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LOWESTOFT FISH-WHARF. 

 By Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S. 



During a visit to Lowestoft extending from the 3rd to the 

 34th of October, I paid almost daily visits to the fish-wharves, 

 where the arrivals of fish are landed and disposed of by auction, 

 the great bulk being at once packed and transferred to the 

 railway-siding to be despatched to the various markets in London 

 and elsewhere. There are two docks, each very extensive, and 

 furnished with a landing-stage, covered in and paved, that devoted 

 to trawl-fish being 500 ft., the other, 650 ft. long, to Herring and 

 Mackerel brought in by the drift-netters. On the floors are de- 

 posited the Herring and Mackerel in great heaps, consisting of 

 ascertained quantities, and these are sold by duly authorised per- 

 sons to the highest bidder. The scene when the fish are being 

 landed in large numbers may be easily imagined : the ringing of the 

 auctioneers' bells ; the shouts of " Mackerel buyers," '" Herring 

 buyers," or as the case may be; the crowding by rough men in a 

 vast variety of costumes, from the great sea-boots and oileys to 

 the serge-clad salesmen, some wearing an outer coat of linen to 

 protect their clothes, and rubber boots or huge '* clogs " to guard 

 their feet : but all is picturesque in the extreme. The heaps of 

 glittering Herring or beautifully iridescent Mackerel look like 

 bright gems in the sun, and the bustle, great as it is, is in a 

 manner orderly and perfectly good-natured, jokes and rough 

 witticisms flying about in plenty ; a stranger, however, soon 

 finds himself in the way, and feels that he has no business there, 

 if he is not present on business. 



The wharf for trawl-fish is often an even busier scene, as 

 there is a greater diversity of fish and more buyers, and many of 

 them of a different class to those who frequent the Herring 

 wharf, where, as a rule, the merchants and curers are the pur- 

 chasers. The trawl-fish are landed in boxes called " trunks," 



