vessel receives all the coral that has been
taken, and bears it back to Torre.

All preliminaries being settled, and the boats
being numbered, without which they would be
seized and confiscated, away they push, and
commit their fortunes to the deep. When
well supplied, each boat will have on board
about twenty cantari of hemp (a cantaro
amounting to nearly two hundred pounds),
with which the sailors make the nets on the
voyage. The net, which is made with very
wide meshes and very loose in the texture, is
generally about eighteen passi or yards long,
and one wide; the wide part being let down
perpendicularly in the sea in order that the
coral rock may be better embraced by the
length. The fishing machine, however, which
is employed, consists of five nets, which are
arranged as follows:—Two sticks, of the thickness
                                of a man's arm, and
                                each about two feet and a
                                half (five palmi) in length,
   {Image}                are fastened together in the
                                form of a cross, as in the
                                figure; to each of the
                                extremities, A, B, C, D, is
                                attached a net such as I
                                have described, and the
length lying, of course, much in folds. Under
the centre, E, is attached a stone of,
perhaps, seventy pounds weight, and to the same
point is attached also another net. The
rope, F, communicates with the boat, and
is stretched across the thigh of a man, which
is covered with a thick piece of leather. Let
us then suppose that the boat has arrived at
the given spot. The nets are thrown in, and
away goes the vessel before the wind, or
propelled by the oar until they have laid hold of a
rock. Woe be to the man who holds the rope
if he gives not immediate notice of the net
having " caught " the reef, so that more rope
may be let out, otherwise he is thrown into
the sea, or, as I have heard in many cases,
his thigh is cut through to the bone, so
violent is the check and so great the tension.
Then " comes the tug of war," the whole
crew are called upon for a long pull, a strong
pull, and a pull altogether, until by main
force they break off pieces of the coral reef,
which derive their valuta from their weight
and colour. Jet black and rose-colour corals
are the most esteemed, although a deeper red,
white, and a dark dirty grey abound. The
last is rarely sold, being considered nearly
valueless. The rose-colour coral will sell at
from twenty to one hundred piastres, or three
pounds ten shillings to seventeen pounds the
rotolo of thirty-three ounces according to the
weight.

"Oh, Signore, quant' è bell' a vederé! " said
a coral fisher to me only that morning, "What a
beautiful sight it is when the coral is drawn up
out of the sea! " Up comes the long branches
like the boughs of a tree, or sometimes in
great thick pieces. Last spring we were a
hundred barks pulling away at one reef, and
up came our nets with a rock in the midst;
the upper part was covered with plums, and
pears, and grapes; for your Eccellenza knows
that the sea has its fruits as well as the
land; and underneath the rock was the
coral. It was a beautiful sight to see;
besides, we are all better treated by the captain
when we have a good draw; and we gave a
shout of joy."

The coral, I am told, is found at a depth
varying from about eight to thirty-four
fathoms, and the best is near the surface:
that of Sardinia, too, is preferred, and the
coral on the Barbary coast. Sometimes
a piece will be taken so large as to be
beyond all price. One boat, for instance,
has this season taken seven branches, of the
weight, respectively, of two rotoli, one and
a half rotolo, one rotolo, and a half rotolo,
and downwards. These seven branches were
valued to me at one thousand ducats, and
another such a pull would make a tolerable
voyage.

What strikes one as remarkable is, the
rapid growth and formation of these Coral
beds. " Year after year have we fished
away on the same spots, and yet on each
returning season we find an abundant supply
Sometimes beds that we have left
small, have, in one winter, grown up to a
large size." Such is the account the fishers
give. Much uncertainty, however, prevails
as to the remunerating profits of the voyage;
the pieces brought up may be very small,
or an inconsiderable quantity may be taken;
the nets may be broken or lost; and, lastly,
the vessel itself may be lost, not an
unfrequent occurrence; for every year the sad
intelligence arrives of the loss of a coral bark,
or more; so constant is the exposure, and so
great the danger incurred. Let us suppose
that only one hundred vessels a year leave
Torre for this trade— and there are near two
hundred— and we shall perceive of how much
importance this trade is to a small town.
No wonder masses are said and benedictions
uttered; for where the treasure is, there will
the heart be also.

But how great are the hardships of the
service, and how much suffering is inflicted by
the cruelty and brutality of the captains ? In
the first place, repose is unknown upon these
vessels; for three weeks, or even a month, at
a time, if the weather be favourable and the
sea kind, they keep out at sea, like the
"Flying Dutchman," ever on the run, and the
nets ever dragging until they lay hold of a
rock, when in they are hauled and again
re-cast, unless they are broken. For the
whole crew, therefore, there is never entire
repose; and on some boats not even is the
relay system adopted, either because of the
brutal character of the captain, or the shortness
of hands. The consequence is, that on
such vessels sleep is indulged in by theft, by
snatches; and I have heard of some who had
almost acquired a habit of working and