THE SEINE OR SEAN. 289 



called the " seine," is about two hundred fathoms long, and 

 ten fathoms at its greatest depth ; to this another net of the 

 same kind, called the " stop-seine," is fastened, and the two 

 are shot together, each boat with its own net, starting from 

 the same place, rather on the outside of the shoal of fish, if 

 it be not very large, but moving in different directions, 

 although with the intention of ultimately reuniting. It 

 may be mentioned that men called " huers " are stationed 

 on the hills surrounding the bay, and signal to the men in 

 the boats the direction the fish are taking, the appearance 

 of the water over the fish plainly showing to these men 

 what their course is. The seine is at first carried along 

 outside the shoal, parallel with the shore, and then brought 

 round towards it, thus cutting off as large a portion of the 

 shoal as the net will compass, whilst the stop-net, which is 

 fastened to the other, is shot at a right angle to the large 

 seine and towards the land, across the course of the fish, so 

 as to stop them. If one stop-net is not long enough for 

 the purpose, a second is joined to it, and the ends of this 

 and of the large seine are gradually hauled towards each 

 other on the shore side till they meet, and the fish are 

 entirely surrounded. The circle is then gradually con- 

 tracted by taking out the stop-nets, till the whole catch is 

 enclosed within the single large seine, the ends of which 

 are at once fastened together. The whole concern is then 

 slowly hauled towards the shore, into some quiet part, out 

 of the run of the tide, if possible, till the foot of the net 

 touches the bottom, and there it is securely moored with 

 anchors on every side, and the upper edge with extra 

 buoys. The advantage of having the bunt or middle of 

 the seine deeper than the wings will be obvious when it is 

 remembered that if the foot of the net does not touch the 

 ground all round, the fish may escape underneath ; and as 

 VOL. L H. 



