REASONS ASSIGNED FOR THEIR DISAPPEARANCE. 575 



stench, might at times be met with far away from land ;* 

 the very great destruction of the fry and lesser fish, 

 owing to the small size of the meshes of the nets 

 customary in the Skargard ; and lastly the use of the Wad, 

 a drag-net of gigantic proportions, which, sweeping the 

 bottom, proved destructive to all the grass and other 

 plants, amongst which herrings are accustomed to spawn." 

 The "Wad," I should observe in parenthesis, was 

 from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty 

 fathoms in length, and from twelve to fifteen fathoms in 

 depth, with hauling lines four to five hundred fathoms 

 long. It was cast into the water as far from land as 

 practicable, so as to enclose the greatest possible number 

 of fish, and was drawn to the beach by means of 

 windlasses. Three boats and fourteen to fifteen men 

 were required to manage one of these enormous nets. 

 Under favourable circumstances, upwards of two thousand 

 barrels (about eight thousand bushels) of herrings were 

 taken at a single haul. There were usually twelve to 

 eighteen individuals to a " Wad," the most intelligent of 

 whom, the Wad-kung, or king, as he was called, took the 

 command. Sometimes several of these Wad-lag, or com- 

 panies, made common cause, and by uniting their several 

 nets were thus enabled altogether to block up the 

 entrance of a bay or inlet, in which case the fish were 

 landed in nets of smaller dimensions. But covetousness 

 often gets the better of prudence ; for it frequently 

 happened that the net ' inclosed such a multitude of 

 herrings that the men were unable to draw it on shore ; 

 and from the fish being packed together in dense masses, 

 they presently died, and were left to rot at the bottom of 



* Though more than half a century has since elapsed, the places where 

 this filth deposited itself in any considerable quantity are still quite visible, 

 and by the fishermen are called Dvd-bottiiar, or dead spots. 



