232 THE EN0RM0U8 qUANTITT TAKEN. 



net about fifteen yards long upon the rope, fastened by small 

 cords called "seizings." These nets are floated by corks 

 placed at intervals of a few feet from each other; the warp 

 which supports the whole is frequently a mile in length, and 

 is borne up by small^ buoys. The nets themselves are 

 usually made in four parts or widths, called '* lints," one be- 

 ing placed above another, and so forming a wall in the sea, 

 against which the fish are invited to drive their heads. 



This fishing is carried on during the night only, it being 

 supposed that the stretching of the nets in the daytime 

 would drive away the shoal. In the dusk of the evening 

 the nets are thrown over the side, and the boat is then 

 steered under an easy sail, or allowed to drift with the tide 

 until daylight, when the nets are hauled in. A single boat 

 has sometimes, in one night, taken twelve or fourteen lasts 

 of hearings, each *' last" numbering ten thousand fish, or, by 

 the fisherman's calculation, thirteen thousand two hundred ; 

 but it often happens that a boat does not obtain more than 

 this quantity during the season. The average catch for each 

 boat is about thirty " lasts" (three hundred thousand) ; but 

 a boat has been known to bring in the enormous quantity 

 of two hundred and sixty-four thousand herring at one time. 

 Like all fisheries, the result is very uncertain. It is a curious 

 and bountiful provision of nature that forces the herring, 

 and other fish usually distributed through the deep, to congre- 

 gate together, and visit the shores in such immense abun- 

 dance, at a time when they are in the highest perfection, 

 and when most fitted for human food. 



The herring dies as soon as it leaves the water, hence 

 the phrase *' as dead as a herring." The fishes are therefore 

 salted as soon as caught, and when the boat has reached 

 land they are brought to shore, and carried to the fish-house 

 in " swills," which are open coarse wicker baskets. Arrived 

 at the fish '* office," the herrings, after being sufficiently 

 salted, remain on the floor for twenty-four hours if intended 



