40 ANCIENT FISHING INDUSTRIES. [CHAP. n. 



in the solid rock, ten yards in depth, and having a circumfer- 

 ence of one hundred and sixty feet. It is used chiefly as a 

 preserve to ensure a constant supply of fish, which are taken 

 in the neighbouring bay when the weather is fine, and trans- 

 ferred to the pond, which communicates with the sea by a 

 narrow passage. It is generally well stocked with cod, 

 haddock, and flat fish, which in the course of time become 

 very tame ; and 1 regret to say, from want of proper shelter, 

 most of the animals become blind. The fish have of course to 

 be fed, and they partake greedily, even from the hand of their 

 keeper, of the mass of boiled mussels, limpets, whelks, etc., with 

 which they are fed, and their flavour is really unexceptionable. 



Coming back, however, to the subject of fresh- water fish- 

 ponds, it may be stated that at one time some very large but 

 simply- constructed fish-ponds, or stews as they w^ere then called, 

 existed in various parts of England, but that, as the commerce 

 in sea fish gradually extended, these were given up, except as 

 adjuncts to the amenities of gentlemen's pleasure-grounds. 

 Ornamental canals and fish-ponds are not at all uncommon in 

 the parks of our country gentlemen, although they are not 

 required for fish-breeding purposes, as the fast London or 

 provincial trains carry baskets of fish to a distance of one 

 hundred miles in a veiy few hours, so that a turbot or whiting- 

 is in excellent condition for a late dinner. 



All the ancient fishing industries, whether those that still 

 exist or those that are extinct, except in their remains, bear 

 traces of the times in which they originated. Pisciculture 

 (which I shall describe at some length by and by) arose at a 

 very ancient period, and was chiefly resorted to in connection 

 with fresh-water fishes the ova of such being the most readily 

 obtainable ; or with the mollusca, as these could bear a long 

 transport, having a reservoir of water in their shell. The sea 

 fishers of the olden time dealt with the fish for the purpose of 

 their being cured with salt or otherwise, simply, as has already 



