130 MARVELS OF FISH LIFE 



the right, comes in contact with the central net, and 

 then swimming on carries a portion of this slack net 

 through the broad meshes of the net on the left. He is 

 then checked and held in a pocket of small mesh netting 

 from which escape is impossible. Fish coming from the 

 left are caught in a similar manner by carrying the 

 central net through the broad-meshed net on the right. 



The seine in its simplest form consists of a single 

 net some three hundred feet long and twelve feet in 

 depth. When used in shallow water, one end is made 

 fast to the shore. The net is then dropped in a semi- 

 circle from the stern of a boat, the free end being brought 

 back to the shore. Both ends of the net are now seized 

 and hauled in, and the fish are gradually drawn into 

 the central portion of the net and hauled ashore. 



Seining for pilchards on the Cornish coast is a more 

 elaborate procedure. First, the shoals of fish are located 

 by a man who watches for them from the cliffs, not 

 infrequently from a tower built for the purpose. This 

 man is known as a " huer." As soon as the huer detects 

 patches of a reddish appearance in the sea, he knows 

 that the pilchards have arrived. Then by weird sounds 

 and signs, he communicates the information to the 

 fishermen in the sleepy village below. All is at once 

 bustle, and the long tarred seine boats, which are ready 

 on the shore, immediately put out to sea, and the annual 

 pilchard fishing commences. 



The huer, by signs continues to direct the boats to 

 the teeming fish. Four boats accompany each net ; the 



