ean,
and on the north and west to the long roll of the Atlantic. There could
not be more perilous seas for the unpractised boatman to take his first
lessons on; but though the casualties were numerous, and the loss of
life great, many of the younger Highlanders became expert fishermen.
The experiment was harsh in the extreme, but so far, at least, it
succeeded. It lies open, however, to other objections than those which
have been urged against it on the score of its inhumanity.

The reader must be acquainted with Goldsmith's remarks on the herring
fishery of his days. 'A few years ago,' he says, 'the herring fishing
employed all Grub Street; it was the topic in every coffee-house, and
the burden of every ballad. We were to drag up oceans of gold from the
bottom of the sea; we were to supply all Europe with herrings upon our
own terms. At present, however, we hear no more of all this; we have
fished up very little gold that I can learn; nor do we furnish the
world with herrings, as was expected.' We have, in this brief passage,
a history of all the more sanguine expectations which have been
founded on herring fisheries. There is no branch of industry so
calculated to awaken the hopes of the speculator, or so suited to
disappoint them. So entirely is this the case, that were we desirous
to reduce an industrious people to the lowest stage of wretchedness
compatible with industry, we would remove them to some barren
district, and there throw them on the resources of this fishery
exclusively. The employments of the herring fisher have all the
uncertainty of the ventures of the gambler. He has first to lay down,
if we may so speak, a considerable stake, for his drift of nets and
his boat involve a very considerable outlay of capital; and if
successful, and if in general the fishery be _not_ successful, the
_take_ of a single week may more than remunerate him. A single cast of
his nets may bring him in thirty guineas and more. The die turns up in
his favour, and he sweeps the board. And hence those golden dreams of
the speculator so happily described by Goldsmith. But year after year
may pass, and the run of luck be against the fisherman. A fishing
generally good at all the stations gluts the market, necessarily
limited in its demands to an average supply, and, from the bulk and
weight of the commodity, not easily extended to distant parts: and the
herring merchant first, and the fisherman next, find that they have
been labou