GREA T BRITAIN. 293 



nets on to the nearest shore. The fishery carried on during 

 the last six months of the year is the most important, 

 because pilchards are then in a condition in which they 

 will cure or " save " best, being fat and with undeveloped 

 roes. Of late years large quantities have been taken 

 during the first six months of the year ; these are purchased 

 by local dealers, and forwarded by rail to provincial and 

 Welsh markets under the term of " white herrings." 



Mr. Dunn observes that off Mevagissey he has known of 

 three pilchards having been captured by hook and line, the 

 bait being a small piece cut out of the side of another 

 pilchard ; while Couch had been informed of two or three 

 instances in which this fish has been known to swallow the 

 fisherman's hook baited with a worm. 



To a stranger visiting the fishing-quay at Mevagissey an 

 hour or so after midnight, when the pilchards are being 

 landed and sold by their captors, the scene is by no means 

 devoid of interest. The jowters, with their light traps and 

 fast-trotting hacks, are assembled ready to purchase the 

 fish they require, and scour the country in order to retail 

 them to the inhabitants of every village and hamlet. The 

 pilchards, having been washed, are packed in layers, 

 between each of which salt is sprinkled ; this assists in 

 retarding decomposition in these fish, which are so prone 

 to become putrid. At the Barbican, at Plymouth, much 

 the same scene may be witnessed, but pilchards are not to 

 be had in sufficient quantities, and cartloads of the coarser 

 description of fish are circulated from there by means of 

 these jowters. 



Twelve thousand hogsheads of pilchards are annually 

 exported from Cornwall, and the autumn fish being more 

 firm and less oily are generally preferred for the Italian 

 market. 



