ts mouth, it is prevented from
returning.

The trawl rope--which is from 40 to 80 yards in length, according
to the depth of water--is hauled in by means of a winch; and its
great weight taxes the united strength of the crew, to get it level
with the bulwark. When it is up, the net is hauled on board, the
small end is opened, and the fish tumble on to the deck. They are
then separated and packed in trunks--as the wooden cases, in which
they are sent to market, are called.

Soles fetch by far the highest price, and fortunate are the crew
who get a good haul of this fish; for the men work upon shares, an
account being kept of all the sales made, during the fishing trip.
The owner deducts the cost of the provisions and stores which have
been put on board, and takes one or more shares for the vessel.
Each man has one share, the skipper and mate receiving rather a
larger proportion than the others; thus the men have a lively
interest in each haul, and great is the satisfaction when the net
comes up well filled, and there is seen to be a good proportion of
soles among the contents.

The coarse fish--as they are called--include brill, haddock, hake,
ling, whiting, and many others. Turbot are also caught. In each
haul there would probably be a vast number of objects which would
delight the heart of a naturalist. Dog fish, too, are sometimes
taken; as are conger eels, and horse mackerel. Stones, and oysters,
too, come up in the nets; and the latter are the betes-noires of
the fishing. Sometimes, when the fleet gets over a bed of oysters,
a score of nets will be lost in a single night for, when the bag
becomes full of oysters, its weight is so great that the utmost
power of the fishermen's exertions, on the winch, is insufficient
to lift it from the bottom; and there is nothing to be done but to
cut the rope, and abandon trawl and net. Upon these occasions the
language applied to the admiral is scarcely of a kind for polite
ears.

The food of the crews, when once upon the fishing ground, consists
almost wholly of fish. With the exception of soles, each man may
select any fish he fancies from the glistening mass upon the deck;
and the amount which each consumed at a meal at first astonished
William Gale, accustomed as he was to meager workhouse rations. He
soon, however, found himself able to keep up with the rest; but the
operation of frying seemed sometimes interminable, so many times
had the pan to be filled and emptied.