22 



conversely, three-fourths of the fishing trade deal with 

 only one-fourth of the fish. Hence, unless there is a 

 relatively enormous fresh fish trade on the East Co?.st, 

 which is unlikely except at Madras and a few large 

 centres, the exploitation of the sea on the East Coast is 

 trivial and the amount per head insignificant as com- 

 pared with West Coast catches. More especially is 

 this the case when compared with the Japanese fishing 

 population, which is said to number over 900,000 fami- 

 lies or II per cent, of the 8,182,000 households in the 

 Empire, though, of course, the coast line is very much 

 longer in Japan. This point will be closely examined 

 in the East Coast tour about to begin. The above 

 remarks are, at present, wholly in the rough and sus- 

 ceptible of large correction in detail, though probably 

 correct in the main ; the final report will deal more 

 exactly with this very important point. 



21. Again, curing operations are both primitive, 



undiversified, and slow yet incom- 



Character of curing i^^^^ Sun-drying, with or without 



operations. i . J fs' 



salt, IS, with small and occasional 

 exceptions, the only curing method found ; fish are 

 gutted, rough-salted in troughs for a night, washed 

 (sometimes) in sea-water, and then exposed on the open 

 sand to the direct rays of the sun for two or three days 

 till fairly dry ; such is the simple and regular process. 

 If the fish have been brought to the curing-yard fresh 

 and wholly untainted, if enough salt has been used 

 sufficiently promptly, if the subsequent washing has 

 been effective and the sun bright, the resulting product 

 is fair though probably unacceptable in appearance and 

 odour to western markets. But if the fish when brought 

 in is, as is often the case, by no means fresh or free 

 from taint, if the salting is insufficient or not thoroughly 

 penetrative of the tissues, if, as is often the case, the 

 subsequent washing in fresh sea-water is dispensed with, 

 if the drying yard is shady or the drying process slow, 

 then the resulting product is distinctly unpleasant and 

 probably unwholesome ; maggots are not uncommon, 

 the putrefactive odour strong, colour and appearance 

 poor and even repulsive. In many cases, moreover, the 

 smaller classes of fish are simply sun-dried on the beach 

 without salt and with or without gutting ; these are 

 very malodorous and more fit for manure than for food 



