$50 il is" rejoined the Professor, " but there
many kinds of sculpin, and the books call this
one the sea raven"
The Professor then took the dory and rowed
away from the sloop about one-elghth of a mile,
" here he fshed for half an hour, apparently with
I'm a id,a No hell
up TO inspection-a beautiful rose-cOored fish
about eight inches in length.
What do You call that - he inquired of the
pilot.
- | call that humdruCgan.'
- hemdurgan " said the Professor, repeating
the word as DIR. Storer spells il.
mo, humdruggan,' persisted the old fisher
man, 4" that's what have always heard il called
a hum-drug gan.
It was Norway hsddock The fishermen call
il rose fish," "red sea perch, and snapper.
Ii is rare fish on our coast, and seldom eaten
when taken: though on the Coast OF Norway,
where il is caught plenlfuly II is fayOrite article
of food, being considered great delicacy. In the
dcep bays on the southern coast of Greenland II Is
caught i'm great numbers, in the way that the Pro-
G.s.or caught il. on bsted hooks attached 10 long
lines 1t has spiues on the head which the
Greenlanders use for needles The greatest length
of the Norway hsddock is two feet. II is caught,
though rarely believe, as isr south a. New-lork.
The pilot and the skipper both expressed good
deal of dread of this handsome and apparently
harmless fish. They considered the spine poison
Gus. and the skipper related several instances in
which he had known persons 10 be dangerously
wounded by handling H. The professor pooh
poobsd at these stories though il was possible he
said. that wound made by the sPines OF the fish
might become badly inhamed, as was often the
case with wound, made by the claws of a cat, or
the teeth of rat.
The Artist, who was fishing from the side OF the
vessel. now called ont that he had got halibut.