15 



out of the question. Live wells or receptacles, on the 

 contrary, are easy and practicable if the boats are of 

 good size : they were habitual in parts of England as a 

 modern development from the old sorts notably in the 

 Grimsby smacks and in Dutch boats, in which a 

 compartment is built in the middle of the boat by trans- 

 verse bulkheads, and the sides of the compartment 

 pierced so that the sea freely courses through it ; in this 

 well cod and other large fish are kept alive for weeks 

 and even transferred, at the end of the voyage, to 

 fioatine chests in the harbour where the fish live till 

 wanted. Ice and steam in loo-ton boats have now 

 mostly driven these smacks out of use. Boats could 

 readily be built on these coasts with such receptacles ; 

 it is possible also to keep fish alive for some days in 

 mere chests of sea-water, frequently renewed by hand. 

 The practice is r\ot wholly unknown since the Minicoy 

 islanders keep live bait in vast quantities in large fine- 

 meshed receptacles in their lagoons. It might even be 

 possible to keep fish alive for a time in coir-rope bags 

 or strong nets outside the boats if wooden receptacles 

 are too cumbrous. But with fair-sized boats live wells 

 are readily possible. 



14. The carrier is a swift boat, steam or motor, 



which visits the fishing fleet daily 

 The carrier method of and takes away the catches; 



obviating putrelaction of r 1 1 • 1111 • 1 1 



catches. preterably it should be provided 



with enough ice to keep its cargo 

 fresh for a few hours : ice, it is said, can be made even 

 in tropical India at Rs. 14 to Rs. 20 per ton by the 

 Linde machines. A lo-knot carrier can visit even an 

 extended line of fishing boats in a few hours daily, so 

 that catches, recent or kept alive in wells, could be 

 brought fresh to shore ; catches salted at sea on the 

 boats could also be brought by the carrier. But the 

 carrier is a product of organized capital and enterprise, 

 and is used in conjunction with an organized fleet of 

 boats belonging to a syndicate or large owner ; hence 

 for the present its consideration is premature, though 

 the French sardine canner at Mahe is investing in a 

 patrol boat obviously for some such purpose. When 

 capital takes to the industry the carrier will be a 

 necessary item and will materially help to make the 

 seakeeping boat possible. 



