68 THE REV. F. R. WHEELER, M.A. 
and a long rope, the end of which is securely fastened to the 
boat. . It drifts with the tide. ‘The mesh of the net is an inch 
from knot to knot. The number of nets carried by each boat 
varies from seventeen to thirty; at Cullercoats the largest boats 
carry twenty. ach net is fifty yards long and twelve yards deep. 
The nets are fastened end to end. The number of nets carried 
by each boat has been increasing all along the coast for the last 
few years; but the take of fish has decreased. 
As the shoals of herring swim along, they are entangled in 
the meshes of the net, which are of just sufficient size to admit 
the head of the fish. When the net is hauled in, the fish are, of 
course, nearly all alive, though they very soon die, like all fish 
with large gills and which swim near the surface. I am told by 
the fishermen that very often indeed the herring, when the net 
is hauled on board, utter a sound not by any means unlike a 
child’s squeak. 
The food of the herring consists of crustacea, varying in size 
from those of microscopic dimensions to those of a shrimp, and 
small fish, particularly sand eels. While young, they feed most 
voraciously. 
Most of those now present have, doubtless, often watched the 
very picturesque sight which the little Bay at Cullercoats pre- 
sents during the herring season, when the hour for the boats to 
take their departure is at hand, and the fires are being lighted, 
and one after another sails off to sea. I think that on a clear, 
dark night, the scene presented by the boats when off shore, 
stretching away in a long line, or bending round in a semi-circle, 
each with its blazing light, is one of the prettiest sights which 
our coast ever presents. 
The herring is a somewhat capricious fish, and I am sorry to 
say is not now nearly so abundant off the east coast of England 
as formerly. On this point I have evidence from every station 
between Berwick and the Tees. 
At Cullercoats, the quantity taken has most seriously de- 
creased during the last few years. There are now forty-seven 
boats engaged there in the herring fishery. Last year was the 
worst season ever known. The average take of the whole num- 
