102 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



which has been kept alive and killed when wanted. To 

 make this latter state of things possible there came into 

 being two centuries ago the special kind of craft called 

 welled smacks. They were first tried at Harwich in 1712, 

 the idea, apparently, having been taken from the Dutch. 

 These vessels were specially constructed for the purpose 

 of keeping alive the fish that had been caught. The 

 well was actually part of the vessel, the midship section, 

 the sides of the smack being perforated with holes which 

 enabled a constant supply of sea water to circulate in the 

 well without endangering the safety of the vessel. A 

 hatchway on deck gave admission to the well, into 

 which the living fish, when caught by hooks, were 

 thrown. 



It was found that cod, being big, strong fish, and 

 little damaged because of their gluttonous attempts to 

 raven the hook as well as the bait, were particularly well 

 adapted for preservation by this ingenious, if somewhat 

 barbarous and primitive, method, and experience showed 

 that in a properly constructed well they would live for 

 long periods and could be brought to port in fine healthy 

 condition and killed and put straight on to the market 

 according to requirements. Of course, there were many 

 casualties, but, owing to the constant supervision of the 

 creatures, there was comparatively little loss, because if 

 the cod died they were promptly removed from the well, 

 or, if not likely to survive, were taken out and killed and 

 packed in ice. As the years went on, the special industry 

 pursued by the welled deck vessels grew rapidly, and 

 large numbers of living, frisky codfish were landed at 

 some of the east coast ports, especially Grimsby. 



When a welled smack arrived a remarkable and 



