IX.— THE FISHING-VILLAGES, SNEKKERSTEEN AND SKOTTERUP, 

 AND THE COLLECTION OF FISHING-IMPLEMENTS EXHIB- 

 ITED BY THEM AT ELSINORE, DENMARK, DURING THE 

 SUMMER OF 1872 * 



The fishing- villages, Snekkersteen and Skotterup, are situated not far 

 from the town of Elsinore, on the Danish island of Zealand, where the 

 soundjs narrowest. The inhabitants are, with few exceptions all fisher- 

 men and entirely dependent on the sea for their living. The circuni- 

 stances. under which they are obliged to gain their livelihood are some- 

 what peculiar, for, while the location of their villages offers in some 

 respects, great advantages for fishing, on the other hand it presents dif- 

 ficulties which the greatest energy of the fishermen can scarcely over- 

 come. The most important field for their operations is the narrowest 

 part of the sound where it widens on both sides like a funnel; and they 

 have consequently both the advantages and disadvantages of being in 

 the very spout of the funnel, where everything that is poured into it 

 must pass through. All the schools of fishes pass close by them, but 

 the powerful current, which, flowing sometimes this way, and sometimes 

 that, according to the wind, while it brings the fish to them, frequently 

 drives them just as rapidly away. Hence, here more than in many other 

 places the fishermen must understand how to seize the right moment for 

 their work. The large number of ships sailing by or riding at anchor t 

 proves useful to the fishermen, as they are by this ineaus often enabled 

 to sell their fish at a very high price. Yet their nets are often destroyed 

 by the ships or entirely carried away by anchors or oars. The peculi- 

 arity of the location makes stationary fish migratory, and vice versa. 

 The haddock and flounder are thus obliged to migrate, and though their 

 migrations do not extend far, they occur all the more frequently ; while 

 the hornfish and other migratory fish are often compelled to remain in 

 those waters much longer than is good for them. Thus many different 

 things are to be considered by the fisherman in order that he may not 

 come too soon or too late with his nets. The more accurately he can 

 calculate the probabilities, and the more completely he is provided with 

 suitable nets for catching the numerous kinds of fish that pass the coast, 

 the more remunerative will be his labor. 



It has not been possible to exhibit all the implements " in natural 

 hence the boats and great casting-nets are only shown in models. 



1. Model of a transport-boat. — The boat of which it is a model was 



*From Nordisk Tidsskrift for Fiekeri. 



t On an average, 21,000 per annum. — [ Translator's note.'] 



