FRENCH SAEDINl-PISHERT. 57 



' All fish sent to Paris are sold through the agency of auction- 

 eers (factewrs A la criee) appointed by the town, who receive a 

 commission of 2 or 3 per cent. The auctioneer either sells to 

 the fishmonger or to the consumer. 



It will be seen from the above statement that between 

 the landing of the fish by the fisherman and the purchase of 

 it by the salesman at Paris there is added to the price paid 

 to the fisherman 5 per cent for the ecorage; 90, 100, or 130 

 francs per ton for carriage; 10 or 5 per cent, with a double 

 tithe of war, for town-dues ; and 3 per cent taken by the 

 auctioneer — or, altogether, 18 or 13 per cent, besides the war- 

 tithe and the cost of transport. This is an estimate of the 

 indispensable expenses only, and does not include a number 

 of items — such as the profit which the mareyeur ought to 

 make, the cost of the baskets, carriage from the market to the 

 railway, and from the custom-house to the market in Paris j 

 besides presuming that the merchant who buys in the market 

 is the consumer, which is seldom the case. 



The capture and cure of the sardine is a great business in 

 France, and especially at Ooncarneau, where as many as 13,000 

 men aid in the fishery. It is not easy to obtain accurate statistics 

 of the business done in sardines. In the first place there is a 

 large quantity sold fresh — ^that is, packed in dry salt, in little 

 baskets made of rushes, and sent wherever there is a mode of 

 outlet. Then there is an enormous number sold in those 

 familiar tins. It is said that besides the quantity exported, 

 which is large, there are as many as 4,000,000 boxes cured in 

 oil and prepared for the home market ; then, besides these, a 

 large number are sold in barrels, and also pressed in barrels. 

 It is an interesting sight to witness the arrival of the boats, and 

 to see the rush to the curing establishments of the men, women, 

 and children interested in the sales. How their sabots do clatter 

 as they prance over the stones ! The curers just buy from day 

 to day what sardines they require, and no more; generally 

 speaking, they do not, as in the Scottish herring fishery, make 

 contracts with boats, and only one or two firms have boats 

 of their own. When the curers are in want of a supply of fish 

 they put up a flag at their curing establishment, and the fisher- 

 men hurry to supply them, the price varying from day to day 

 according as the fishery has been abundant or the reverse. As 

 soon as the boats arrive the fish are put in train &r the cure, by 

 being gutted, beheaded, sorted into sizes, and washed in sea 



