242 DEEP-SEA FISHING. 



on board ship as soon as they are caught; and then, 

 without being gutted or any other preparation, they are 

 again put into salt, that brought from Liverpool being 

 the kind generally used. Their subsequent treatment 

 depends on whether they are to be made into bloaters 

 or red herrings. Bloaters are generally selected fish, 

 full-roed, and of the best quality. The finest are made 

 in October and part of November ; but as any herring 

 can be made into a bloater, and there being always 

 a demand for them, their manufacture is carried on 

 throughout the season with the best fish that can be 

 obtained. Strictly speaking, a bloater is nothing more 

 than a herring very slightly cured ; it is kept from 

 twelve to eighteen hours in salt, and then smoked for 

 about twenty-four hours. At the end of that time it is 

 fit for market, and the sooner it appears on the break- 

 fast table the better it is likely to be. Red, well-cured, 

 or high-dried herrings, as they are variously called, are 

 kept in salt for fourteen days, then washed and hung in 

 wood-smoke for another fortnight. Women are em- 

 ployed in the curing, and the fish, after being washed, 

 are " rived " or strung on ^' spits " — thin sticks about 

 4|- feet long, which are thrust under one gill-cover 

 and out at the mouth. Twenty-five fish are i3ut on 

 each stick. The spits are then taken to the smoke- 

 room, a lofty room, perhaps about 16 feet square, 

 having a series of wooden frames reaching from floor 

 to roof, with small transverse beams, called " loves," 

 running from one side of the room to the other. These 

 frames are 4 feet apart and the spits are placed in rows, 

 one above another, between them, the ends of the spits 

 resting on the loves. The roof is covered with tiles, 

 uncemented, so as to allow a good draught through the 

 room, which when filled contains three lasts offish. On 



