THE FISHERS OF EEIESLAND. 39 



again, there is a fishery at Houm ; and Houm is celebrated : it 

 gave to Holland the famous navigator who doubled the Cape 

 which he called after his birthplace. There are about two 

 hundred fishermen there, men quite as industrious as their 

 opposite neighbours, the Frisons. There is no doubt that the 

 ' Dutch are reviving their fisheries ; but it is amusing to hear 

 everywhere of the former greatness of this branch of industry, 

 and to contrast it with what now prevails. It is instructive to 

 note that some of the towns in Holland, which were at one time 

 famous and wealthy fishing ports, are fast fading away into 

 ruins. There is Enkhuizen, which, long ago, sent a fleet of one 

 hundred and fifty mighty vessels to the " great fishery," escorted 

 by a squadron of war-ships, now sending only seven vessels; 

 but the greatness of the place has passed away, and that town 

 at present is but a wreck or shadow of its former self. Most 

 of the fish taken by the Dutch are sent out of Holland — the 

 eels to Billingsgate, the flounders to Belgium, the turbot to 

 London or Paris, and so forth. The fish-markets of the chief 

 towns of Holland are but poorly supplied with what was once 

 the staple article of the country — another illustration of that 

 old proverb which tells us about the scaxcity of coals at New- 

 castle-on-Tyne. 



One would suppose the herring in Holland to be an altogether 

 difierent animal from the fish which bears that name in Great 

 Britain. The Dutch reverence the stork, but they almost worship 

 the herring ; it is without question their national fish, and they 

 most lovingly eat it — raw out of the pickle ! and some of the 

 people are so fond of it that they devour it, bones, fins, and all. 

 Amsterdam is reputed to have been founded on herring bones ; 

 and whatever greatness Holland has achieved in commerce has 

 undoubtedly grown from the apprenticeship served by its sons 

 on the waters, in the days when the greatness of the nation 

 arose from its fisheries. Although the herring fishery of the 

 Netherlands has fallen off greatly from what it was, it is again 

 reviving ; and the shipowners of Holland talk confidently of 

 renewing the ancient glory of their " herring drave," which at 

 one time was the most gigantic fleet upon the seas. In the 

 meantime, although the trade in herrings be comparatively small, 

 the individual love of the fish is as great as ever. In aU towns 

 and cities of that remarkable country there are shops for the 

 sale of this fish, and in these shops there are always to be found 

 numerous persons partaking of that most choice delicacy — a 



