Aug. 1, 1865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 
THE FISHERIES OE VICTORIA* 31 
in supplying Melbourne, and refused to supply any hawker who bought 
from the <k company's " boats, and a-^ my boats could not guarantee a 
constant supply, my men were stopped To meet this I established a 
depdt in Melbourne, and put one of their own countrymen to manage it, 
but, instead of confining himself to his own business when he did very 
well, he turned it into a general store. O.i my return from a long ex- 
ploring voyage I found everything paralysed ; a regular war, by the 
hshermen generally, against my men, burning and cutting nets, setting 
boats adrift, &c. ; the men w r ere so interrupted that they demanded 
daily w^ges, and the hawkers demanded to be guaranteed a supply, 
while considerable liabilities had been incurred in the store, and its 
contents distributed, on credit, to all the Highlanders in Melbourne. 
The crisis of 1843 coming, I wound up the fishery and went to the bush, 
but not before I had ascertained to, my perfect satisfaction, that there 
was an opening for a great national fishery. I would suggest that this 
pioneer hshing company should establish at first — not ten, as they pro- 
pose — but two stations — one at Queenscliff and the other at the eastern 
entrance of Western Port, or near it ; each, of course, supplied with row- 
boats, seines, set nets, drift nets, crab pots, &c; also appliances, for 
salting, drying, and smoking, and in due time preserving fish in tin*, 
the modern substitute for salting. Each station should have one, or 
perhaps two, trawling cutters, or, rather fore-and-aft schooners, as 
being more easily handled, and first-rate sea-boats, so as to hold their 
own in any weather. They would thus be able to employ "their men in 
almost any weather, in any wind, and at all seasons, either inside or 
outside the Heads, and in case of a large take, could always secure the 
surplus. In the schnapper fishing, alcne, they would have a ^tand-by 
that would secure them a profit ; the hawkers and salesmen now object 
to this fish on account of its weight in proportion to the profit upon it, 
and only the smaller sizes are acceptable. Now. these are not suitable 
for salting, but a company could keep the curers, and preservers in tins, 
going with the large fish, sending the smaller to Melbourne with the 
general take ; in the same way, when the cutter is not trawling she can 
lay-to on the banks and fill herself with schnapper and rock-cod, either 
to cure on board or preserve on shore, besides, keeping the men em- 
ployed in the winter when fish have left the bay lor the deep water. 
They should strictly confine themselves to their own particular business 
on the sea and the beach ; they must certainly establish a means of 
rapid communication with the railway, but even that they should do by 
contract, if there is no public conveyance ; sell the fresh fish in the 
public market, and the rest through an agent, until the business is in 
full working order, when they may extend it as they please, and more 
particularly and legitimately by curing the fish caught by other boats. 
Let them be content at first with plain bush buildings ; they are cheap, 
and will serve for years. Companies generally neglect their men ; it is 
a great mistake in any business, but more particularly in a fishery, as it 
