144 BRITISH IND US TRIES. 



spits of fish having been placed on the loves until 

 all the space is filled, the fires are lighted and kept 

 burning for two days. They are then let out, and the 

 fish allowed to drip or drain for a day ; the fires are 

 again lighted for two days more, and this process of 

 alternately smoking and dripping is continued for a 

 fortnight : at the end of that time the herrings, then 

 thoroughly cured, are called " high-dried," and are fit 

 for packing. This is done in barrels, two men being 

 engaged in the operation ; one, standing with the spit 

 in his hand, tells off the fish into the barrel, sliding 

 them from the spit four at a time. These are, for con- 

 venience, counted as two, and the packing is done by 

 the other man as rapidly as the teller counts the 2, 4, 

 6, 8, 10, 12, which would represent 24 fish. When the 

 barrel is filled to the head, a screw-press is brought to 

 bear on the fish, and they are flattened down so as 

 to allow an additional number to be stowed away, 650 

 full-sized fish being about the number packed in each 

 barrel, or a larger number of smaller fish. The manu- 

 facturer's name and the number of fish are marked on 

 each barrel, and the package is then ready for export- 

 ation to Italy, the Greek islands, and the Levant. 

 For the home market the herrings are packed in flat 

 boxes. 



The mackerel fishery is carried on by the Yarmouth 

 boats from the middle of May to the middle of July, 

 but has not been so generally successful in recent 

 years as it used to be. The ground worked in this 

 fishery lies between Yarmouth and the Dutch coast. 

 It is carried on with the same boats, and in the same 



