790 
average price of sprats would be about 2d. a pound, and 
salmon, the average price of which would be from Is. 6d. 
to Is. 9d. a pound, only paid the same rate. 
Mr. Moore (of Bristol) said he was not a practical fisher- 
man, but he had visited a great many of the fishing- 
grounds. When at Youghal he bought a small box of 
salmon, and having inquired of the station-master whether 
the company would guarantee the delivery of the box, and 
being answered in the affirmative, he forwarded it, but from 
that hour to the present he had never received any money 
for it. 
Mr. SAVER said he considered that Ireland and Scotland 
had great reason to complain of the excessive railway rates, 
which was the cause of so little fish coming to London. 
The rate for mackerel from Kinsale to Billingsgate is 85s. 
per ton, or about 1d. for each fish; and from Milford to 
London the rate is 62s. 6d. per ton, while that for coal is 
only 8s. 4d. A short time since Irish mackerel was sold 
in Billingsgate at 12s. per box of 120 fish. .The-cost of 
carriage, icing, &c., is 14s. per box, showing a clear loss of 
2s. per box in the expense, to say nothing of the cost 
of the fish. With respect to Scotland, on Thursday last 
about 1,000 barrels of sprats were sent from Inverness, 
which realised gross £800 to £900. The railway carriage 
amounted to about 4550, which left only £300 for the 
fishermen, buyers, and sellers. Frequently this kind of 
fish has to be sold for manure, the prohibitory rates pre- 
venting its being sent to market without entailing serious 
loss on the merchant. Last season a million barrels of 
herrings were cured in Scotland for Continental markets, 
the freight being 1s. 6d. to 2s. per barrel. A large portion 
would doubtless have been sent to London, but for the 
heavy charge of about 12s. per barrel. He was of opinion 
