FISHING PORTS 215 



used for refitting and by vessels going out of commission, 

 and contains careening slips. Hull exports cod and fresh 

 fish, especially to London ; it is despatched to Billings- 

 gate Market in carrier-boats ; but there is no herring 

 fishery, as at Grimsby. 



The most important centre of the herring fishery in 

 England is Yarmouth-Lowestoft. Yarmouth Harbour, 

 says M. Roy, "lies along the course of a river, the 

 entrance of which is difficult, owing to powerful cur- 

 rents ; there are two wooden jetties, with a sharp turn 

 between them. Cargoes of herring are landed at some 

 distance from the pretty little town, and are prepared in 

 factories situated between the river and the beach. All 

 herring are landed in the market and measured by 

 narrow two-handled wicker basket- measures, of which 

 two make a "cran," the legal measure. They are sold by 

 auction, and carried to the factories in waggons. At 

 Lowestoft they are sold as in the Shetlands : on the 

 arrival of the boat a sample only of the cargo is sent 

 to the market and sold by auction. The boat proceeds 

 to discharge its cargo at the stall or warehouse rented 

 by the buyer in the market itself." 



Aberdeen, the largest fishing port in Scotland, 

 possesses a basin nearly 15 acres in area, formed by the 

 ancient bed of the river Dee, which has been diverted to 

 the south. The basin is enclosed by wooden piers with 

 paved quay-tops. Dredgers maintain a depth of from 10 

 feet to 14 feet 6 inches along the quays. The Fish Dock is 

 accessible at any state of the tide. The whole of the 

 northern and western quays is covered by an immense 

 shed. Here every morning the trawlers and line-fishers 

 haul alongside ; here, too, is held a special market for 

 salmon, which are caught along the coast in stake-nets. 

 The fish chiefly exported is the haddock ; it is divided 



