102 DIFFERENT MODES OF FISHING THE HERRING. 



the sliore. It was also forbidden to gut, or barrel as 

 pickled, such herrings, under the penalty of one month's 

 imprisonment, and of five guilders for each hundred her- 

 rings, besides confiscation ; but this law is relaxed. 



Busses or Fishing Vessels. — Their superior mode of 

 curing long gave the Dutch the command of the various 

 markets where good herrings were preferred, and 600 to 

 1000 busses used to proceed in former times to this 

 fishery ; but for some years back the number of busses 

 has been annually diminishing, and the whole number of 

 herring busses fitted out in Holland did not exceed 90 

 in 1857. These busses are strongly built vessels, resem- 

 bling the Dutch galliots or merchant vessels, as some- 

 times seen in our ports, and are abundantly supplied with 

 every material necessary for prosecuting the herring- 

 fishery. They have a sufficient number of oak casks, 

 full hooped at both ends, and a due quantity of St Ubes 

 salt, or of the excellent salt manufactured in Holland ; 

 such buss has generally a crew of fourteen or fifteen 

 men. Each buss has generally fifty, and must not have 

 less than forty nets of 32 fathoms each in length, 8 

 fathoms in depth, and a buoy rope of 8 fathoms ; an 

 empty barrel, not quite so large as a herring barrel, is 

 attached to each buoy rope. This fieet of nets is again 

 divided into four parts, for the purpose of noticing the 

 position of the nets, and facilitating the taking them in ; 

 and at the extreme end a white painted buoy is attached, 

 having the name of the vessel and master painted on it. 

 The yarn of the nets must be of good unmixed Dutch or 

 Baltic hemp, which, before being used, must be inspected 

 by sworn surveyors. The yarn must be well spun, and 

 each full net must be 740 meshes in length and 68 in 

 depth, and the nets must be inspected and marked be- 



