370 
Part III. — Eighth Annual Report 
D. Antonio Cumplido of Seville has received authority from the 
Minister of Marine to employ a new apparatus and mode of fishing in the 
Guadalquivir, for which he has received a patent, which would never 
have been conceded in this country. It consists of six boats, each an- 
chored to the bottom of the river ; four form a large square kept apart 
with poles, with the net between them, and the mode of fishing is to 
raise the net when the fish are seen to be in it. ' Bridges ' from the two 
other boats extend almost to the square, and thus the fish can be with- 
drawn readily from the net. The object is to work with few men, and 
the boats to require no handling. There seems to have been a serious 
disturbance amongst the fishermen over this concession. 
The question of supplying barometers to the fishermen around the coast 
for the purpose of saving life is discussed ; but it does not find favour 
owing to the multitude required for the many stations — while the 
necessity for the fisherman to make a living would send him to sea in 
spite of the glass. 
In fixing their limits for trawl-fishing, which in some cases is 12 miles 
offshore, they say : ' The conventions recently completed by England, 
' France, Holland, and other nations of the North, marking the 3 miles, 
' in no way concerns us (Spain), nor can it cause complications with us in 
' any international question in the future. ' With regard to their 
fisheries they note The Nursery of Canauiizal (Funiculina 
1 tetragona) at six miles from the coast on the gulf of Valencia, so pro- 
's ductive that the fishing industry of many peoples is fed from that 
' extensive region ; and without referring to other facts, it is sufficient to 
' record, .... that coral abounds in the Mediterranean ; the pearl, the 
' mother of pearl, the brilliant topaz, amber, and the banks of 
' Crustaceans ' (Turtles) employed in our industrial manufacturers are 
' found in the waters of our West African possessions,, and in Asia, America, 
' Oceania. That the edible white fish are to be found 20 times more 
' numerous in our Atlantic zones than in the most important fisheries 
' of Europe and America, which are Norway, Newfoundland, and Canada.' 
They have made an effort in Spain to study the movements of whales, more 
especially B. mysticekis, on all the Spanish coasts of the world, and 
have received replies to questions from which they deduce many interest- 
ing results and, amongst others : — 
(1) 'That those whales have not disappeared from our coasts that 
' were an object of the chase or fishery to the ancient Basques. 
(2) 'That if statistics had been kept of the whales (B. mysticetus) 
' annually captured in that remote period they would not exceed in 
' number those seen by our fishermen to-day cruising off, or temporarily 
f stationed on, our coasts, and that consequently the opinion expressed is 
f an error that on account of the persecution of the ancient Basques the 
*. race of these cetacea is almost extinct. 9 
After showing that they are migratory and regular in their migrations- - 
that they do not end their southern course in the Cantabrian sea, but have 
been taken in the Mediterranean, and are suspected of going as far south 
as the Gulf of Guinea, the writer concludes : 
(3) 4 That it is a fact, that in spite of meeting on our Oceanic coast 
' large cetaceans, at times gathered in considerable numbers, our fishermen 
' (Spanish) have absolutely abandoned their chase, their indifference 
' being incomprehensible. 9 
In the port of Barcelona they have tested the apparatus for fishing 
with the electric light, invented by Baron de Tesalia. ' Two or three times 
' the net was drawn, in which they had gathered some 2 arrobas (501b.) 
' of fish, the peculiarity being noted that the diminutive fishes were 
