OSSEOUS FISHES. 587 



The Basque fishermen employ a net in the form of a sack, with 

 rings at each corner. 



On the coast of Cornwall, as we have hinted, it is one of the staple 

 industries, and pursued systematically. Where they come from, and 

 whither they go, seems alike unknown. All that is certain is, that 

 they are met with in shoals swimming past the Scilly Islands as early 

 as July. In August the inshore fishing hegins, and they appear on 

 various parts of the coast as far north as Devonshire and the south 

 coast of Ireland up to October and November ; no doubt those which 

 have escaped the innumerable nets spread for them. 



" The first sight from the cliffs of a shoal of pilchards," says Mr. 

 Collins, in the work already quoted, " is not a little interesting. They 

 produce on the sea the appearance of the shadow of a dark cloud, 

 which approaches until you can see the fish leaping and playing on 

 the -surface by hundreds at a time, all huddled close together, and so 

 near the shore that they can be caught in fifty or sixty feet of water. 

 Indeed, when the shoals are of considerable magnitude, the fish behind 

 have been known literally to force the fish in front up to the beach, 

 so that they could be taken in baskets, or even with the hand. 



" With the discovery of the first shoal, the active duties of the look- 

 out, or huer, on the cliffs begin. Each fishing village places one or 

 more of these men on the watch all round the coast. He is, therefore, 

 not only paid his guinea a week while he is on the watch, but a per- 

 centage on the produce of all the fish taken under his auspices. He 

 is placed at his post, where he can command an uninterrupted view of 

 the sea, some days before the pilchards are expected. 



" The principal boat used is, at least, of fifteen tons burden, and 

 carries a large net called the * seine,' which measures a hundred and 

 ninety fathoms in length, and costs a hundred and twenty pounds 

 sometimes more. It is simply one long strip from eleven to thirteen 

 fathoms in breadth, composed of very small meshes, and furnished all 

 along its length with cork at one edge and lead at the other. The 

 men who cast this net are called ' shooters,' and receive eleven 

 shillings and sixpence a week, and one basket of fish out of every 

 haul. 



" As soon as the ' huer ' discerns a shoal he waves his bush. The 

 signal is conveyed to the beach by men and boys watching near him. 

 The ' seine '- boat, accompanied by another, to assist in casting the 



