SCALES, MIRRORS, LEATHERS 



became more absorbing. The last of the carp, roused 

 from their comatose state, made more efforts to escape ; 

 they avoided the net, and several attempts were 

 necessary before they could be secured. Finally, by 

 making more use of the large net sheet which hemmed 

 them in, further restricting the confining space, they 

 were captured more readily, since there was less room 

 for them to move in. 



These last captures were most exciting because of 

 the efforts of the fish to escape. The carp made off 

 as soon as any attempt was made to get near them; 

 they darted in all directions, slipping between the 

 booted legs of the man whose work it was to seize 

 them. Since there was no great depth of water in 

 the small space left to them, their backs came above 

 the surface, projecting out of the little waves made by 

 their attempts to escape. But at last, one after another, 

 they were all captured, and the moment came when 

 nothing was left of the multitude there had been 

 earlier in the morning. 



Meanwhile, the last stage was reached in the handling 

 of them, the business of getting them away. The 

 fish, washed, weighed, counted, still alive in con- 

 sequence of the care devoted to covering them with 

 damp cloths, were, placed in willow baskets, or hampers, 

 and set aside at the foot of the bank. There, they 

 were lifted up to the top of the dike, brought to the 

 waiting carts, and put in them. These carts, covered 

 with waterproof sheets, served as tanks in which a 

 certain amount of water was put, and here, ultimately, 

 the catch was placed. As soon as the loading up was 

 done, the carts set off smartly for the nearest railway 

 station, where the final stage was completed, that of 

 putting the carp into a waggon tank which, a few 

 hours later, would carry them, still alive, to the markets 

 and the consumer. And that was the end. The 

 whole mass of fish, produced and grown in the millions 

 of cubic feet of water which the pond with its hundred- 



94 



