gent old man, too infirm now to do more than take care of
the baby that he holds in his arms, while the baby's mother is earning
her three-pence an hour inside. To this ancient we will address all our
inquiries; and he is well qualified to answer us, for the poor old
fellow has worked away all the pith and marrow of his life in the
pilchard fishery.

The fish--as we learn from our old friend, who is mightily pleased to be
asked for information--will remain in salt, or, as the technical
expression is, "in bulk," for five or six weeks. During this period, a
quantity of oil, salt, and water drips from them into wells cut in the
centre of the stone floor on which they are placed. After the oil has
been collected and clarified, it will sell for enough to pay off the
whole expense of the wages, food, and drink given to the
"seiners"--perhaps defraying other incidental charges besides. The salt
and water left behind, and offal of all sorts found with it, furnish a
valuable manure. Nothing in the pilchard itself, or in connexion with
the pilchard, runs to waste--the precious little fish is a treasure in
every part of him.

After the pilchards have been taken out of "bulk," they are washed clean
in salt water, and packed in hogsheads, which are then sent for
exportation to some large sea-port--Penzance for instance--in coast
traders. The fish reserved for use in Cornwall, are generally cured by
those who purchase them. The export trade is confined to the shores of
the Mediterranean--Italy and Spain providing the two great foreign
markets for pilchards. The home consumption, as regards Great Britain,
is nothing, or next to nothing. Some variation takes place in the prices
realized by the foreign trade--their average, wholesale, is stated to be
about fifty shillings per hogshead.

As an investment for money, on a small scale, the pilchard fishery
offers the first great advantage of security. The only outlay necessary,
is that for providing boats and nets, and for building salting-houses--an
outlay which, it is calculated, may be covered by a thousand pounds. The
profits resulting from the speculation are immediate and large.
Transactions are managed on the ready money principle, and the markets of
Italy and Spain (where pilchards are considered a great delicacy) are
always open to any supply. The fluctuation between a good season's
fishing and a bad season's fishing is rarely, if ever, seriously great.
Accidents happen but seld