MR. T. SOUTHWELL OX THE HERRING FISHERY. 
479 
September, during which time very few Herring are landed at 
Lowestoft (as explained ante p. 380) ; towards the end of 
September the home voyage commence, when our fish wharfs 
both at Lowe.stoft and Yarmouth present a busy scene, hrom that 
time the voyage was continued almost without a break till its close, 
tlio only exception being the last two weeks in October, which were 
stormy and some losses of nets occurred. But the weather was 
never bad enough to keep our large luggers at home, whereas the 
Scotch boats were often compelled to remain in harbour, and this 
enforced idleness produced a very beneficial effect upon the market, 
prices remaining firmer than usual, and the sudden gluts so 
frei|uently experienced last year, which resulted in many tons of 
fish being used for manure, were unknown. Notwithstanding 
therefore the deliveries at Yarmouth being some two thousand lasts 
short of those of 188G, the general re.sult has been much more 
satisfactory. A large boatowner a.ssures me that he never worked a 
season so agreeably and with so little anxiety, everything seemed to 
tend to keep the supply just below or etjual to the demand and 
never in excess, but that hail the catches been larger very disastrous 
prices would have been the consequence. Just at the la.st three 
weeks, after the Scotch had departed, the home boats struck a 
splendid shoal of fish. The weather remained propitious all the 
time, and they ran out, returning laden with Herrings which, owing 
to the previoiLs .scarcity, and the improved tone of the foreign 
markets rendering prices firm, enabled them to reap a splendid 
harvest at the last. 
Two shoals are spoken of as having been met with off Yarmouth, 
one from thirty to forty, and the other from sixteen to twenty 
miles away, and between these very few fish were taken. There 
appears to have been a falling off in the number of Scotch boats 
which visited both Y'armouth and Lowestoft, probably to the extent 
of about fifty, but the number of home boats remained much the 
same as last year. The Scotch boats on the whole did better than 
last year, a few making a really successful voyage ; but nearly all 
suffered from loss or damage to gear, arising from bad weather or 
weight of fish, and some are said to have lost every net. The 
Lowestoft boats as usual suffered severely from injuries inflicted by 
the Ostend trawlers, an evil from which the Y'armouth boats are 
practically exempt. This arises from the latter going further north- 
