6 THE BRITISH FISH TRADE. 



labourer, who had no more brains than Caliban in "The 

 Tempest," was competent to build.* But the increasing 

 demands of a populous country have altered this state of 

 things. Fishermen are no longer able to wait for the fish 

 to come to them, they go to the fish. Every year which 

 passes sees the fishing conducted at greater distances from 

 our coasts. 



The best fish are frequently caught farthest from the 

 land ; the most successful fishermen are consequently 

 those who have the boldest hearts and the stoutest 

 boats. They are those, therefore, who, other things being 

 equal, have embarked most capital in their trade. But 

 the man who has invested his fortune in any business 

 cannot afford to let his stock lie idle. He must, if he 

 hope to profit from his investment, constantly use it. 

 The fisherman, however, who would fish throughout the 

 year to advantage, must be prepared to lead a nomad life. 

 Fish are caught in one part of the ocean in one month, 

 and in another in another. The fishermen who follow the 

 fish, or, in stricter phrase, go to those seas where the 

 fish are found, will always beat the fishermen who fish their 

 own seas, and, when fishing is no longer profitable there, 

 eke out a scanty livelihood with other work. In the case 

 of the latter, their capital lies idle while the capital of their 

 rivals is employed, and they themselves are destitute of the 

 experience which their rivals acquire. The fishermen of 



* The passage in " The Tempest " is curious. Cahban sings : 

 " No more dams I'll make for fish ; 

 Nor fetch in firing 

 At requiring, 

 Nor scrape trenchering, nor wash dish." 

 The duties with which Shakespeare associates Caliban are of a 

 menial character requiring no skill ; and the dam was evidently a 

 temporary and not a permanent structure. 



