132 MARVELS OF FISH LIFE 



carried a beam trawl, which had a spread of some fifty- 

 feet on the sea bottom, and fifty fathoms of water was 

 the limit in which this net could be worked. Now the 

 modern trawler is a much larger boat, and carries two 

 " otter " trawls, each with a spread of one hundred feet, 

 and while one trawl is gathering up everything from 

 the bottom at a depth of a hundred fathoms or more, 

 the fish from the other trawl are being sorted and 

 gutted. 



As an illustration of the catches these boats some- 

 time make, I quote from the Fish Traders' Gazette, of 

 June 3rd, 1911. 



" The largest halibut on record arrived at Billings- 

 gate market last week. It weighed some seven hundred 

 pounds, or nearly one-third of a ton, and was part of 

 a catch of one hundred tons of fish from the White Sea, 

 landed by the trawler Macfarlane, of Hull." 



This leviathian took six porters to carry it. 



To those interested in our food from the sea, a morn- 

 ing at Billingsgate well repays the trouble of an early 

 rise. The incessant string of porters in their white 

 overalls and quaint shaped hats, the loud tones of 

 the auctioneers, and the clatter of boxes, as tons of fish 

 are deposited on the floor, makes a scene of animation 

 seldom met with. Do not go, however, in your patent 

 leather shoes, as I did on the occasion of my first visit, 

 for I had crept out of the house where I was staying at 

 4 a.m., and at that time in the morning hesitated 

 to ring for my boots. 



