THEIR ROUND OF LIFE AND LABOUR. 63 
THE FOREIGN FISHER FOLK. 
Peculiarities of the Foreign Fisher-folk—Roman and Athenian 
Fishwives—Feétes of the Foreign Fisher people—Italian Fishers— 
French Fisher-folk—Madame Picard the poetical fish-wife—The 
Dutch Fishwives—The Norwegian Fishers—Chinese fishery ar- 
rangements. 
HAVING sketched at considerable length the round of 
labour from day to day of our own fishermen, we may now 
refer to the foreign fisher folk, who are quite as peculiar 
in their habits and modes of life as the persons we have 
just been describing—they are people, in fact, no matter in 
what country we find them, who live for themselves among 
themselves, steadily transmitting from one generation to 
another their stereotyped manners and customs ; their vices 
and their virtues, their belief in signs and omens, and the 
varied traditions of their ancient calling. From the earliest 
days of Greek and Roman civilisation, those who gather the 
harvest of the sea have formed in every country where they 
dwell a caste by themselves, and to-day they are much the 
same as we fead of their being centuries ago—for fishing 
is a vocation of the remotest antiquity. 
In all matters pertaining to their modes of life and com- 
mercial dealings the ancient fishwives were very much alike 
—no matter to what country they belonged the family 
likeness was marked and unmistakable. .Thus the Roman 
fishwives were a counterpart of those of ancient Athens, 
and those of the “Modern Athens” of to-day may be taken 
