the general body of trawlers of annually destroying thousands of tons of spawn of various kinds; but it appears there is little reason to believe in the possibility of destroying by any existing method of sea-fishing the deposited spawn of any of our important edible fishes, with the exception of the herring; and we have no evidence that any injury is caused even in the case of that fish, for in the few places in which it is known that the spawn of the herring is deposited, trawling is rarely carried on. The subject may be looked at, however, from another point of view, and it is one worthy of the consideration of those who believe our fisheries are being ruined-we mean the literally enormous quantity of spawn annually consumed by the public all over the country. We need hardly say that full-roed fish, roe of various kinds, is considered a delicacy, and the fishmongers obtain a higher price for the sea-fish which contains it than for one that is said to be "poor." The public are the persons at fault here, for the fishermen naturally look for the fish which will bring them the highest price. "It might be imagined that if the millions of herrings which are annually caught just before the spawning time were permitted to deposit their ova, we should have an immense and obvious increase in the number of fish in the following years; but such a supposition would be based on the idea that the millions now caught form a large proportion of the herrings on our coast. There is no reason to believe, however, that they make up more than a very small per centage of the hosts in our seas. Those which are caught by our drift nets, which is the general method employed, may be said to be really taken by chance; they happen to come where the nets are floating, and in trying to pass through them become meshed. But, as any fisherman will acknowledge, the fishing is a pure lottery, depending not only on the number of fish where he may have shot his nets, but also on whether or not the fish will rise far enough to come within their reach. Again, the extent of netting used in the herring fishery, immense as it appears to be when the number of square yards is calculated or estimated, is utterly insignificant when we consider what the superficial area of the sea occupied by it on any one night is to that in which the herrings are entirely unobstructed in their movements, even if we suppose them all to be within a moderate distance of the land. Reasonable calculations have been made of the number of herrings that no doubt are consumed by the gannets at the island of St. Kilda alone-a number startling to those persons who believe our fishermen get the largest share of the fish in the sea; and Professor Huxley repeated, before the Parliamentary Committee in 1867, the result of an investigation he made while at work on the Scotch Herring Commission a few years previously, to the effect that the number of herrings it might be expected would have been consumed by the cod and ling known to be taken in any one year on the Scotch coast, if they had not been caught, would, from the acknowledged voracity of those preda cious fishes, have exceeded the total number of herrings which ordinarily fall to the share of all the Scotch fishermen. “The sometimes capricious movements of the herrings have been well illustrated by the sudden disappearance of these fish from the Guernsey waters, as has before now been the case at other localities; but there is a story current in the island, which in this instance offers a remarkably simple explanation of the matter. We give it in substance as it was told to us: There used to be a good fishery for herrings at Guernsey till 1830, when it suddenly came to an end. On the evening of Easter-day, in that year, some boats, contrary to the usual custom of not fishing on a Sunday, went out with their drift-nets in pursuit of the herrings, and succeeded in catching some thousands of these fish. The herrings were brought on shore, and sold readily in the market; but, as the fishermen were bringing their captures to the market-place, they were met by an old man, whose many years had been spent on the stormy seas which wash the rocky shores of the island, and who, throughout his long career, had been accustomed to regard Sunday as a day of rest alike for fishes and fishermen. He inquired of the fishermen, now heavily laden with their spoil, 'When did you catch these fish?' 'Last night-Sunday night,' was the reply. 'Sunday night!' said he, then we shall have no more herrings.'" There has been no herring fishery at Guernsey since that year! The Guernsey fish evidently must have had much greater respect for the ordinances of the Church than those herrings which were said to have forsaken some other coast as soon as the newly-appointed vicar of the parish intimated his intention of taking tithe of the fish. There is one long paragraph in the book which is a startling illustration of the fact that " one event happeneth to us all." Our author, with seemingly sufficient data, arrives at the conclusion that the "white bait," of which City magnates and Cabinet ministers partake on great occasions, is, after all, only small herrings! Great Yarmouth holds the first place in the herring fishery. Manship, who wrote in 1619 about the origin of Yarmouth, says; And now, by pregnant probabilities, it is in my opinion very clear that, from the landing of Cerdick in A.D. 495, now 1,124 years past, this sand, by the defluxion of tides, did by little and little lift its head above the waters; and in so short a time after, sundry fishermen resorted thither, where they continued in tents made for the purpose by the space of forty days, about the killing, trimming, salting, and selling of herrings, to all that thither came for the purpose; whereunto did resort the merchants of London, Norwich, and other places to buy herrings during the season, and then departed." When it is not convenient or practicable for the luggers to enter the haven, they come to anchor off the beach in front of the town, and the fish are landed in "ferry-boats." These are large open boats, strongly built, and with plenty of room in them; they are worked by a class of persons well-known as "beachmen." The ferry-boat takes off with her a considerable number of baskets called "swills," which are peculiar to Yarmouth, and are capable of holding about 500 fair-sized fish each. These baskets are broad and deep at the ends, and are tied in at the centre by a straight wicker-work handle running from one side to the other, making them look very much like two basket-panniers joined together. As soon as the ferry-boat has received her cargo from the lugger, the fish having been all counted into the baskets, she returns to land, and is placed broadside to the beach for the greater convenience of the men who have to take the fish on shore. A swill of fish is then raised to the gunwale of the boat, and a couple of beachmen take the basket between them in their arms, forming a bed for it by clasping each other by the hand. In this way the swills are carried up the beach, and then placed in rows two deep, ready for sale, which takes place as soon as the cargo is landed. Herrings are counted by the last (the Saxon last means a burden, also a certain weight or measure), the last nominally consisting of 10,000 fish, but actually of 13,200, computed thus: = 4 herrings 1 warp. 33 warps 1 hundred= 132 fish. 10 hundred-1 thousand= 1,320 fish. A description of one of the most remarkable boats found on our shores is given in the Irish section of the work. Two illustrations are given of this remarkable boat, the " Curragh," or canvas-canoe, found mostly in the south of Ireland. "The construction of these 'curraghs is very simple, consisting of a light frame for the top-sides, strengthened by a keelson curved slightly upwards at each end, so as to form what may be called the stern and sternpost, which are fitted to the lower part of the frame. The ribs are simply pieces of cask-hoop, cut to such a length as to give the requisite curve to the bottom, and outside these are nailed narrow battens to serve as flooring." "Such is the skeleton of the curragh,' and as a substitute for planking, the whole outer surface is covered with tarred canvas, nailed on in pieces abu a couple of feet wide, and extending from one gunwale round to the other. Thwarts are fixed in the usual manner. The general length of these canoes is about twenty feet, with a breadth of nearly four feet. Four men form the crew of one of these frail craft, each man having a pair of small light oars with very narrow blades, working on single thole-pins, which in each case passes through a small triangular piece of wood, nailed to the oar at a proper distance from the handle. A small lugsail is carried when a fair wind can be had. The curraghs' float like bubbles on the water, and would be likely to be blown away but for the great command over them gained by the use of the four pairs of oars, and the weight of a good crew to give them some hold on the water. We have found by experience in them, that even in fine weather the raised bow makes it a little difficult to keep a straight course when there is any head wind; but they are admirably handled by the fishermen, and when properly trimmed, and each man has his oars at work, they will go through an almost incredible amount of bad weather. These canoes cost about £5, and a couple of men will turn them over and carry them on their heads without any difficulty." One effect of our author's book will be, we earnestly trust, a removing of the prejudice in certain localities in favour of a certain kind of boat. Having visited most of the fishing stations in the Shetland Islands, our conclusion is, that the open skiff is utterly inadequate as a boat for that storm-tossed region, both as regards the proper development of the fishery and the security of the lives of the fishermen. The records of the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Society is proof, from the many widows on our list, that the risk of life in these islands is very great. It ought certainly to be reduced by the introduction of a larger and better boat, and the powerful influence and authority of the author of this book may help to bring about such a desirable result. We are thankful for the appearance of the book in the interest of our valuable coast population, who are too often lost sight of, but who contribute so largely, and, withal, so quietly to the nation's wealth; for it has been said, "History, so prodigal of recital when discoursing of naval battles, keeps silence when it has to do with the peaceful contentions of man with the elements. It would seem that acts of heroism lose their right to celebration the moment they become useful. In the daily toil of the fisherman there is that which powerfully appeals to human sympathies. The perils which hourly encompass him; the precariousness of his harvest, reaped by God's blessing where he has not sown; that great deep on which his bark reposes trustfully; those long night watches-all invest it with an interest which attach to few other employments. It received a solemn consecration in the hour when, by the Lake of Galilee, the Saviour chose out two poor fishermen to be His first disciples. While, the fate of the tiller of the soil has been too often to sink into the serf, but one remove from the beast of the field, from time immemorial the fisherman has remained erect, manly, independent. His daily hazards have engendered coolness, courage, promptness, endurance, hardihood. The fisher-boat has been the cradle of the seaman, the nursery of all maritime greatness." This handsome volume of more than 400 pages is printed in good bold type, and contains forty-four well-executed engravings, of which our illustration is one, from drawings by the author. REVIEWS. Lyric Poems and Thoughts in Verse. By Capt. J. R. WARD, R.N. London Moxon and Son, Paternoster-row. THE author, who is well known as the able and talented Inspector of Lifeboats to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, in dedicating these poems to his wife states that they were all composed in the evening of life, during brief intervals of leisure, snatched from an active occupation, and written as a relaxation from his other work. It contains 271 pages of miscellaneous subjects; the principal ones, having reference to the sea, will therefore interest our seafaring readers. We select the following, entitled "THE OLD WRECK."* "Frail broken shell! remains of a sea-home, Thus ruthlessly destroyed! 'Twas but a few * "Written on viewing the remains of the 'Beatitude,' an old and worn-out schooner, seen to founder off Skegness, Lincolnshire, a few days before." |