The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-31 00:00:00

HERRING FISHING.

WICK, AUG. 26.—There has been very few fish
caugl;:t since thi, day week. Friday last the average
was three, and Saturday, two crans. The average
for the three days, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thurs-
day (to-day) will not exceed three crans. The aver-
age for the season is now 95. Cured herrings, full
brand,, are selling at 18s. to 18s. 6d. The boats at
the various small ports, from Wick to Helmsdale,
have fished better than at Wick. The Firth of Forth
boats have left Wick for the season. About a
dozen of them left here on Sabbath morning last,
and were overtaken by the gale. Two got into
Fraserburgh, and one was seen losing off that port,
and all bands perished. As yet there is no account
of the others. Two vessels were driven ashore the
same day about Thurso, and one man lost. A
schooner was driven in, or rather ran in, on the Sands
of Kiess, having mistaken Nosshead for Duncans-
bay Head. She is loaded with herrings from Banff,
but is expected to be got off.—Ross-shire Advertiser.
HELMSDALE, THURSDAY, AUG. 26.—The herring
fishery here closes for a season with this week, and cer-
tainly the result has been in the highest degree cheer-
ing and satisfactory. The weather has been through-
out the season of the most propitious character, and
the boats were not for a single night detained
from proceeding to sea from stormy weather. There
has not been a single season since Helmsdale became
a fishing station in which the same could be said.
On Friday morning last the,take of fish averaged
8 crans ; on Saturday morning 12 crans ;
on Tuesday morning 9 crans ; on Wednes-
day morning 20 crans ; and this morning 2i
crans. There having been a dead cairn last
night, and the fishermen beirrg much fatigued,
they were little inclined to proceed far to sea, and
consequently laid their nets at no distrance from the
shore, which accounts for the smallness of the take
last night. The boats have now, with few excep-
tions, fished their complement ; that is to say,
two hundred crans to each. Those from a dis-
tance all return to their respective homes to-
morrow and on Saturday, all in a state of high
spirits. The curers have received a far greater quan-
tity of fish than they had anticipated, and, with one ex-
ception, have all run short of salt. The herrings caught
on Tuesday night and last night were all bought up
by Mr. James Methven, the only party supplied
with salt in this place. The average of the season
is 140 crans. The wind blew a perfect hurricane
on Sunday 12st, but has fortunately done little or
no damage here. A vessel which was anchored out
in the bay was driven from her anchorage, but,
we hope, made the Cromarty firth in safety. A
number of vessels in Scrabster roads were driven
from their anchorage, but only one life was
lost. Two men were swept overboard by
the storm, one of whom swam ashore, but the
other met with a watery grave. A vessel was also
wrecked on the west coast of Sutherlandshire,
and twelve bodies were washed ashore. The
crew are supposed to have all perished. Two boats
from Cellardyke, which left Wick on Saturday night,
to return to their homes, after having ended their
fishing, %sere diicovered off Peterhead on Monday,
by Mr. Hogarth's salmon smack, with their keels
uppermost, and the whole of the crews, consisting of
five men in each, are suppised to have perished
There will, no doubt, be other sad disasters from the
gale to record, which hove not yet come to our
hearing.—Ross-shire Advertiser.