FISHING STATIONS— SCOTLAND. 295 



salt ill well-made barrels, where they remain until they 

 are required for consumption. The process, however, 

 needs considerable care, and it is considered important 

 that the curing should be commenced as soon as pos- 

 sible after the fish are caught. No time thei^efore is 

 lost in bringing the fish on shore ; and after having 

 been measured in a stamped vessel holding 36 gallons, 

 and known as a " cran," they are at once taken in hand 

 by the gutters, who perform their duties with a mar- 

 vellous rapidity only to be attained by considerable 

 practice. This part of the work is almost entirely done 

 by women. As soon as the fish have been gutted — and 

 for tliis purpose it is necessary to make only a small 

 opening near the head — they are placed in large troughs 

 containing salt, where they are well " i"oused " or stirred 

 up, so that the salt may be applied to their whole sur- 

 face. The fish are then carefully packed wi th alternate 

 layers of salt in barrels of regulated size, and after 

 remaining fifteen clear days in the jDickle the barrels 

 are filled up as necessary, and finally closed. If, how- 

 ever, they are intended for exportation to a warm 

 country, the barrels are repacked in the same manner 

 as at first. 



The cured herrings are separated into four classes, 

 consisting of " Full," or fish having large milt or roe ; 

 "Maties,"^ or fat fish, and with the roe undeveloped; 



^ "Maties" is a corruption of the Dutch maatjes, tlie name applied to 

 herrings in which the roe is small or undeveloped ; its signification is doubtful, 

 unless it be derived from maatje (Jdeine maat), a small measure. The Dutch 

 separate their herrings into three classes, according to the development or 

 otherwise of the roe; this is the case, at all events, with two of the classes, 

 and if we are correct in our interpretation oi maatjes, it also holds good for the 

 third. The classes will then stand thus : — " Voll," full of roe ; " maatjes," 

 with the roe small or imdeveloped ; and " ylen," empty or shotten. Maatjes 

 are generally fat fish, but herrings are only in that condition when the roes are 

 small. As the breeding season advances the fat is gradually absorbed and the 

 fish become voU ; and when the spawn has fully matured it is deposited, and 

 the herrings are then called ylen, or empty. 



