368 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 



and to entangle the corals in its coarse meshes. The labour, 

 as may be imagined, is very great ; frequently, after a long toil, 

 the net is brought up empty, or filled only with other marine 

 productions, which, however interesting they may be to the 

 naturalist, are perfectly worthless in the eyes of the coral-fisher; 

 and not seldom immense exertions are required to loosen it from 

 the rocks, among which it has got entangled. 



The chief seat of the coral-fishery is at present along the 

 coasts of Algeria and Tunis, where it is almost exclusively 

 carried on by the Italians, who fit out more than 400 small 

 ships, or " corallines," of from five to sixteen tons, for this pur- 

 pose. In spring this fleet of nut-shells leaves the ports of Torre 

 del Greco, Sicily, Sardinia, and Genoa, and proceeds to its 

 various points of destination, where it remains until the 

 autumnal gales compel the fragile "corallines" to retire. Every 

 month or fortnight the products of the fishery are delivered up 

 to agents in Bona or La Calle, under whose direction the corals 

 are sorted, packed in cases, and sent to Naples, Leghorn, or 

 Genoa, where they are cut, polished, and manufactured into 

 necklaces and other ornaments or trinkets. About 4,000 sailors 

 are employed in the fishery, each man receiving an average pay 

 of 380 franks for the season, which he almost entirely brings 

 home with him, his trifling expenses on land being generally 

 defrayed by the small pieces of coral he manages to conceal 

 from the sharp eye of the " padrone." The average quantity 

 of corals fished by each " coralline " amounts to about six 

 hundredweight, and the total value of the fishery to more than 

 200,000?., without taking into account the produce of the fisheries 

 at Stromboli, in the Straits of Messina, and other parts of the 

 Italian coast. 



The manufactured articles sell of course for a much higher 

 price, so that the " red coral " is a by no means inconsiderable 

 article of trade. Great quantities are exported to India, and in 

 Leghorn and Genoa several large manufactories work exclusively 

 for that distant market, where the blood-red corals, whose 

 colour harmonises with the dark complexion of the native 

 ladies, are particularly in demand, while those of a roseate hue 

 are preferred in Europe. 



The fishermen have a strange belief that the corals are by 

 nature soft, but immediately turn into stone from terror when 



