PILCHARD FISHING, 355 



fish spring up from within that spot ! The shore 

 is soon lined with assistants. Some row off with 

 ( tuck nets' to the great boat and let the said 

 small tucks down inside the large seine. The 

 waters are beaten with oars and loaded ropes, 

 and thus the fish are frightened into a narrower 

 space. Listen to the discordant noises on the 

 shore! Boys shout shrilly; dogs bark loudly; 

 and women chatter, and all these sounds mingle 

 with the deep-toned nautical ( Yo ! heave ho ! yo ! 

 hoy ! hoy ! hoy !' at sea. Though yourself a calm 

 reticent student when in London you catch the 

 Cornish enthusiasm, and as if your whole venture 

 was in pilchards you yourself shout and shriek, 

 and jump and rave. Never mind ; all is right. 

 To shore comes the little crowd of boats, and out 

 on the bare beach is poured one teeming, strug- 

 gling, leaping, panting mass of silvery scales !" 



A A 2 



