A Pleasant Time at Penzance. 55 



least so we imagine by his struggles, and finally we 

 haul in a handsome specimen of the whiting-pollack, 

 weighing some six or seven pounds. Having filled a 

 large-sized basket with many denizens of the deep, 

 we heave up our anchor and scud swiftly to the 

 harbour of Penzance. After this it was suggested 

 that I should embark on board one of the Newlyn 

 fishing boats, and pass the night in attempting to 

 ensnare the pilchard. Now, touching this fish, which 

 greatly resembles the herring, I had read in some 

 musty old tome which spoke of Cornish folk, " They 

 make likewise a gainful trade of those little fishes 

 they call pilchards, which are seen upon the coast in 

 great swarms from July to November. These they 

 catch, garbage, salt, smoak, barrel, press, and so 

 send them in great numbers to France, Spain, and 

 Italy, where they are a welcome commodity, and are 

 named ' Fumados.' " 



As in those ancient days, so at the present time is 

 this important trade carried on by Messrs. Bolitho, 

 the bankers, merchants, seine owners, tanners, land- 

 owners, farmers, tin smelters, and I know not what 

 beside, of Penzance. By all means let me for once 

 " go catch the pilchard." Leaving Penzance at four 

 o'clock, the yawl, of which I have spoken before, 

 bears me over the rippling waves to the fleet of boats 

 preparing for the night's work. After a few tacks 

 we make the harbour of Newlyn, one of the greatest 

 fishing villages in Cornwall, and I am put alongside 

 the craft on which I am to gain my experience. 

 8oon our complement of men is complete. Four 

 sturdy fishermen form the crew, who earn a hard 

 wage, often at the risk of their lives, on this rugged 



