104 HERRING. 



from knot to knot, while those of the Pilchard-net are an inch. 

 Great exactness in this respect, however, should not be de- 

 manded, since by the operation of barking the twine will contract 

 to the extent of three meshes in a yard; and that of cotton 

 more than in ordinary hemp; on which account when quite new 

 a larger dimension must be required, which will permit many 

 fishes to pass through, or less than the extent exacted by law 

 as allowing for the contraction produced by use. According to 

 the circumstances of weather, or the light of the night, these 

 nets are sunk more or less deep; and for this purpose there 

 are buoys placed along the head-line at regular intervals; and 

 in Scotland especially these buoys are often made of inflated 

 skins; and even strong globular glass bottles have been used, 

 at least in the north of Europe; and occasionally small weights 

 are placed on the lower border to keep them properly down. 

 These nets are shot across the course of the tide, and consequently 

 athwart the course which the fish are proceeding; and they are 

 lifted on board by the aid of a capstan two or three times in 

 the course of the night; for it is only in moderate darkness 

 that these fish will enter a net, since at other time their sight 

 is sufficiently good to discern the snare, and they are afraid to 

 approach it. 



The size of the boats employed in this fishery varies much 

 in different places, and, consequently, the number of men in 

 each; but it would be tedious to take notice of the practice 

 of every station, and therefore we confine ourselves to that of 

 Yarmouth, which is, and ever has been, the most important 

 seat of this fishery in the United Kingdom. These boats are 

 luggers, with three masts, and of a burden from twenty to 

 fifty tons, with a crew of twelve men and a boy, whose wages 

 are in proportion to the success they meet with; this being 

 the only plan on which success in any fishery can be secured. 

 The nets are about a hundred in number, and each of them 

 eight fathoms in length, with a depth of five fathoms; and as 

 when well loaded with fish no human efforts would be sufficient 

 to lift the mass over the gunwale of the boat, a portion of 

 the crew are employed at the capstan, while the rest are 

 engaged in shaking out the fish into the proper compartment, 

 and arranging the nets in order. As, from the general shal- 

 lowness of the water near the land in the north of England, 



