THE COAST OF BERWICKSHIRE. 223 



the one boat was driven over the top of the other. The blow, it was 

 thought, broke his back, for he made no effort to save himself after 

 that. The assisting boat drove to leeward, and could give no further 

 aid. The next boat that came up, by throwing a rope, saved one 

 man ; the rest of the crew, to the number of four, perished. 



Sometimes the nets are anchored in very shallow water, when the 

 fish come so near the shore that they cannot be taken in the usual 

 way. This is called ground fishing. They are anchored in the direc- 

 tion of the tide, to render the pressure as light as possible. As many 

 as thirty barrels have been taken out of a single net in this way. 

 The nets do not drive out among the fish by the tide as in the other 

 way, so that by far the heaviest takes have been realized in this man- 

 ner. But whether from the shoals being more assiduously sought out 

 and broken in upon by our fishermen before the herrings reach the 

 shore than formerly, or from some other cause, they do not come into 

 small creeks among the rocks so frequently as in earlier years. 



A much greater quantity of herrings is taken by each boat on this 

 coast than formerly. This arises in part from the greater number of 

 nets used by the fishermen, fully a third more than twenty years ago, 

 and partly by greater diligence and activity in seeking out the fish, 

 as well as by fishing on ground formerly thought so dangerous from 

 the existence of shoals as to be carefully avoided. The portion of the 

 bay between Berwick and Holy Island was one of these dreaded 

 spots ; whereas, for several years, the most abundant fishing has been 

 realized there. 



A much superior class of boats is now in use to those employed 

 twenty or thirty years ago. They are much larger, carry nearly 

 double the burden, and sail much faster. Some of them are thirty- 

 seven feet long. The crew consists generally of four men and a boy, 

 sometimes of five men. And what shews the improved circumstances 

 of the fishermen, most of these boats are their own property, one 

 shared in common sometimes by two and sometimes by three men ; 

 whereas, at an earlier period, it was common for them to hire the 

 herring boats, and allow each boat a fifth or a sixth share of the 

 money realized during the season. 



2. Mode of taking Haddocks. Haddocks are taken with hooks. 

 The lines used for the purpose contain each from six to seven hundred 

 hooks, which are arranged at the distance of a yard and a quarter 

 equally along the whole line. The hooks are suspended from the 

 back or principal part of the line by a snood and wip fastened together, 

 the former a little thinner than the back, and made like it of IK nip 

 cord; the latter of hair, to which the hook is attached. When the 

 materials are very strong and bulky, the line does not fish well. The 

 line, when baited, is carefully coiled into one end of a basket, about 



