446 A FISHING " TOUN." [CHAP. x. 



or gully with a small stream, and at the bottom of this ravine 

 there is a small piece of level ground where a fish-curing house 

 is erected, and where also the fishermen pull up their boats that 

 they may be safe from easterly gales. There are in all about 

 seventeen boats' crews at Auchmithie. Winding roads with 

 steps lead down the side of the steep brae to the beach. There 

 are a few half-tide rocks in the bight that may help to break 

 the fury of waves raised by easterly winds ; but there is no 

 harbour or pier for the boats to land at or receive shelter from, 

 and this the fishermen complain of, as they have to pay 2 

 a year for the privilege of each boat. The beach is steep, and 

 strewed with large pebbles, excellently adapted, they say, for 

 drying fish upon. 



The visitor, in addition to studying the quaint people, 

 may explore one of the vast caves which only a few years ago 

 were the nightly refuge of the smuggler. Brandy Cove and 

 Gaylet Pot are worth inspection, and inspire a mingled feeling 

 of terror and grandeur. The visitor may also take a look at 

 the " Spindle " a large detached piece of the cliffs, shaped 

 something like a corn -stack, or a boy's top with the apex 

 uppermost. When the tide is full this rock is surrounded 

 with water, and appears like an island. Fisher-life may be 

 witnessed here in all its unvarnished simplicity. Indeed 

 nothing could well be more primitive than their habits and 

 mode of life. I have seen the women of Auchmithie " kilt 

 their coats" and rush into the water in order to aid in shoving 

 off the boats, and on the return of the little fleet carry the 

 men ashore on their brawny shoulders with the greatest ease 

 and all the nonchalance imaginable, no matter who might be 

 looking at them. Their peculiar way of smoking their had- 

 docks may be taken as a very good example of their other 

 modes of industry. Instead of splitting the fish after cleaning 

 them, as the regular curers do, they smoke them in their round 

 shape. They use a barrel without top or bottom as a substitute 



