6o Hark Away, 



six. From what I gathered in conversation with 

 my companions, it appears that some one makes a 

 large profit by the sale of fish, and it is not the 

 fisherman. He risks his life, the owner, the boat 

 and nets, and the result of the sale of mackerel, 

 for instance is, that they realise one halfpenny each 

 on an average. Who makes the extra profit of six- 

 pence or eightpence is not very clear, but I have 

 been told that a system exists of withholding fish 

 and feeding the market, Avhich leads to the loss of 

 hundreds of tons, which are allowed to spoil rather 

 than the price should be lowered. I believe I should 

 have little difiiculty in proving this fact, and I think 

 that those who wantonly waste the food of their 

 fellow-creatures should smart for it. 



On the following day I am offered a ride to 

 Helston by a gentleman who attends the market 

 in this quiet and secluded borough, which is situ- 

 ated ten miles from any railway. As we pass along, 

 following for many miles the coast-line, the view is 

 lovely. I observe as we go that nearly all the 

 mines are, to use the expression of the country, 

 " knocked " — that is to say, abandoned ; and I am 

 told that there are very few indeed at work through- 

 out West Cornwall, and that 10,000 of the sturdy 

 miners have migrated or emigrated within the last 

 two or three years, and that it no longer pays to 

 raise tin. Oh, what a falling off is here since 

 " Michael," a Cornish poet, writing of his country- 

 men many long years ago, said — 



" 'Twere needless to recount their wondrous store, 

 Vast wealth, and fair provision for the poor ; 

 In fish and tin they know no rival shore." 



