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give it strength, and through which the head line is rove 

 and then attached to the beam and heads. Now comes 

 the cod line at the bottom. Underneath we have the false 

 bellies to prevent the bottom of the net, with the weight 

 in it, from chafing out and letting the fish escape. The 

 cod line is the secret of the whole, because when the net 

 is hoisted in this hangs down over the deck, and when 

 loosed opens the net like a lady's bag, and the fish fall 

 out. It is tied up when the trawling is going on. Then 

 there are also what are called pockets. If it is loitering 

 weather the fish will try to escape and go up into these 

 pockets, just here is placed a kind of trap-door called a 

 flapper, which hangs down, so that when the fish has passed 

 in it cannot go beyond. It is a very ingeniously contrived 

 trap for catching fish. If the vessel is fishing in 2O-fathom 

 water, it requires, according to the wind whether a loiter- 

 ing wind or a fresh wind more or less length of warp. 

 The fishermen must be mathematicians in their own way. 

 The ground is the base of a triangle and the smack the 

 apex of it, and you will see that they must necessarily have 

 upon the average a warp three times as long as the depth 

 of water. Thus in 20 fathoms the vessel would require 

 60 fathoms of warp out, independent of the bridles. If the 

 wind is very strong this length can be increased ; if it is 

 loitering it should be diminished. So that fishing is an art 

 which requires continual attention to trawl warp and to the 

 sails of the vessel, to moderate or accelerate her speed to such 

 a degree that the trawl shall always be doing its work evenly 

 and smoothly over the bottom of the sea, not in a jerky 

 manner, which would lift it ; if this occurs the ground rope is 

 lifted off the ground, and the consequence is that the fish, 

 instead of going into the net, escape underneath it. The 

 object of having the trawl heads high, as we have them in 



