THE FISHERIES OF THE FAII EAST 



fisherman has about half a dozen birds among them, 

 perhaps, a couple of "apprentices' 1 and these have all 

 arranged themselves in a row at one end of the raft with 

 their eyes solemnly fixed on their master. With a wave 

 of the hand or a snap of the fingers, he summons the 

 first ; it waddles up to him and jumps on to his open 

 hand. Petting it and gently smoothing its feathers, the 

 fisherman seems to whisper confidentially to the bird ; 

 then places it on the edge of the raft and stands by to 

 await developments. 



Then the cormorant dips its bill into the water once or 

 twice, jerks its head from side to side, gives a shake to its 

 tail, and suddenly disappears. Meanwhile the other birds, 

 huddled together in a perfectly straight line, look on, ex- 

 pectant of a summons from their master. After an inter- 

 val of about a quarter of a minute the diver reappears at 

 some distance from where it went in, holding in its mouth 

 a struggling fish of the dace or roach tribes. It swims 

 over to the raft, springs aboard, hops lightly on to the 

 fisherman's knee, and is relieved of its burden ; and the 

 master, having placed the fish in the basket, goes through 

 the same endearments as before, and again puts the bird 

 on the raft-edge. The same thing happens again, and 

 perhaps three or four times over, till, thinking the bird 

 has done enough, the fisherman once more caresses it and 

 deposits it in the middle of the raft ; this is a sign that 

 the faithful creature may take a rest ; and, full of pride 

 at its exploits, it struts away to the opposite side, where 

 it takes up a position on the rail and stares superciliously 

 at its friends that are still waiting their turn. 



183 



