i6 THE SEA FISHERIES 



in the terminal portion and the elongation of the wings. Seine nets 

 of this description have heen known for centuries and are met with 

 in all parts of the world. The Bara-jal of the Telugu fishermen of 

 Puri is a net of this species. The " Aissaugue " of the French 

 Mediterranean coast of the eighteenth century may be taken as a 

 type of this first stage in the development of the trawl (see Fig. i, 

 p. i6) . In this net the pocket (AH) corresponds to the cod-end of the 

 trawl, and the wings (BB) to the similarly named part in the trawl. 

 The " Aissaugue," though an improvement on the ordinary 

 seine, could, nevertheless, only be used at a moderate distance from 

 the shore (three-quarters of a league, more or less). The net was 

 shot from two boats, dragged slowly to the shore and then hauled 

 in just like the seine. Sardines were the principal fish caught by 

 this method. The chief objections to this net were that it could only 

 be used in shallow water and required two vessels to work it satis- 

 factorily. 



The great difficulty in using a seine as a drag-net from one vessel 

 lies in keeping the mouth of the net open. Eventually some genius 

 discovered that it was possible to do this by tying the ends of the 

 net to a beam of wood. This type of net is seen in the eighteenth- 

 century " Gangui " of Narbonne, Cette and other towns of Lan- 

 guedoc (Fig. 2, p. 16). The pocket or cod-end is now more elongate 

 (AD), and the wings (BC) shorter than in the Aissaugue. The 

 primitive beam (E), which was affixed when it was proposed to use 

 the net from a single boat, was a pole of 3 fathoms length, firmly 

 attached near each end to the top fore end of the wings (C). The 

 warps (F) used for haulmg the net were 7 fathoms long. In contrast 

 to the modern beam trawl there were two complete warps attached 

 to the port and starboard sides of the vessel, which could only 

 forge ahead under full saU. The net was weighted with 80 or 100 lb. 

 of lead and dragged along the bottom. In fishing, the vessel comes 

 up to the wind, the rudder is unshipped, the net thrown overboard, 

 the cod-end first, then the wings, finally the warps are payed out, 

 their extremities being made fast to the vessel. The nets are 

 buoyed so that they may be recovered in case the warps break. 

 The Gangui was capable of being hauled in board with the aid of 

 a winch (Treuil) and it was no longer necessary to run the vessel 

 ashore to complete the operation of fishing. A further stage in the 

 evolution of the trawl is seen in the nets used in Normandy, Brit- 

 tany and other parts of the French coast, circa 1776. 



One of these was known as the " Chausse " or Chalut (Poitou) 

 (Fig. 3, P- 16). In this net the mouth had at the bottom a strong 

 rope (AB) corresponding to the foot-rope of the modem trawl. This 

 rope was furnished with leaden weights to keep it on the bottom. 



