THE COAST OF BERWICKSHIRE. 221 



Aei the nets nro shot, part of the net next tho boat is pulled up ami 

 drawn in, to KOO whether any herrings are going in. Those found in it 

 are taken out, and the not and swing let out again. By clearing 1 hi 

 |M.iti<>n of the nrt, il'more fish are found in it when they look ng:iin. 

 ihi'\ know olf which place they have taken the net. When the fish- 

 not very abundant, if tho nets keep clear, this is the only por- 

 tion examinrd, which is done several times till the morning, when 

 tho whole are drawn in, in order to go on shore. The abundance 

 of herrings sometimes renders it necessary to draw in tho nets al- 

 most immediately after they are put into the water. They pull in 

 tln-ir nets and change their berth when the nets take the ground, or, 

 by tho irregularity of tho tide, are drawn together into a body, or 

 when the nets of another boat drive upon them and become entangled. 

 This last case occurs when the boats do not take wide enough berths 

 from each other, or when OUG fleet of nets has less buoy-string, and is 

 nearer the surface than those next them ; for in this situation they 

 drift faster, tho tide being stronger near the surface than at a greater 

 depth. The take for the night is not unfrequently lost in this way ; 

 for if the fish happen to rise toward tho surface of the water, and set- 

 tK> down again while the nets are out of the water, the prospect is 

 marred for the night, an hour being sometimes sufficient for the pur- 

 pose. 



The herrings not unusually rise to the surface, when they produce 

 a motion something like a gentle shower of rain. Generally, they 

 take the nets very gently, without deranging them in the least; but, 

 when very abundant, they often rush into them with such violence 

 that they raise them up and carry them over the ropes, twisting them 

 round about two or three times ; and when the bottom of the sea is 

 very unequal, and the tide rapid, tho nets often go down to the bot- 

 tom at such a time, and considerable loss is sustained. The nets are 

 often very unequally fished; and sometimes the herrings in one part 

 of the nets are spawned, and those in the rest are not so. 



Tho nets are stretched out half the length of tho boat as they arc 

 drawn in, tho herrings hanging by tho head on the lower side, and 

 most of them are shaken out, and fall into tho bottom of the boat, ns 

 the work proceeds. When the fish are so plentiful as to render the 

 boat too deep aft, if all taken into the stern, part of the nets are pulled 

 in nearer the bow, to put hej into proper trim. When the wind is 

 violent and tho sea high, the getting in of the nets is very hazardous, 

 especially when they are well fished. Tho waves and wind, act in- 

 on tho boat at tho same time, overpower the strength of the crew, and 

 sometimes compel them to let part of the nets already secured nm 

 out of their hands, to permit the boat to rise freely to the \\ 

 The sea dashes into the boat with great fury, threatening to fill her; 

 so that it is not uncommon, in such cases, for tho fishermen to cut 



