t so rigged would seem; but the New England
seamen became so expert in handling them that they took them to all of the
fishing banks, and even made cruises to the West Indies with cargoes of
fish, bringing back molasses and rum. A development of the Chebacco boat
was the pink, differing only in its rig, which was of the schooner model.
But in time the regular schooner crowded out all other types of fishing
vessels. In 1882, the members of the Fish Commission, studying the
frightful record of wrecks and drownings among the Gloucester and
Marblehead fishermen, reached the conclusion that an improved model
fishing boat might be the means of saving scores of lives. The old model
was seen to be too heavily rigged, with too square a counter, and
insufficient draught. Accordingly, a model boat, the "Grampus," was
designed, the style of which has been pretty generally followed in the
fishing fleet.

[Illustration: ON THE BANKS.]

Such a typical craft is a schooner of about eighty tons, clean-cut about
the bows, and with a long overhang at the stern that would give her a
rakish, yacht-like air, except for the evidences of her trade, with which
her deck is piled. Her hull is of the cutter model, sharp and deep,
affording ample storage room. She has a cabin aft, and a roomy forecastle,
though such are the democratic conditions of the fishing trade that part
of the crew bunks aft with the skipper. The galley, a little box of a
place, is directly abaft the foremast, and back of it to the cabin, are
the fishbins for storing fish, after they are cleaned and salted or iced.
Nowadays, when the great cities, within a few hours' sail of the banks,
offer a quick market for fresh fish, many of the fishing boats bring in
their catch alive--a deep well, always filled with sea-water, taking the
place of the fishbins. The deck, forward of the trunk cabin, is flush, and
provided with "knockdown" partitions, so that hundreds of flapping fish
may be confined to any desired portion. Amidships of the bankers rises a
pile of five or six dories, the presence of which tells the story of the
schooner's purpose, for fishing on the Grand Banks for cod is mainly done
with trawls which must be tended from dories--a method which has resulted
in countless cruel tragedies.

The lives of the men who go down to the sea in ships are always full of
romance, the literary value of which has been fully exploited by such
writers of sea stories as Cooper and Clark Ru