THE LANDINGS 147 



employ 8000 or 10,000 men, who are mainly 

 occupied in fishing for anchovies and 

 herrings, which they cure in the small 

 fishing villages, mainly for export into 

 Prussia. They also catch the smelts, eels, 

 and shrimps which go to the London 

 market. London also imports great quan- 

 tities of oysters from the Scheldt, all the 

 banks of the river being leased by the 

 Dutch Government, who took up over 

 40,000,000 oysters in 1910. Mussel culture 

 is also a great feature of the district. 



Russia. The demand for fish in Russia 

 is enormous. Nearly half the days of the 

 year are holy days, on which the Greek 

 Church forbids the use of animal food ; 

 consequently fish is highly in favour. 

 Although there are thousands of square 

 miles of fishing banks on the North coast, 

 very little use is made of them, and Russia 

 annually imported herrings to the value 

 of 2,000,000 from Britain and Norway, 

 a great quantity of which came through 

 Germany. Although they have attempted 

 to develop the White Sea from Archangel, 

 the exploitation has been very slow, and 

 a host of small traders prefer to take goods 



