32 MR. A. H. PATTERSON OX A DECAYED TRAWL-FISHERY. 
in detail much interesting evidence for and against ; and 
many others have depicted in lively chapters the doings of 
the trawling fleet at sea, or compiled statistics of the hugeness 
of catches, and their extensive financial aspects. The trawling 
apparatus has been described times and often, in none more 
tersely than in de Caux’s “ The Herring and Herring Fishery.’ * 
To be short, a deep-sea trawl is made of the best manilla hemp 
and is well tarred before using it. It is a triangular, purse- 
shaped engine / “ cet engine terrible ” as a French writer 
termed it, the mouth of which is kept open by a huge horizontal 
bar, of from 40 to 50 feet in length, often made of two sturdy 
young elms, “ scarfed ” together, upon each end of which 
are fixed two huge iron hoops, termed trawl-heads ; and with 
its variously meshed sections, its pockets, and cod-end it 
makes up a formidable cone-shaped cul-de-sac from which 
few fishes that enter ever make their way out of again on their 
own initiative. Trawl beam, trawl heads, trawl net, ground 
rope, bridles, trawl-rope, derrick, and hook are all part and 
parcel of the necessary gear for enveloping and hauling on 
to the vessel’s deck the various species and numerous indi- 
viduals scooped in during the drag of a tide. Attention may 
be called to an interesting essay by Holdsworth on “ Apparatus 
for Fishing,” f which deals with various phases of the deep 
sea fishing problem in an exceedingly interesting manner. 
It was usual in my youthful days for the smacks to make 
a six weeks’ voyage, the vessels sailing in " fleets ” ; each fleet 
was under the authority of an experienced skipper, who was 
known as the “ Admiral of the Fleet ” ; and each fleet had its 
attendant cutters. The Admiral received a small emolument 
from each smack under his directions ; and each smack-master 
had rigidly to obey his orders and signals for sailing, trawling, 
and ferrying the fish to the cutters. A week’s stay at port was 
allowed between voyages to refit and re-victual, a time all too 
short for the self-respecting heads of families to spend among 
the children, and all too long a holiday for the weaker-minded, 
who too often made it a week’s carousal in low class public 
* Published 1881, pp. 122-128. 
f Essays. International Fisheries Exhibition, 1883. 
