368 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 
and to entangle the corals in its coarse meshes. The labour, 
as may be imagined, is very great; frequently, after a long toil, 
the net is brought up empty, or filled only with other marine 
productions, which, however interesting they may be to the 
naturalist, are perfectly worthless in the eyes of the coral-fisher; 
and not seldom immense exertions are required to loosen it from 
the rocks, among which it has got entangled. 
The chief seat of the coral-fishery is at present along the 
coasts of Algeria and Tunis, where it is almost exclusively 
carried on by the Italians, who fit out more than 400 small 
ships, or “ corallines,” of from five to sixteen tons, for this pur- 
pose. In spring this fleet of nut-shells leaves the ports of Torre 
del Greco, Sicily, Sardinia, and Genoa, and proceeds to its 
various points of destination, where it remains until the 
autumnal gales compel the fragile “corallines” to retire. Every 
month or fortnight the products of the fishery are delivered up 
to agents in Bona or La Calle, under whose direction the corals 
are sorted, packed in cases, and sent to Naples, Leghorn, or 
Genoa, where they are cut, polished, and manufactured into 
necklaces and other ornaments or trinkets. About 4,000 sailors 
are employed in the fishery, each man receiving an average pay 
of 380 franks for the season, which he almost entirely brings 
home with him, his trifling expenses on land being generally 
defrayed by the small pieces of coral he manages to conceal 
from the sharp eye of the ‘‘ padrone.” The average quantity 
of corals fished by each “coralline” amounts to about six 
hundredweight, and the total value of the fishery to more than 
200,0001., without taking into account the produce of the fisheries 
at Stromboli, in the Straits of Messina, and other parts of the 
Italian coast. 
The manufactured articles sell of course for a much higher 
price, so that the “red coral” is a by no means inconsiderable 
article of trade. Great quantities are exported to India, and in 
Leghorn and Genoa several large manufactories work exclusively 
for that distant market, where the blood-red corals, whose 
colour harmonises with the dark complexion of the native 
ladies, are particularly in demand, while those of a roseate hue 
are preferred in Europe. 
The fishermen have a strange belief that the corals are by 
nature soft, but immediately turn into stone from terror when 
