260 THE CURE. [CHAP. vi. 



ness during the period when these fisheries were in their most 

 prosperous condition ; in fact, he may be said to have seen the 

 culmination of the trade. He was foremost in action when 

 an attempt was made to abolish the Fishery Board for Scot- 

 land. His accurate acquaintance with the trade, and his 

 knowledge of the natural history of the fish, and the precise 

 nature of his statements as to the value of the Board, were the 

 means of converting the Government of his time, so that the 

 Board was maintained in its integrity. Mr. Methuen's powers 

 of observation were considerable ; he once reasoned out by a 

 reference to some old letters the precise spot where a local 

 shoal of herrings was to be found. I have alluded to his plan 

 of gathering knowledge from all with whom he come in con- 

 tact ; he stored up such letters of his agents as contained facts 

 for future use, and often found them of service. At one of 

 his stations in the far North the fishing had been unsuccessful 

 for. the greater part of the season, and there was no prospect 

 of improvement, when he gave it his consideration. Looking 

 over his agent's letters at said place for some years back, he 

 found, by a comparison of dates, that at a certain spot herrings 

 were to be found. He accordingly instructed his agent to send 

 his boats to that spot. The fishermen simply laughed at the 

 idea of an individual sitting some hundreds of miles away and 

 telling them where to get fish. But as his orders were positive, 

 they had to obey, and the consequence was that they returned 

 the next morning loaded with herrings. 



Having explained the relation of the curers to the trade, 

 I must now speak of the cure the greater number of the 

 herrings caught on the coast of Scotland being pickled in salt ; 

 a result originally, 110 doubt, of the want of speedy modes of 

 transit to large seats of population, where herrings would be 

 largely consumed if they could arrive in a sufficiently fresh 

 state to be palatable. At stations about Wick the quantity 

 of herrings disposed of fresh is comparatively small, so that by 



