THE TRAWL-NET. 241 



some of the nets in use at the present day are, how- 

 ever, more immediately the subjects to be here de- 

 scribed, as well as the modes by which they are suc- 

 cessfully worked. 



The trawl, or trawling-net, more generally used 

 than any other on those parts of our coast where the 

 ground surface is of sand, or otherwise smooth, has a 

 beam of eighteen or twenty feet in length, the extent 

 of the beam being the breadth of the mouth of the 

 net ; the length of the net is from three to four times 

 the length of the beam. In the representation of this 

 net here given, the rope that runs through the block 

 is called the trawl-warp, and is the only connection 



between the boat and the net when the net is over- 

 board. The ropes passing obliquely backward from 

 the block to the ends of the trawl-beam are called the 

 bridle, and serve effectually to keep the open mouth 

 of the net square to the front as the net is drawn 

 along over the ground by the boat. The trawl-beam 

 is four inches in diameter, and is supported at the 

 height of twenty or twenty-four inches above the 

 ground by a heavy frame of iron of a particular form 



