THE FISHERMEN 245 



This aspect of the question is simple enough in appear- 

 ance ; it is not so in reality, as the possible financial 

 combinations are almost unlimited, and it is not unusual, 

 on board one vessel and on the same voyage, to find 

 the most varied methods of payment. These methods 

 very commonly partake of a system still very general 

 the system of shares. 1 



The simplest form of this system is the following : 

 At Douarnenez, for example, every patron or master- 

 fisher, owning his cutter, fits it out and equips it with 

 sails, rigging, and nets. The fish being sold, the 

 general expenses are deducted and the net profits 

 halved ; one-half goes to the master, one to the men. 

 At Concarneau eleven shares are divided among six 

 persons thus : five and a half shares to the master, five 

 to the men, and half a share to the boy. When the 

 boat is owned by several fishermen there are one or 

 two shares reserved to the boat as well as the shares 

 which are divided equally among the men. A cutter 

 manned by six men would probably take two shares, 

 and the men a share apiece, making eight equal shares, 

 so that the owner would take three ; or if owned by 

 two men each would take two shares. In the case of 

 the ox-trawl or gangui drawn by two tartanes, the net 



1 In English ports, in the old days, not only fishing boats, but 

 also merchant vessels, and even privateers, and (in Cornwall 

 especially) smugglers and pirates, were "farmed" for the voyage 

 or the term : that is, the ship was hired from the owner by a 

 loosely-compacted group of shareholders, who put up the money 

 to fit and provision the vessel, pay the crew, and buy a cargo, 

 afterwards dividing the profits in proportion. About ten years ago, 

 during the decline of the Dundee whaling trade, many whaling 

 vessels were "farmed" for the voyage by groups of friends and 

 relations of both sexes, the captain usually " standing in." In 

 Cornwall the seines are often owned by a landowner or speculator, 

 but the boats (in shares) by the men. [TRANS.] 



