296 APPARATUS FOR FISHING. 



bers of these nets are employed every winter at the mouth 

 of the Thames, in the Solent, and in the Wash on the east 

 coast of England. The season for working them is from 

 November to February, at which time the sprats make 

 their appearance in countless myriads on certain parts of 

 the coast, and nowhere more abundantly than at the 

 entrance to the Thames. The net has the shape of a long, 

 narrow funnel with a nearly square mouth, the opening or 

 entrance being thirty feet from the upper to the lower part 

 and about twenty-one feet wide. From this it tapers for a 

 length of ninety feet to a diameter of five or six feet, and 

 further diminishes to nearly half that size in the remaining 

 part of the net, which is also about ninety feet long. The 

 whole net is therefore about a hundred and eighty feet, or 

 sixty yards in length. It is divided into several portions, 

 the first being called the " quarters," as it is composed of 

 four distinct pieces of netting corresponding to the four 

 sides of the mouth ; the next portion is called the " enter," 

 and forms the last part of the most funnel-shaped portion 

 of the net. The remainder of the net, which tapers very 

 gradually, is made up of from two to four divisions, the 

 last one being called by the names of the " cod," " dock- 

 hose," or "wash-hose," and the intermediate portion or 

 portions the " sleeves ; " the number of sleeves inserted in 

 the net depending very much on whether there is a pros- 

 pect of the fish being abundant or otherwise. The meshes 

 vary in size in different parts, diminishing from an inch and 

 three-eighths near the mouth to from half to three-quarters 

 of an inch at the smaller end, there being a slight enlarge- 

 ment of the meshes in quite the last part of the net. The 

 dimensions here given of a stow-net are those of such as 

 are in general use, but they vary a good deal in size, and 

 some are much smaller than others. The way in which 



