178 CLUPEID^E. 



benefited by it ; yet it frequently happens that the success 

 is partial, and the price low ; and it may be questioned whe- 

 ther in any year the greater part of the scans obtain more 

 than their expenses : but when there is a profit, it is com- 

 monly considerable, and in this lottery every one is led by 

 the hope of being among the fortunate. 



The following is a statement, perhaps nearly approaching 

 to the truth where absolute certainty is unattainable, of the 

 amount of property engaged in the Pilchard fishery in the 

 year 1827, when the bounty began to be withdrawn : Num- 

 ber of scans employed, 186 ; not employed, 130 ; total num- 

 ber of scans, 816 : number of drift-boats, 368 : men employed 

 on board drift-boats, 1600; number of men employed on 

 scans at sea, 2672 ; number of persons on shore to whom the 

 fishery affords direct employment, 6350 ; total number of 

 persons employed in the fishery, 10,521: cost of scans, 

 boats, &c. used in the fishery, 209,840/.; cost of drift-boats 

 and nets, 61,400/ ; cost of cellars for curing, and other es- 

 tablishments on shore for carrying on the fishery, 169,175/.; 

 total capital invested directly in the Pilchard fishery, 

 441, 215/. The outfit of a scan amounts to about 800/.; 

 a string of drift-nets will cost about 6/. the net ; and the 

 boat from 100/. to ISO/.; but this is used throughout the 

 year for the other purposes of fishing. The nets are sup- 

 posed to last about six years, and ought, of course, to pro- 

 duce their own value within that time, together with an 

 adequate profit ; but it is the complaint of the fishermen 

 that this is not the case. The profit of the men depends on 

 the share of the fish, which is divided into eight parts, of 

 which the boat has one-eighth part, the nets three, and the 

 men four : a boy that accompanies them is rewarded with the 

 fish that may fall into the sea as the nets are drawn, to 

 secure which he is furnished with a bag-net at the end of a 

 rod, termed a keep-net. 



