THF COMMON MACKREL. 153 



some places it is taken by lines from boats, as du- 

 ring a fresh gale of wind it readily seizes a bait. It 

 is necessary that the boat should be in motion in 

 order to drag the bait along (a bit of red cloth, or 

 a piece of the tail of a Mackrel) near the surface of 

 the water. The great fishery for Mackrel is on 

 some parts of the west coast of England. This is 

 of such an extent as to employ in the whole a ca- 

 pital of near 20o,oool. The fishermen go out to 

 the distance of several leagues from the shore, and 

 stretch their nets, which are sometimes several 

 miles in extent, across the tide, during the night. 

 The meshes of these nets is just large enough to ad- 

 mit the heads of tolerably large fish, and catch them 

 by the gills. A single boat has been known to 

 bring in after one night's fishing, a cargo that has 

 sold for near seventy pounds. — Besides these, there 

 is another mode of fishing for Mackrel in the west 

 of England, with a ground seine. A roll of rope of 

 about two hundred fathoms in length, with the net 

 fastened to the end, is tied at the other to a post or 

 rock, on the shore. The boat is then rowed to the 

 extremity of this coil, when a pole fixed there, 

 leaded heavily at the bottom, is thrown overboard. 

 The rowers from hence make as nearly as possible 

 a semicircle, two men now continually and regu- 

 larly putting the net into the water. When they 

 come to the other end of the net, where there is 

 another leaded pole, they throw that overboard. 

 Another coil of rope, similar to the first, is by de- 

 grees thrown into the water, as the boatmen make 

 for the shore, The boat's crew now land, and with 



