WEST COAST FISHERIES. 139 



depth of 60 fathoms and upwards may be found so soon as the 

 mouth of Lochbuie is reached. This diiferenee is the immediate 

 cause of the difference between the cod of the one place and 

 those of the other. The Lochbuie cod are the light-coloured fish 

 of deep waters, while those of Barra are, properly speaking, only 

 rock cod, that have remained longer in the tangle area, and 

 retain the peculiar rich colour of such fishes. The Barra cod is 

 very delicate in flavour, but the flesh somewhat soft, and we 

 are inclined to look upon them as exceptionally well-grown 

 specimens of young cod-fish, ere these take to the deeper waters 

 for a subsistence. At any rate they have all this appearance, 

 and the salted cod of Barra cannot for a moment compare in size 

 with those of the Hebrides further north. The same may be 

 said of the skate and conger taken in the immediate vicinity. 

 But further out to sea the result will no doubt be different, 

 more especially in the west, as on the Atlantic side the herring 

 are larger and richer, and a body of white fish of proportionate 

 size will no doubt be found preying upon them. Hitherto there 

 has been no outlet for lower class fishes in the Hebrides, such 

 as skate, but with the establishment in Barra of the Normal 

 Company's factory for the utilisation of waste fish products, a 

 new era has opened up for that region, if the native populations 

 will only rise up to the occasion. This extensive establishment, 

 well supplied with the best machinery, has been erected for the 

 purpose of manufacturing fish glues, guanos, and other articles 

 from the lower class fishes, such as skates and dog-fish. These 

 are collected from the islands around, and all the material possible 

 to be obtained under existing circumstances can be utilised at 

 the station. So far, the difficulty has been the giving sufficient 

 inducement to the people to capture and bring in these waste 

 fishes — the Hebridean fisherman not having been sufficiently 

 educated up to the proper appreciation of the value of small 

 sums, and thrift being a science they do not properly under- 

 stand. In the summer time, during the herring fishery, there 

 will be abundance of herring offal for the manufacture of oils 

 and fish guano ; but whether the enterprise of the people will 

 ultimately maintain such an establishment at work throughout 

 the year is a question of supreme importance to the West of 

 Scotland. Its success would no doubt induce an extension of 

 the system, and, let us hope, point the way to a more systematic 

 and energetic prosecution of the western fisheries than the 

 people have yet been induced to conduct. 



It is undoubtedly a great advantage to the fishermen of 

 Barra that the sea for many miles around is comparatively 

 shallow, and that the islands are so numerous they can safely 

 calculate upon obtaining shelter under the lea of one or other 

 of them. This extension of what mav be called in a sense the 



