150 BRITISH INDUSTRIES. 



done at Grimsby to develop the fish trade; the ice 

 companies have their storehouses opposite the market, 

 and the railway trucks are brought to the side of the 

 wharf so as to be loaded direct from the market. 



On the other side of the Humber, and farther up 

 the river, we come to Hull, which has been a trawling 

 station for the last thirty years. There were one or 

 two trawlers previously belonging to the port; but 

 about 1845 there was a migration thither from Brix- 

 ham and Kamsgate, and 40 trawlers fished from Hull 

 in that year. It was soon after the discovery of the 

 famous Silver Pit ; and this led to the systematic 

 prosecution of the North Sea trawl fishery. The suc- 

 cess attending these vessels induced other smack- 

 owners to settle at Hull, new vessels were turned out 

 every year, and in 1863, the fleet consisted of nearly 

 270 trawlers. In 1872, the number had increased to 

 313. The Eegister for 1874 shows 357 fishing boats 

 in the first class, and a few shrimping boats are in- 

 cluded in this number ; but the Return for 1875 shows 

 a decrease of one vessel, and a very considerable dimi- 

 nution in the aggregate tonnage of the whole number. 

 That this was a mistake was obvious to anyone ac- 

 quainted with the state of' the Hull trawl fishery, and 

 I have obtained precise information from Hull showing 

 that, so far from there having been any diminution of 

 trawl vessels there, a considerable increase in their 

 number took place in 1875, and large additions were 

 being made in 1876. The largest smacks at Grimsby 

 and Hull in 1872 were 70 tons ; but some of the 



