of early supplies for home use, a more
summary method is followed; for these must be
carried by rail without loss of time to the
London and provincial markets, to be disposed
of as "fresh herrings." Of the fish nothing
is lost; the refuse, constituting a rich manure,
obtains a ready market at the rate of one
shilling and eightpence per barrel.

Fishing is prosecuted every day (weather
permitting) except Sundays; but it is obvious
that if it were not for a limited period, no
amount of human strength could bear up
against such excessive labour. The season lasts
for two months, commencing from about the
eighteenth of July; but although occupying
this brief period in what may be termed the
actual business of fishing, the preliminary
operations occupy the greater portion of the
whole year. Thus females are employed in
the winter season in weaving and mending
nets; men in dyeing them and sails with bark,
in order that they may better resist the action
of salt-water; in preparing corks, bladders,
and dog-skins for buoying up the nets; and,
in numerous other avocations necessary for
the prosecution of the traffic; carpenters are
busy in building boats; shippers in importing
staves and salt; sawyers in cutting staves;
and coopers in making barrels.

The history of the herring fishery affords
an instructive proof of the inutility of governmental
interference in matters of commerce.
For many centuries the trade had been
prosecuted by the Dutch; and, jealous of the
supposed large profits accruing from it, the
English were desirous of sharing in the
spoil. Adam Smith informs us that, in 1749,
Government was the means of instituting a
British Fishing Society, with a capital of five
hundred thousand pounds, which offered a
bounty of fifty pounds for every ton of herrings
caught; but, as the gross proceeds only yielded
one hundred and fifty-nine pounds, seven
shillings and sixpence, the absurdity of such
a bounty was manifestly glaring. This system
continued till 1786, when, according to a quaint
writer, "herrings were sought after with as
much avidity as if each of them contained a
ducat in its mouth." In 1809 the bounty fell
to three pounds per ton, or two shillings per
barrel; in 1826 it rose to four shillings per
barrel; and in 1830 the bounty was
withdrawn altogether. The system of rewarding,
or bribing, men to engage in a particular
traffic, always exercises a pernicious influence.
If a trade be worthy of being followed, the
competition inseparable from commerce will
cause it to be looked after for its own sake.
Lured by the bounty, an inferior class of men
engaged in the trade, with whom the curers
(the middle men between the fishermen and
consumer) could not carry on business
amicably or profitably. It was the bribe, not the
fish, that was cared for; and, what with
unseasonable fishing, and inferior boats and gear
for the traffic, the whole system rapidly
declined under the nightshade of Government
bounties. A glance at the following returns
will show that, after a temporary decline,
which naturally followed the sudden
withdrawal of rewards in 1830, the trade has, ever
since being left to itself, continued to improve
progressively, until it is now carried on to
about four times the extent that it was in 1815,
when absurdly fostered.

As the Fishing Board only give aggregate
results, we may add, that a stout herring-
boat fully equipped, costs about one hundred
and sixty pounds. The remuneration that
the fishermen receive from the curers is one
hundred pounds for the first two hundred
crans; after that quantity is delivered, they
are at liberty to fish on as long as they think
proper, and dispose of the proceeds as they
may think fit. The Board do not report the
amount of freight paid upon the transport of
herrings, which must be considerable. Two
shillings and threepence per barrel is the
ordinary rate to Stettin.

According to Pennant, "the great winter
rendezvous of the herring is within the Arctic
circle; there they continue many months, in
order to recruit themselves after the fatigue
of spawning,—the seas within that space
swarming with small Crustacea in a far greater
degree than in our warmer latitudes. They
move in mighty numbers. Their armies begin
to put themselves in motion in the spring;
we distinguish the vast body by this term,
as in German heer means army. They begin
to appear off the Shetland Isles in April
and May; these are only forerunners of the
grand shoal, which comes in June. The
main body is such as to alter the very
appearance of the ocean. It is divided into