FISHES. 



Dutch Auction. Fishermen selling Mackerel at Hastings. 



The above print represents a scene, which may often be witnessed at an active fishing town — a Dutch 

 Auction. The mode of proceeding is to divide the fish into heaps, immediately on their being landed ; and 

 the persons desiring to purchase being assembled, one of the fishermen or owners of the boat, acts as sales- 

 man naming a price above the actual value and at the same time uplifting a large stone, wherewith to " knock 

 down a lot." A lot, which eventually may sell at forty shillings, is offered for sixty shillings, the salesman 

 rapidly naming a series of lower prices until he gets a "bid," when the stone is cast on the ground, and so 

 the first bidder becomes a buyer. The descending instead of an ascending scale enables the vendors to finish 

 the business more speedily, and is perhaps the fairest of all methods of selling at auction. 



The. Mackerel fishery is the liveliest operation of its kind. The flesh of this fish being tender and liable 

 to taint, the greatest dispatch is used in getting it to market. A light gale, gently rippling the water's sur- 

 face and named a mackerel gale, is most favorable to the fisherman, who follows his vocation chiefly by night. 



Mackerel. 



Mackerel. 



il: 



