DEIFT-NET FISHING. 53 



like the herring, mackerel, pilchard, and sprat ; and 

 any bit of information which we can gain about their 

 habits may help materially to guide us in our sub- 

 sequent inquiries. 



For a description of drift nets and the mode of 

 working them on a large scale, I cannot do better 

 than give some account of the method by which the 

 Yarmouth herring fishery has long been carried on. 

 Drift fishing, "drifting," or "driving," as it is variously 

 called, although the last term is the one in general 

 use among the fishermen, is there worked with fine 

 sea-going decked boats, larger in every way than 

 those similarly used on other parts of our coasts ; and 

 the fishermen can consequently venture farther to sea, 

 and run the chance of worse weather, than most of the 

 smaller boats are capable of doing with a due regard to 

 safety. 



The nets used for drift fishing are made either of 

 cotton or hemp "twine," as the latter is called, some 

 fishermen preferring the one material, some the other ; 

 and it is not unusual for the two kinds to be placed 

 alternately in the same train of nets. Cotton nets are 

 finer in the line and more flexible than those made of 

 hemp, and they are generally believed to be more 

 effective in meshing the fish. Machinery of a very 

 beautiful and ingenious character is employed in 

 making these nets, and large supplies have been for 

 some years past turned out from the factories at Brid- 

 port, Musselburgh, and many other towns. Cotton 

 nets are now very largely used, and there is every 

 reason to think they will be universally employed for 



