112 DEEP-SEA FISHING. 



as nearly as possible in a straight line, and left to itself, 

 the tide would soon throw it into irregular curves and 

 folds, leading to entanglement and waste of net surface; 

 and one good purpose served by the vessel or boat in 

 holding on, or swinging to the end of the train is, that 

 she prevents this by getting a strain on the whole 

 warp, and keeping the nets extended very nearly in a 

 straight line. If there happened to be much of a breeze 

 and the nets were few, the vessel would have too much 

 power and would drag them after her ; and any decided 

 movement of the nets in the direction of their length 

 would be likely to alarm the fish and prevent their 

 striking. On the other hand, when the nights are very 

 calm it is difficult to get strain enough on a long fleet ; 

 and under such circumstances we have seen the nets 

 belonging to different boats overlapping and con- 

 founded together. Wind enough to ruffle the surface is 

 always desirable for drift-fishing, as it not only enables 

 the boat to keep the nets well extended, but by darken- 

 ing the water it prevents the nets being readily seen by 

 the fish. 



The circumstances which guide the drift fishermen in 

 their selection of any particular spot for fishing are 

 often of a very uncertain character, and frequently 

 there is nothing more to influence them than their 

 knowledge that the fish were in some particular neigh- 

 bouihood or at a certain distance from the land at a 

 corresponding period in former seasons. At the com- 

 mencement of the fishing season they can only be guided 

 by such considerations ; but when the fish are becoming 

 more abundant and occasionally showing themselves at 

 the surface, what is called the " appearance of fish," 

 that is, large collections of sea birds and the presence of 

 whales and the smaller cetacea, is a tolerably sure indi- 



