SOME BRITISH SEA FISHES AND FISHING 247 



the neck, and the fish fall into the fire. There- 

 fore they are prepared for the Italian markets — 

 Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, and Venice — in a special 

 manner. 



In Cornwall pilchards are called "fair-maids," a 

 corruption of " fumades," or " fumados " (though, 

 curiously enough, they are never smoked). They 

 are an important article of commerce, and are sent 

 to the Roman Catholic countries of Europe — 

 Spain and Italy — in great numbers during Lent ; 

 herrings, on the contrary, going to Protestant 

 communities. 



The method of curing is, briefly, as follows. 

 The pilchards are carried by the wives and 

 daughters from the boats to the curing-houses, 

 where they are arranged in bulk, first by putting 

 down a layer of French or Spanish salt (better 

 and larger in the grain than English), then a layer 

 of fish, and so on, alternately, until the naass is 

 five feet high, the outside rows being laid with 

 their heads out, and the inner rows at right angles 

 to them. 



They remain in bulk thirty days, during which 

 period their oil, mingled with brine, drains away 

 into pits prepared for the purpose. Bulk is then 

 broken, and they are taken down, sifted clear of 

 the dry salt, rinsed, and placed symmetrically in 



