588 THE OCEAN WOKLD. 



net, is rowed out to "where he can see it ; then there is a pause and 

 hush of expectation. Meanwhile the devoted pilchards press on a 

 compact mass of thousands on thousands of fish swimming to meet 

 their doom. All eyes are fixed on the ' huer ;' he stands watchful 

 and still, until the shoal is thoroughly emhayed in water which he 

 knows to be within the depth of the ' seine.' Then, as the fish hegin 

 to pause in their progress, and gradually crowd closer and closer to- 

 gether, he gives the signal, and the ' seine ' is cast or ' shot ' over- 

 board. 



" The grand object is now to enclose the entire shoal. The leads 

 sink one side of the net perpendicularly to the bottom, the corks buoy 

 the other to the surface of the water. When it has been taken all 

 round the shoal, the two extremities are made fast, and the fishes are 

 imprisoned within an oblong barrier of netting. The art is how to let 

 as few of the pilchards escape as possible while the process is being 

 completed. Whenever the ' huer ' observes that they are startled, and 

 separating at any particular point, he waves his bush, and thither the 

 boat is steered, and there the net is shot at once ; the fish are thus 

 headed and thwarted in every direction with extraordinary address 

 and skill. This labour completed, the silence of intense expectation 

 that has hitherto prevailed is broken there is a shout of joy on all 

 sides the shoal is secured. 



" The ' seine ' is now regarded as a great reservoir of fish. It may 

 remain in the water a week or more ; to secure it against being 

 moved from its position, in case a gale should come on, it is warped by 

 two or three ropes to points of land in the cliff, and is at the same 

 time contracted in circuit by its opposite ends being brought together 

 and passed lightly over its breadth for several i'eet. While these 

 operations are being performed, another boat, another set of men, and 

 another net, are approaching the scene of action. 



" The new net is called the ' tuck ;' it is smaller than the ' seine ;' 

 inside which it is to be let down, for the purpose of bringing the fish 

 close to the surface. The men who manage this net are called 

 * regular sewers.' The boat is first of all rowed inside the seine-net, 

 and laid close to the seine-boat, which remains stationary outside. 

 To its bows one rope at the end of the tuck-net is fastened. The 

 tuck-boat now slowly makes the inner circle of the seine, the smaller 

 net being dropped overboard, and attached to the seine at intervals 



