90 VISIT TO A CURING ESTABLISHMENT. 



enjoys. I was afforded the opportunity of following 

 a lot of freshly-caught herring to one of these estab- 

 lishments the Yare Fishery Works over which I 

 was shown by one of the proprietors, Mr. C. Stacy- 

 Watson, who I observed had just had the honour of 

 taking a noble lord over his extensive premises. 

 Messrs. Stacy- Watson's establishment is a short dis- 

 tance behind the Fish Wharf. It has been constructed 

 on the newest principles, and has been fitted with the 

 latest improvements, so as to economize time and 

 labour. This fish-curing establishment is in the form 

 of a parallelogram. When the swills of herring have 

 been brought by the long carts into the yard, they are 

 carried into a brick-floored building, entered by slid- 

 ing doors, called a " barfe " house. Here the herring 

 are sometimes heaped up in " cobs," that is, in piles 

 varying from eighteen inches to three feet high, the 

 preservative salt being sprinkled over layer after layer 

 of fish. Under this process the herring acquire that 

 degree of saltness which the curer deems necessary. 

 In the " barfe " house are several huge tubs or vats, 

 in which the herring are next washed, so as to remove 

 the loose salt and scales, and any dirt which may 

 have got among them from the time they were caught. 

 The next process is that of " spitting " them. This is 

 done by women. The " spits " are rods of wood, four 

 feet long, with pointed ends, which are inserted 

 through the gills of the fish. As each " spit " is filled 

 with fish, it is placed in a " room " in a drying-house. 

 This word " room " has, however, a meaning which 

 differs from the conventional term. These herring 



