SHORES OF THE CLYDE AND FIRTH. 
149 
into the boat with the contents. Little bag-nets are also 
brought into requisition for the same purpose, mounted on 
iron ringa, and wrought with a shaft or handle. 
Altogether the herring trawl is a deadly instrument 
in the hands of experienced men; and as we have now 
witnessed the most general practice of the operation per- 
formed, we will now introduce the reader to the 
DRIFT-NET FISHING, 
and mark the contrast between the two systems. At one 
period the herring trade of Loch Fyne was almost exclusively 
in the hands of French merchants, and fishermen of that 
nationality were also annually seen plying their calling in 
the waters of the Kyles of Bute and Loch Fyne, but the 
International Fishery Laws of both countries forbade the 
foreigner to fish within three miles of their respective coasts, 
consequently the Frenchman has been long banished from 
our waters. 
It is, however, almost certain that the old drift-net plan 
of fishing has been copied from the French, which, from 
time immemorial, has been wrought with little deviation. 
The train of the drift-net is composed of so many pieces, or 
barrels, as they are sometimes called, each measuring about 
thirty-six yards in length and two yards deep, and, accord- 
ing to the capacity of the boat used, the trains run from 
twenty to forty pieces in length. Like the trawl, the sole 
rope of the drift-net is furnished with lead sinks, but 
instead of corks being attached to the back rope, at stated 
intervals, stout cords of what is called " bow string " are 
tied on (being of great length, they are capable of being 
shortened or lengthened at will), while their opposite ends 
are fastened to buoys made of calf or dog-skin. By this 
means the nets are sunk to whatever depth the judgment 
