34 NORTH SEA INVESTIGATIONS. 



there carried on, I liave made two trips on board steam trawlers bound 

 to those grounds. On my first voyage, I left Grimsby Docks on May 

 14th, on board the s.s. Lucania, belonging to the Alliance Company. 

 Tlie run was about 260 miles E. \ N. When we reached the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Horn Reef on the 15th, it came on to blow, and we 

 lay-to for twenty-four hours without shooting the trawl. This was the 

 commencement of the disastrous gale, which continued, with little inter- 

 ruption, on the English side of the North Sea, until Monday, ]\Iay 20th, 

 but on the German, or eastern side, it moderated on Thursday evening, 

 and for the rest of the trip we had very fine weather. 



The trawl was first shot on the evening of May 16th, and hauled at 

 11 p.m., but I did not make any observations until the second haul, at 

 6 a.m. on the 17th. Tlie position, then, according to the captain, was 

 thirty miles south of the Horn Eeef, twenty miles west of the Sylt. 

 The marketable fish taken were haddock, cod, and plaice. Of the last, 

 the smallest was 12| in. long. Tlie refuse consisted of whelk spawn and 

 crabs (Hyas arancus and Cancer imgurus). Tlie bottom was sand and 

 broken shells ; there were pieces of shell on the net. 



During the third haul the depth was 11 to 13 fathoms, and the bottom 

 consisted of coarse sand, called rice-ground by the captain. A tow 

 net was put on the trawl head, and the tin at the end of it came up 

 half full of tliis sand, in which were three living specimens of 

 Amjjhiooms. The fish caught were 2 baskets of plaice, none under 12 in., 

 14 baskets of haddock (9 of kit and 5 of gibbers), 23 cod, 2 turbot 

 1 brill; none of the turbot or brill under 12 in. The stomachs of the 

 plaice contained Solen. 



The fourth haul, lasting like the preceding six hours, was concluded 

 at 8 p.m. on the 17th. A net of mosquito-netting on the trawl head, 

 brought up a number of larval flat-fishes in process of transformation, 

 probably plaice and dabs, and also one sand-eel. The fish in the trawl 

 were 14 baskets of haddocks (10 of kit and 4 of gibbers), several cod, 

 3^ baskets of plaice, the smallest of these being 11^ in. by measurement. 

 There were 2 lemon soles, one of them 8f in. long. A large number of 

 dabs were obtained in this and all other hauls, but were not saved for 

 the market, their value, after being iced for some days, not being 

 considered sufficiently great. A few of tlie largest were cleaned for the 

 cabin table, the rest thrown overboard. The haddocks' stomachs contained 

 brittle stars ; these, and all other marketable fish, were gutted before 

 being packed away in the fish hold. Edible crabs occurred in every 

 haul, but were not saved for market, only a few being eaten on board. 



At the fifth haul, at 3 a.m. on May 18th, were taken 22 baskets of 

 haddock (7 of gibbers and 15 of kit), and 2 of plaice. A larger number 

 of haddock arc usually taken at night than in the day-time. 



