35 



waiting for the highest bids ; it goes direct to the curers 

 and to the curing yard ; in Tanur, on the other hand, 

 there is, to my own knowledge, frequently considerable 

 delay caused by the usual and lengthy higgling which, 

 at high noon, adds to any existing suspicion of taint ; 

 fish once tainted, of course retains the taint and the 

 product is of low quality and, probably as unwhole- 

 some as it is malodorous ; anyhow, it is not found 

 good enough for Ceylon but only for dumping in our 

 own villages. Moreover when prices asked are too 

 high, curers frequently decline to buy at all, so that 

 the fishermen have to do the best thev can with their 

 catches, and large quantities are simply dried on the 

 beach. Again, at Tellicherry all fish is dried for either 

 two or three days in the curing yard and is then dried 

 privately for several days more outside ; the curers 

 being men of substance and able to lock up part of their 

 capital, for some days or weeks, produce a thoroughly 

 cured and dried article which bears a good price and 

 finds a good foreign market. In Tanur the very first 

 "grievance " stated by the curers was that the retention 

 in the yards is unduly long, and curers wanted the fish 

 to be issued in one or at most two days. Now the 

 reason for this extraordinary request is based upon the 

 necessities of the independent system ; the curers being 

 small men of no capital are obliged, in order to buy 

 further supplies of fresh fish, to recoup themselves in 

 funds by selling their " cured " goods as soon as 

 possible, while by selling them half-dried they think they 

 obtain an advantage in weight since the goods are st'll 

 damp ; consequently these hastily cured and badly dried 

 goods are sold off with all speed to the inland traders. 

 It will be seen then that the independence of the small 

 owner at Tanur is not necessarily to the benefit either 

 of the fishermen or of the curers or of the industry ; the 

 curers not being sure of a continuous supply of fish will 

 not put capital into the business ; the result of want of 

 capital and of petty business is an inferior article of 

 food and trade ; and not only does such inferior article 

 fetch a small price and return smaller profits both to 

 curers and fishermen, but the demand for fish is curtailed 

 and the fishermen's business is cramped. Perhaps tliP 

 fishermen come off best at Tanur being independent, 

 but the industry and therefore the general public suffer. 



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