ISO NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



to port. As the fish is caught it is gutted, boxed, and 

 iced and put in the steamboat's fish-room. As the 

 single-boaters are constantly running to and from port, 

 the lives of their crews are far more varied and agreeable 

 than those of the men who are constantly fleeting far 

 away from land and completely isolated from home. 



The third class is composed of the larger vessels, 

 which, during the season, go to Iceland and the White 

 Sea, spending three to four weeks on the trip and 

 bringing home large cargoes of fish, which realise 

 sometimes as much as ^1000, the result depending, of 

 course, very much on the state of the market. These 

 vessels are worked usually by about fourteen men, in- 

 cluding the captain and engineers, and cost, when ready 

 for sea, anything between ^"6000 and ^7500. Some of 

 the biggest afloat have been built at Selby by Messrs. 

 Cochrane & Son. 



From stem to stern they are crowded with appliances, 

 not an inch of space being wasted. Starting from the 

 after end, there is a cabin with accommodation for the 

 captain, chief engineer, and four other hands ; then comes 

 the engine-room, boiler-room, coal-bunker, reserve bunker 

 (this is used to carry coal when going to the fishing- 

 grounds, and fish when returning), fish and ice room, 

 storeroom, forecastle containing eight men, and sometimes 

 a store forward of this. The fish-room is divided into 

 several compartments, both vertically and horizontally, 

 into which the various kinds of fish are placed and packed 

 in ice to preserve them during the voyage home. The 

 vessels are provided on leaving port with an ample supply 

 of fresh provisions of various kinds, and have large tanks 

 containing fresh water, enough, and to spare, for the longest 



