CHAP, x.] INDUSTRY AT AUCHMITHIE. 447 



for a curing-house. The barrel being inserted a little distance 

 in the ground, an old kail-pot or kettle, filled with sawdust, is 

 placed at the bottom, and the inside is then filled with as 

 many fish as can conveniently be hung in it. The sawdust is 

 then set fire to, and a piece of canvas thrown over the top of 

 the barrel : by this means the females of Auchmithie smoke 

 their haddocks in a round state, and very excellent they are 

 when, the fish are caught in season. The daily routine of 

 fisher-life at Auchmithie is simple and unvarying ; year by 

 year, and all the year round, it changes only from one branch 

 of the fishery to another. The season, of course, brings about 

 its joys and sorrows : sad deaths, which overshadow the 

 village with gloom ; or marriages, when the people may ven- 

 ture to hold some simple fete, but only to send them back 

 with renewed vigour to their occupations. Time, as it sweeps 

 over them, only indicates a period when the deep-sea hand- 

 lines must be laid aside for the herring-drift, or when the men 

 must take a toilsome journey in search of bait for their lines. 

 Their scene of labour is on the sea, ever on the sea ; and, 

 trusting themselves on the mighty waters, they pursue their 

 simple craft with persevering industry, never heeding that they 

 are scorched by the suns of summer or benumbed by the frosts 

 of winter. There is, of course, an appropriate season for the 

 capture of each particular kind of fish. There are days when 

 the men fish inshore for haddocks ; and there are times when, 

 with their frail vessels, the fishermen sail long distances to 

 procure larger fish in the deep seas, and when they must 

 remain in their open boats for a few days and nights. But 

 the El-dorado of all the coast tribe is "the herring." This 

 abounding and delightful fish, which can be taken at one place 

 or another from January to December, yields a six weeks' 

 fishing in the autumn of the year, to which, as has already 

 been stated, all the fisher-folk look forward with hope, as a 

 period of money-making, and which, so far as the young people 



