302 SEA FISHERIES 



boats 46 feet ; and the decked cutters of Cape Breton 

 41 feet. 



I cannot go deeply into the question of the construc- 

 tion of new motor-boats ; at the same time, the problem, 

 as I see it, is simple enough. The various types of fish- 

 ing boat are, as I have said, local products regional 

 products, to use the term; they answer certain given 

 requirements ; they correspond to local methods, local 

 traditions. Time has selected them, and they have 

 survived its criticism. It is therefore only reasonable 

 to preserve these forms, only fitting them with motors. 

 This has nearly always been done. 1 It was sufficient to 

 round the lines of the " Ewers " of the Elbe, and to carry 

 the section of greatest beam a little aft, to make excellent 

 motor-boats of these ancient vessels. One of the largest 

 " dandies " of the Pomeranian coast, the Memel, built in 

 1903 especially to receive a motor, is merely a copy of 

 the old Danish "kutter." During a long journey in 

 Scandinavia I was struck with the ease with which the 

 old Viking types (which we find slightly altered in the 

 Seine estuary, as is only natural) carried their heavy petrol 

 motors. When automobile fishery was introduced in the 

 Arcachon lagoon, it never occurred to any one to desert 

 the familiar " pinnaces." Must we conclude from this 

 that all reforms must be proscribed ? By no means ; on 

 the contrary, we must encourage the builders to intro- 

 duce such improvements as they think necessary. 2 Last 



1 The specially shaped "slipper" boats and other new types 

 make very poor weather, and most of them waste power in raising 

 enormous " wakes." I have often, on the other hand, been struck 

 with the unlooked-for speed obtained from quite a small motor 

 fitted to a good type of fishing boat or pilot-cutter. [TRANS.] 



* As the fishing boat must carry a heavy load, be roomy 

 within, and make as little leeway as possible in a wind, it is obvious 

 that the old types of boat will survive. The flat-bottomed boat is 



