120 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



abouts in the sea by the appearance of birds, whales, 

 etc., a fleet of nets is floated haphazard. Buckland 

 instances the case of a Yarmouth fisherman who had 

 been at sea three weeks without getting a fish, and was 

 anxiously watching his fleet of nets when suddenly he 

 saw a gull make a sweep at them and fly away with a 

 herring. In almost a minute the whole fleet of nets 

 was full of herrings, of which twelve lasts (120,000) 

 were caught. 



In July this year, coming down the North Sea, 

 I passed through a fleet of Scotchmen and a fleet 

 of steam -drifters. Going to my cabin, I wrote a brief 

 account of what I saw, which I will reproduce without 

 alteration. It is this 



While writing this I am passing through one of 

 the Scotch herring-fleets of the south-east coast of 

 Scotland. The boats cover an immense area of sea 

 and are exceptionally close in shore. The nets are 

 being shot in some cases, and in others the boats 

 are already riding at them. The sea is perfectly calm, 

 and there is the merest breath of wind. The sun 

 is setting, big and placid, and the scene is one that 

 will soon be a thing of the past, for there will be 

 nothing visible on the waters but mechanically driven 

 craft. In some respects that will be well, because 

 just now the herring-boats have had very poor luck. 

 Yesterday in many parts was quite a blank in fishing, 

 owing to the complete absence of wind. 



An hour later, nearing midnight, I am steaming 

 through another fleet, mostly steam-drifters. A few 

 of them have not even troubled to lower their fore- 

 masts, as it is so unusually calm. All the vessels 



