The Argosy — page 218: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Fish Catching on the Dogger. 201 citizens ; as good in all relations of life as men who abstain from returning evil for evil; and, indeed, if their most enthusiastic admirers ~ —— ean be credited, they are notable specimens of moral and spiritual excellence. And for this marvellous change which has come over the deep-sea fisherman’s character, let honour be given to whom honour is due. A stranger in any of these floating towns on the North Sea will readily discover the pioneer of social and moral reformation amongst the trawlers, in a certain vessel which cruises with the fleets and is not merely a religious centre, but also a free hospital for injured ) smacksmen, the storehouse of much miscellaneous literature, and a - — ———— ne —— —— 4 = a . «i _ = = eS ———— in a general rendezvous for the hearty seamen who delight in the joyous “What cheer, O ?” and a grip of the hand which only the muscles of a trawler could sustain without discomfort. The smacksman was, erewhile, an uncontrollable social outlaw ; he is now a staid, sober citizen: religious, but free from maudlin / sentiment, and without a taint of puritanical sourness. Perhaps he will by and by evolve into something even higher and nobler; but be that as it may, it is assuredly a triumph to have displaced the obnoxious semi-savage by the sober citizen and the religious man. The run to the Dogger Bank may be made in a trawling smack from either of the great seaports which are headquarters of the deep- sea fishery, or by steamer plying between London and the fleets. The passage from the Thames is sometimes accomplished in twenty- four hours, but more frequently the stranger on his way to the fishing ground is pent up in the comfortless cabin of the steam cutter (or compelled to pace the deck in all the agonies of extreme mal-de-mer) for thirty-six, or sometimes forty-eight hours. On the steamship there is abundant room for fish-boxes and their contents, but for people other than the crew the accommodation is Scanty. There is plenty of food to be had—always assuming that one | 1s none too fastidious in his taste; but the passenger to the deep-sea | fishery must be content to take his slumbers, if need be, on a hard ) locker, and may count himself happy if he passes the night without being precipitated by the rolling and lurching of the vessel from the said hard locker to an equally comfortless floor. | . Inthe summer time the voyage is attended with a minimum of | trouble; and “a strange sight it is and a beautiful,” at break of day, | or hon the sun is setting, to run into the midst of a great fleet of fishing smacks, numbering perhaps 150 sail, their tanned canvas | glittering in the golden sunlight like so many wings of gossamer. Each smack is ketch- rigged, registered as a trawler of the port from | which she hies, and carries six or seven of a crew, who are known : | Seepectively as mate, third hand, etc. She is a vessel of from 50 to | 80 tons burden, and, as is but natural and right, is a craft calculated to / combat with the treacherous billows of the German Ocean more } adequately than any other of the smaller class of vessel. COMIC OOO ‘S (CO) = — eS ee ee — ey yee ee ie ee el ee a i