188 ON THE ECONOMICAL USES OF FISHES. 



the small quantity which their vessels are capable 

 of containing, in order to cover the expense of fit- 

 ting out, and ensure some profit to themselves, can 

 only do so by preparing their few barrels in a very 

 superior way, more as a delicacy than a staple 

 article of food. The British, again, fish in the neigh- 

 bourhood of their own coasts, and the immense 

 numbers of fish which they take can only be either 

 disposed of when fresh, or cured by them in the 

 most expeditious way, and their profits are insured 

 by selling a large quantity at a very low rate. 



The value of the herring fishery in this country 

 has been long progressively increasing. The fisheries 

 in the north of Scotland, for instance, have been of 

 immense benefit to the neighbouring counties, and 

 have opened up a mine of wealth not easily to be 

 exhausted. Thus, according to the Parliamentary 

 reports of that date, in the year ended on the 5th 

 April, 1819, the astonishing quantity of 340,660 

 barrels was landed from the fishery and cured, and 

 of this, 227,162 barrels were exported from Great 

 Britain, chiefly to Ireland, the continent of Europe, 

 the West Indies, and even to Calcutta. Of this 

 quantity only one twenty-second part of the whole 

 was taken by English fishermen, the rest was the 

 produce of the Scottish coast, the little town of 

 Wick furnishing nearly one-fifth of the whole. 



The herring is taken in drift nets somewhat simi- 

 lar to those employed for mackarel and pilchards, 

 and much judgment is required in laying them to 



