40 BRITISH IND USTRIES. 



out doubt, almost entirely due to the resistance offered 

 by the water, which expands this great bag net with a 

 power only to be well appreciated by those who know 

 the amount of labour required to haul in a simple 

 curved wall of open netting, such as there is in a 

 common sean. That such is the cause of the resist- 

 ance is proved by the fact, that when at certain seasons 

 the trawlers are specially fishing for hake, which keep 

 very near the ground, but not absolutely upon it, and 

 the net is therefore towed along almost clear of the 

 bottom, the resistance is so great, that a heavy press of 

 sail is necessary, in order to obtain a slight but de- 

 sirable increase of speed over that needed for ordinary 

 trawling. 



After the trawl has been towed over the ground for 

 five or six hours, the tide having done, or the limit of the 

 particular fishing ground having been reached, the net 

 is hauled 'up. In the west country vessels, the warp 

 is hove in over the bow by means of a large winch in 

 front of the mast, or, in the new vessels especially, by 

 a patent capstan near the middle of the vessel ; but in 

 the North Sea trawlers, the warp is got in over the 

 port side, and the capstan is always used. In either 

 case the process is a laborious one, generally occupy- 

 ing three-quarters of an hour, and, if there is much sea 

 on, sometimes as much as three hours. The warp is 

 coiled away below as it comes in, and the beam, having 

 been swung alongside, hoisted up and secured, the net 

 is gathered in until nothing remains in the water but 

 the cod or purse at the end, in which almost all the 

 fish are collected, those which had entered the pockets 



