168 OUR HERITAGE THE SEA 



food supply, and then the treasure of the ocean will 

 be eagerly pounced upon, much as it is now neglected. 

 The process of garnering the harvest of the sea is, 

 I will admit, in some places a severe one for those 

 engaged therein, but where it is imperative that it 

 should be carried on, that never hinders. I have 

 heard the tale several times that the reason why fish- 

 ing is not more generally carried on upon the prolific 

 fishing-grounds of the west coast of Ireland is because 

 of its hardships, owing to the inclemency of the weather 

 and the infrequency of the gales, which, if true, 

 would only argue that the west coast Irish were such 

 a feeble folk that they were hardly fit to live on the 

 threshold of so teeming a sea-pasture. But it is not 

 true, nor anything like true, any more than the 

 specious tales of the unemployed, which draw thou- 

 sands of demoralizing pounds from the charitable, are 

 true. For inclemency of weather and gales, look at 

 the Norwegian coasts, the shores of Iceland, the littoral 

 of Labrador, yet there the inhabitants must fish or 

 starve. Compared with the rigours of those fishing- 

 grounds, the west coast of Ireland is a paradise, even 

 in winter. No, other reasons must be sought for the 

 lack of enterprise shown by Irish fishermen, these are 

 too weak to hold water. I have a shrewd idea of the 

 true reasons myself, but I do not wish to raise strife 

 by opening up a vexed question with which my subject 

 has naught to do. One thing cannot, at any rate, be 

 brought within the region of controversy, which is the 

 fact of the abundance of the best edible and easily 

 caught fish in close proximity to the abodes of the 

 poorest people in the world. 



Before going too far afield, let us glance for a little 



