7 
Nearly the whole of this fleet consists of vessels of a 
modern class, which have supplanted the old Dutch 
hooker of primitive shape, with its great square sail. 
They are constructed with wells for the keeping of the fish 
alive, and generally during the summer months carry ice, 
with which they preserve the dead fish of their cargo. 
They bring about one-half of their winter’s catch to the 
English market, making Grimsby their rexdezvous ; another 
considerable portion of the catch is disposed of in 
Belgium. 
During the summer months a number of this fleet is 
occupied in the herring fishery, another part in the had- 
dock fishery, and the remainder in the hand-line fishery for 
cod in the northern latitudes of the North Sea. At this 
season of the year, instead of keeping their catch alive, they 
salt it in barrels and land it at Vlaardingen, which is the 
great Dutch market for this article. From this place it is 
distributed, partly to other Dutch markets, but chiefly to 
Belgium. 
Germany does not put in an appearance at all on the 
high seas. JI am aware that small fleets of fishing boats 
sail from Blankensee, principally, and from other points 
down to Cuxhaven on the Elbe, and a few from the rivers 
Weser and Jahde, but they seldom venture beyond Heligo- 
land Deep, and indeed few of them, if any, come within the 
branch of line-fishing. 
It is a matter of surprise, and one that may be worthy 
the notice of His Excellency the German Ambassador, who 
appears to take an active interest in the present Exhibition, 
that so great a nation as Germany, and a people so ener- 
getic in all commercial life, should prefer to go abroad for a 
considerable portion of their fish supply, when they might 
profitably occupy in the trade a considerable number of 
