28 BRITISH IND USTRIES. 



met with on the generally smooth bottom where only 

 the trawl can be worked with advantage. If in such 

 a contingency the rope were so strong and good as 

 not to break, there would be serious danger of the 

 tow-rope parting, and then the whole apparatus might 

 be lost ; but the ground-rope giving way, enables the 

 net to be cleared, with the probability of no more 

 damage to it than the broken rope and perhaps some 

 torn netting. 



The remaining part of the trawl, that is, the portion 

 extending from the bosom to the extreme end, forms a 

 complete bag, and gradually diminishes in breadth 

 until within about ten feet of the end. This last part 

 of it is of uniform size, and is called the " cod " or 

 " purse"; it is here that the fish which enter the net are 

 mostly collected, and they are prevented escaping by 

 the end of this bag or purse being closed by a draw- 

 rope when the net is in use. As soon, however, as all 

 the net is hoisted in, the draw-rope is cast off, and the 

 fish fall out on the deck of the vessel. The under 

 part of this cod or purse is exposed to a good deal of 

 wear from the weight of the fish collected within 

 it ; and to protect it as much as possible, layers of 

 netting, called " rubbing-pieces " are laced across it, 

 one layer slightly overlapping the next one. In French 

 trawls, a stout hide is frequently fastened under this 

 part of the net for the same purpose. 



I now come to the means which are adopted to 

 prevent the escape of the fishes which have found 

 their way to the cod or purse of the net. 



The net has been described as tapering away until 



