588 THE OCEAN WORLD, 



modes of fishing are in action from the ist of February to the 

 14th of September, a period, however, now curtailed by twenty- 

 eight days — netting being illegal from Saturday to Monday in each 

 week. It remains to be seen whether the gourmet will enjoy his 

 salmon better after its Sabbath rest ; perhaps its ragout will then 

 haunt him as it did Talleyrand's abbe, who, instead of the viea culpa 

 of the Confiteor, iterated, " Ah ! le bon saumon ! ah ! le bon 

 saumon ! " 



A bag-net is composed of three chambers : the first, which is the 

 widest, is at the entrance ; the next is the doubling, and is one inch 

 to the mesh narrower than the outer. The last is the fish court, 

 where the fish, by a simple and ingenious contrivance, are prevented 

 from finding the door ,by which they entered. It is partly floated 

 by corks and partly by an empty cask on the head or principal riding 

 rope. It is set in the sea by ropes attached to anchors, one anchor 

 rope to the head of the net and one on each wing at the entrance of 

 the bag. The bag-leader is a separate net held by a rope and anchor on 

 the land side, and is fastened to the bag-net The principle of fishing- 

 is this : the tide makes a curve on the leader of the bag, in this curve 

 the fish swim into the net. Bags are adapted for any kind of coast, 

 and six or seven are run out to sea end on. Fly nets are the same 

 as bags in principle, but slightly altered so as to adapt them for 

 being fixed to stakes driven into the sand instead of being moored 

 by rope and anchor ; they are always used where the tide ebbs. 

 Stake nets are expensive, and seldom used nowadays. When in 

 fishing trim they are, however, more deadly than fly nets : their 

 chambers are three times as large, but the principle of fishing in bag 

 and stake nets is identical, leaders being used in all. It is note- 

 worthy that trout are never caught in these leaders. 



The ClupeadcE. — Of this family the herring is the useful and well- 

 known type, to which also the pilchard, the shad, and the anchovy 

 belong. The species of Clupea have the body longish and com- 

 pressed, especially at the belly, where it comes to an edge ; they are 

 clothed with large scales, forming towards the belly a saw-like edge, 

 which is very thin and easily removed. They have one dorsal fin 

 without spinous rays, and one ventral, both placed near the middle 

 of the body, 



The Herring, Clupea harengus (Fig 382), is too well known to 

 require description ; its appearance is beautiful ; but we shall only 

 remark here that its back, which in the fish after death is of an indigo 

 bluish colour, is greenish during life ; the other parts vary consider- 

 ably in their colours and markings, sometimes representing written 



