88 BRITISH IND USTRIES. 



higher antiquity for these nets, and endeavours to show 

 the probability of the sean having been introduced into 

 this country by the Phoenicians, who were known to 

 use this net ; and as they are said to have traded with 

 what is now known as Cornwall as early as the days of 

 Moses, they may have taught the ancient Cornishmen 

 the use of this net. It is not necessary, however, that 

 I should go into this question, and I shall be content 

 with acknowledging that sean-fishing is a very old 

 method in this country, and in no part of it is it more 

 commonly practised, or more thoroughly worked, than 

 in the extreme west of England. 



The seans used in this country are of three kinds, 

 namely, the sean proper sometimes called the " stop- 

 sean " the tuck-sean, and the ground or foot-sean. 

 One special character, however, is common to them 

 all they surround or enclose the fish, and the diffe- 

 rences between them relate almost entirely to the 

 manner in which the nets are worked. A sean consists 

 of a long train of netting, which may vary in length 

 and depth according to what it is required for ; but it 

 is always deeper in the middle or " bunt " than at the 

 " sleeves " or " wings," as the ends are called. The 

 object of making the middle of the net deeper than the 

 ends, is to give the enclosed fish less opportunity of 

 escaping underneath when the net is being hauled in, 

 as that is the part of the net where the fish congregate 

 under such circumstances ; and when the net is being 

 hauled on shore, its gradual deepening from the ends 

 towards the middle or bunt enables the whole of the 

 foot or lower edge, in most cases, to touch the shelving 



