OF THE GRIMSBY TRAWL FISHERY. 357 
submitted to any amount of chaff from pretty nearly every member 
of the crew, but knew perfectly well, nevertheless, how to get the 
required amount of work out of them. The captain and he were 
very fond of indulging in elephantine gambols, and gave and 
received, with perfect unconcern, blows which seemed calculated to 
stave in the side of a hogshead. The chief engineer, of course, had 
been brought up in that calling, but his subordinate was an ex- 
dragoon, whose capabilities did not extend much beyond stoking, 
The steward had served twenty-one years in the Black Watch, and 
had lost a thumb, not in the service of his country, but from the 
sting of a weever (T'rachinus draco), which he had incautiously 
handled on one of his earliest voyages. ‘I'he symptoms, as described 
by him, appeared to be precisely similar to those which one reads of 
as resulting from the bite of an adder. ‘The rest of the crew do not 
call for special remark, but, taking them all round, they were as 
pleasant and good-natured a set of fellows as one need wish to meet 
with in any rank of society. They all arrived on board in shore- 
going costume, looking very unlike the fisherman of romance, and it 
was not until the evening that they got into their jerseys, oilskins, 
and sea-boots. The skipper despised the latter altogether, and 
affected a very ancient pair of ‘‘ clumpers” (shoes with a thick 
wooden sole), when the deck was too wet for even him to be 
comfortable in stockings only. Once the sea-going kit is donned, I 
have never observed that any change is made until the boat reaches 
the river on its homeward voyage ; and ablutions, if carried on at all, 
are certainly infrequent. However, any part of the person not 
‘covered by oilskins is sure to encounter plenty of water, if no 
soap. 
To resume our narrative, the south-westerly wind had freshened 
very considerably before we made our land-fall, and the skipper re- 
marked that such weather would have been certain to have spoiled 
his chances of a catch south of the Reef, since fish will not stay there 
with heavy weather from that direction, especially so late in the 
season, The weather had its usual effect on myself, since, though 
my business takes me a good deal to sea, | am an incurable victim 
to mal de mer, and on this occasion I spent the usual day or so of 
misery before I was thoroughly right. It did not prevent my noting 
the duration and locality of hauls with the net, or the fish caught, but 
tow-netting and microscope work were out of the question. ‘The 
skipper was exceedingly sympathetic, and prescribed remedies, but to 
my exceeding good fortune had mislaid the key of his medicine 
chest, so I escaped with nothing worse than the sea-sickness itself. 
‘I should say that the decoction known on North Sea smacks as 
“tea ” had made its appearance not long after we left the Humber. 
