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    294 NEWIiYN AND ITS FISHWOMEN.

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    1 N How Atur Frequentl E Has Been Y Leas...

    fish as fast as they want them . ( We were told that the raj > idity "with which these stacks arise is perfectly marvellous . ) The pilchards

    axe alternately placed heads and tails on one another with the ; utmost regularity , the tips of the little tails or their noses being

    all that is left visible . If the catch is large the female population of Newlyn are at work night and day till all the fish are salted ,

    otherwise the loss they -would sustain would be great . The women are iece paid of bread 3 d . being an hour 1 given for them their in labor addition , a g every lass of sixth brand hour y . and The a

    business p of salting completed , the fish remain piled in stacks for six weeks . During this period a large quantity of oil oozes from them ,

    and is caught in the pits prepared for it in the floor of the salting house . This oil is afterwards clarified and turned to account , and

    fetches so good a price that the sale of it is _sujDposed to cover the entire expense of curing the fish ; even the refuse of it and the

    salt combined makes a highly-prized manure . Nothing , therefore , of this precious little £ sh is lost ; and the Newlyn people may indeed

    be grateful to Providence for bestowing on their sterile country such a source of wealth . To give some idea of the necessity of

    activity to prevent the fish being wasted before they can be salted , our informant , who had been present at the catches _eYery year

    since she could remember , told us that as many as 20 , 000 pilchards were frequently taken in a comparatively small net . In one cove

    not far distant , 6000 hogsheads were caught in one week , and allowing 2 , 400 fish to a hogshead , the numbers composing the

    shoal may be pretty nearly calculated . The value per hogshead varies from £ 3 to £ 3 10 s .

    In 1851 at St . Ives , another fishing town in Cornwall , one large net was supposed to have caught in a night 16 , 500 , 000 pilchards ,

    £ or 11 5 , 000 580 . hogsheads In the season , 1 , 100 the tons boat wei s are ght— frequentl a money y out value five of ni at ghts least in ,

    the week , and are built with berths for the men to sleep in . The cellars of most of tlie houses that we entered were exclusively kept

    apart for stacking the fish . When the pilchards are supposed to be throughly cured they are packed in hogsheads ready for slipping , * the

    merchants then visit the salting house and cellars and make their own purchases . The principal exports of pilchards are to France ,

    Spain , and Italy , the fish being in much request in Catholic countries for food on fast days . The pilchard has a rather sweet flavor

    when fresh , and when cured resembles the sardine . The Cornisli le have various ways of preserving itand it forms a staple

    peop source of food in winter . Their home consump , tion is , however _, nothing in comparison with what they export .

    Having gathered from Queen Sally all the information we could about the fishwe were unwilling to leave her humble domain

    _withotit learning , a few more _jDarticulars respecting the place , her companions , and herself . She gave us a most cordial invitation to

    prolong our visit , offering us tea in truly hospitable ? style . We sat

    294 Newiiyn And Its Fishwomen.

    294 NEWIiYN AND ITS _FISHWOMEN .

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Jan. 1, 1862, page 294, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01011862/page/6/