THEIR ROUND OF LIFE AND LABOUR 19 
way home to port in order that the curer may obtain 
possession of the cargo. Many a time and oft the poor 
men have, on their way back to their harbour, to row a 
good part of the way; and when the sea is lumpy and 
the boat laden with fish—a delightful burden in the eyes 
of its owners—the toil is severe. Nor is the labour over 
when the port is reached, for then begins a new duty— 
the fish have to be landed, and it is the work of the crew 
to carry them to the curing stances, which may be at a 
considerable distance from the place in the harbour where 
the boat has found a berth. After the fish have been 
duly consigned to the charge of the coopers, the nets 
have then to be hoisted ashore and sent off in a cart to the 
drying ground ; and not till all these duties have been duly 
accomplished may captain and crew seek repose. 
And thus the toilsome work of the herring-fishers goes 
on day after day; on some happy occasions they may 
be so fortunate as to fall in with the shoal a few miles from 
the shore, and fill their nets with such speed as to enable 
them to return before breakfast-time, and so obtain a few 
hours of welcome rest; or, on the contrary, they may not 
find their finny prey till they are far, far at sea; and not 
infrequently, before their labour can be brought to a close, 
a fierce storm may break on the waters, causing the men to 
hurry to a place of refuge, if they can find one, in order 
to save their lives and property, a feat which cannot 
always be accomplished. Many a fishing boat on such 
occasions is swamped by the angry waters, and many a 
gallant husband and good father perishes whilst at the 
post of duty. The public are not unfamiliar with stories 
of the dread disasters which occasionally overtake the 
hardy fishermen of our coasts, although in Scotland it 
is happily the case that the death rate from such causes 
C2 
