13. A FLEET OF NETS 



It is fifty years or more since machine-made drift- 

 nets of cotton were first boated on our beach, 

 amid loud prophecies of failure, in place of the 

 old hempen nets made by hand; yet some of the 

 prestige accorded to hand-made gear, some of its 

 sentiment and the affection in which it Is held, 

 seems still to cling about a fleet of nets. No 

 longer brided knot after knot, mesh after mesh, 

 through months of patient toil, by women and old 

 men, they still convey that keener sense of pos- 

 session which toil gives. There are things proper 

 to be done with them, whether necessary at the 

 moment or not. They have their traditional 

 ceremonies. They ought to be spread on the 

 beach to dry at such and such times, and barked 

 at certain seasons. That a fisherman does not 

 trouble to treat his nets well is a handy slur to 

 throw at him. They are the costliest part of his 

 gear; they require the most careful looking after. 



123 



