s in on the shore side were
increasing every moment. The prospect was unpleasant enough. We had come
out beyond the merchants' quarters, and were level with those small
huts of mud and grass which the fishing population deem sufficient for
shelter, and which has always been a spot where turbulence might be
expected. Indeed, even in those days of peace and good government in
the old King's time, this part of the city had rarely been without its
weekly riot.

The life of the fisherman is the most hard that any human toilers have
to endure. Violence from the wind and waves, and pelting from firestones
out of the sky are their daily portion; the great beasts that dwell in
the seas hunt them with savage persistence, and it is a rare day when
at least some one of the fishers' guild fails to come home to answer the
tally.

Moreover, the manner which prevails of catching fish is not without its
risks.

To each man there is a large sea-fowl taken as a nestling, and
trained to the work. A ring of bronze is round its neck to prevent its
swallowing the spoil for which it dives, and for each fish it takes and
flies back with to the boat, the head and tail and inwards are given to
it for a reward, the ring being removed whilst it makes the meal.

The birds are faithful, once they have got a training, and are seldom
known to desert their owners; but, although the fishers treat them more
kindly than they do their wives, or children of their own begetting, the
life of the birds is precarious like that of their masters. The larger
beasts and fish of the sea prey on them as they prey on the smaller
fish, and so whatever care may be lavished upon them, they are most
liable to sudden cutting off.

And here is another thing that makes the life of the fisher most
precarious: if his fishing bird be slain, and the second which he has
in training also come by ill fortune, he is left suddenly bereft of all
utensils of livelihood, and (for aught his guild-fellows care) he may go
starve. For these fishers hold that the Gods of the sea regulate their
craft, and that if one is not pleasing to Them They rob him of his
birds; after which it would be impious to have any truck or dealing
with such a fellow; and accordingly he is left to starve or rob as he
chooses.

All of which circumstances tend to make the fishers rude, desperate
men, who have been forced into the trade because all other callings have
rejected them. They are fellows, moreover,