TRAWLING 



most expensive fish on the market soles. The net had 

 somehow stumbled across a hollow, where a complete 

 colony of these creatures had taken up its abode ; and, in 

 a short time, seven tons of them were taken. The value 

 of such a catch would be at least 400. I have heard this 

 tale from fishermen in various quarters, and Mr. James 

 Runciman, writing in 1886, speaks of it as an established 

 fact, adding that the haul was described to him by an 

 actual member of the fortunate crew. 



The methods of raising the net differ. Our East Coast 

 boat will, in all probability, have a kind of patent capstan, 

 worked by steam power, which hoists the trawl amid- 

 ships ; the southern boats, however, like the shrimpers, 

 have a large hand-winch or windlass which draws up the 

 fore-bridle over the bows, while the after-bridle is pulled 

 up by hand, or wound round a smaller winch astern. 

 These South Coast trawlers, by the way, do not usually 

 fish in fleets as the others do. 



At last the beam shows itself above water, and strong 

 hands lift it over the bulwarks. But how on earth, asks 

 the neophyte, can those ropes bear the strain of such a 

 weight ? More, how can those paltry-looking bits of 

 string, that form the meshes, hold together when weighed 

 down by a burthen so tremendous ? Such a question 

 belongs to the realm of mechanics ; the fact remains that 

 not one rope in ten thousand does break, and it is the 

 exception rather than the rule for a mesh to give way. 



Now only the net lies in the water, and, by means of 

 stout ropes, this is hoisted up and its contents shot out 

 on to a space temporarily boarded off on deck. 



38 



