HERRING FISHERIES. 223 



ifl day of Ofttber. , The revenue officers declared, 

 That, on and before, meaned > on y and not before. 



Another ftatute exprefsly fays, 'That allperfens em* 

 ployed in thefifoeries, may Jit out for any part of the Bri- 

 tifljjeas, or the ijlands belonging h the crown of Great 

 Britain. But the licences granted by the revenue t offi- 

 cers to the bufles on clearing out, borCjtbat/ucb a veffel 

 was to proceed to the North-weft Highlands -, and the 

 oaths adminiftercd on the' fufferance inwards, was, 

 that the herrings were caught on the coafts of Scotland. 

 Thofe who could not take this oath had the mortifi- 

 cation to find themfeives deprived of the parliarneij- 

 tary bounty, a well as the drawback on exportation 

 of the herrings, which government allows in lieu of 

 the duty upon fait ufed in curing the fiih. There 

 was a wanton cruelty in thefe reftricYions which thofe 

 only, who are acquainted with the weftern coafts, and 

 the nature of the fifheries, can fully comprehend: The 

 herririgs for fome years pad did not appear in fucji 

 -quantities as formerly. In 1782, the coaft feemed 

 to be totally abandoned by the Ihoals - t yet during 

 thefe years tlley crowded upon the north coaft of 

 Ireland and the I lie of Man, where the Scots were 

 precluded from following them. Thus, though the 

 ftatutes are clear and decided, it would feem thit 

 their fpirit evaporates in a journey of 400 miles ; and 

 the fifhers are obliged to ftruggle for a time under 

 the fpuripus decrees of fubordinate officers. Upon 

 the whole, the lofTes and injuries, pofitive and nega- 

 tive, fuftained in confequence of thefe reftri&ions, 

 by the merchants, adventurers, carpenters, coopers, 

 and thoufands of labouring people, cannot be efthnatcd 

 at lefs than 160,000!. befides the injury done to. the 

 public, in thus counteracting the exertions of govern- 

 ment for raifing a body of men, on whom our com- 

 merce, our colonies, and even our exiftence, as a 

 free, imperial empire, depend. 



