294 HISTORY OF THE 



fifti in the fame maner as thofe do who go from the 

 fhore in a coble, with this difference only, that here 

 each man is provided with double the quantity of 

 lines, and inftead of waiting the return of tide in the 

 coble, return to the boat and bait their other lines ; 

 thus hauling one let and fhooting another every turn 

 of tide. They* commonly run into harbour twice a 

 week to deliver their fifh. The 5 men boat is decked 

 at each end, but open in the middle, and has two 

 large lug-fails. 



The beft bait for all kinds of fifh is frefh herring 

 cut in pieces of a proper fize, and notwithftanding 

 what has been faid to the contrary, they are taken 

 here at any time in the winter, and all the fpring, 

 whenever the fifhermen put down their nets for that 

 purpofc. The 5 men boat always takes fome nets 

 for that end. Next to the herrings are the. leffer 

 lampreys,* which come all winter by land carriage 

 from Tadcafter. The next baits in efteem are fmall 

 haddocks cut in pieces, fand-worms, mufcles, and 

 limpets ; and laftly, when none of thefe can be had, 

 they ufe bullock's liver. The hooks ufed here are 

 much fmaller than thofe employed at Iceland and 

 Newfoundland. Experience has fhewn that the larger 

 filri will take a living fmall one upon the hook, 

 fooner than any bait that can be put on ; therefore 

 they ufe fuch as the fmall fifli can fwallow. The 

 hooks are 2j inches long in the fhank, near an inch 



* The lefler lampreys are chiefly taken in the Thames between 

 Chelfea and Stains. They are fold as bait to the people of Har- 

 wich, and others engaged in the white fifhery, at 6 guineas per 

 thoufand ; but the great purchafers are the Dutch merchants, 

 who contract for 400,000 per annum, at 3!. per 1000, and con- 

 vey them to Holland in large veflels of 200 tons, each veflel car- 

 rying 50,000. The contract this year hath not been fully com- 

 pleted, on the part of the Englifh fifhermen, 300,000 only having 

 teen fent. This nfeful fpecies of the Lamprey are alfo found in 

 the Severn and the Dee, 



wide 



