5 8 BRITISH IND USTRIES. 



The mast in these Yarmouth luggers is, however, not 

 lowered completely on deck, where it would be very 

 much in the way when the nets are being hauled in, 

 but is kept for the greater part of its length at such a 

 distance from the deck as to allow plenty of room 

 below it for the men to move about and work. It is 

 supported about the middle by a broad upright piece 

 of wood called a " mitch-board," and which has a 

 crutch at the top on which the mast rests. The same 

 kind of support for the mast is used in all drift-fishing 

 boats of any size, whether decked or open, but it is 

 not always of precisely the same form. 



The internal fittings in these luggers are in accord- 

 ance with the requirements and convenience of the 

 fishery, and the hold is divided into compartments for 

 the fish, nets, warp, &c. A considerable quantity of 

 salt is carried by the Yarmouth boats, as a good 

 sprinkling of this preservative is desirable to ensure 

 the delivery of the fish in good order, after having been 

 perhaps caught for many hours. 



As many as from nine to twelve men form the crew 

 of one of these large fishing-boats. Time is valuable 

 in drift fishing ; for if the fish are abundant, the nets 

 are not allowed to remain long in the water, but are 

 hauled in and shot again without delay. All this is 

 very laborious work ; and more than half the crew are 

 not regular fishermen, being merely shipped for the 

 season as " capstan-men," many of them being country- 

 men, or persons who have very little experience at sea, 

 but who have strong arms for working at the capstan, 

 by which the warp, and with it the nets, are hauled in. 



