The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-07-11
LONDON LETTER.
Ioxnoy. June 20. 1883.

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LoyDoN, June 20. 1883.
Numerous as are the attractions
now being offered TO the sightseeing
nnblic at South Kensington, there
is. perhaps, no department OF
the Fisheries Exhibition more full
of interest than that which the
exhibitors of the Celestial Empire
have created in their galleries for
the astonishment and delight OF
icthvlogists. An original method OF
capturing fish is that pursued by
what are known at Swatow as slip.
ner boats" These craft are general
iv . feet long and is inches vide,
and they fish in couples moored
side by side on bright moonlight
nights. their only implement Of
canturing being a white board las
tened along the outer side of each.
This board catches the bright rays
of the moon and the fsh, who wonld
seem 10 be Of 4 confding disposition
in that portion of the Empire, are
said to mistake it for water, and leap
from their native element into the
slipper boats in large numbers. In
Vulnerable devices Of this character
peculiar to the country are here on
show in the Chinese annex. Inns
would seem to be a branch OF the m
dustry naturally commencing itself
IN the minds Of a people who are
universally credited with a more
than ordinary amount OF cunning.
Their fish traps are, moreover, man
fold and varied, and of the highest
workmanship and utility. In the
British Isles this isra means OF
taking fish practically unknown ana
unpracticed. with the exception OF
the stereotyped eel and lobster pots.
But the Chinese devote themselves
largely to these strategic methods OF
fishing. and with an unvarylng sue
cess that nothing but the boundless
fertility of their rivers and seas could
explain or withstand. The day will
perhaps come when western ideas
will penetrate sufficiently there to
insure the suppression OF wholesale
fish poisoning and such ike fatal
poaching arrangements for the cap
ture of small fry as are rather too
candidlv exhibited here; but at
present we can only admire. perhaps
with a tinge ofdejecton. the hun
dred and one devices employed IN a
country where, though every form OF
unsportsmanlike destruction IS ram
pant, the fish supply seems to re,
main as abundant and accessible as
ever. -
Cormorants are another means
employed by the Chinese on lake:
and the shallower sheets of water
for taking fish. This aquaticspecie:
of having is of very old date, ano
was known and praticed in England
whittier it was doubtless imported
from the East two centuries ago
But il is followed with success only
bv the Chinese. The birds, which
have to undergo 4 regular training
are taken out in a boat, and befor'
the work commences a strap or rin!
is placed around each cormorant'
throat sufficiently tight to proven
its swallowing any fish itmay catef
in its strongly hooked beak, but no
SO tight as to prevent respiration
TIE dark winged fishermen then g
off and cater for their master witt
success and regularity, being reward
ed with an occasional FISH, whicl
they are permitted to swallow whel
the strap has been removed. Abov
all things the Chinese are a fruga
nation, making use of substance
which would meet with culinar,
contempt in any other country. Th
discarded shark represents to then
valuable form of food. The fin
90 TO form the well-known soup, 0
are used in the preparation of gela
tine, while the skin, after being pre-
pared and cleaned, serves for cover
ing sword handles and for yariou
other ornamental purposes. Eve
the cutie fish. creature repulsiv
to fishermen of most other nations
is the object of careful pursuit wit
nets and lines by the Chinese, at
time when other work is slack, an
when carefullydried and packed i
bales, commands a ready sale a
through the Flowery Land. Til
oyster also, and its pearl-bearln
kindred, the Chinese mussel. are NJ
merely looked upon as daintie
Though cultivated with skill an
science as such in the first plac
their refuse shells are burnt for lin
and while still living they are indu
ed to secrete the hard white su
stance which is so highly valued f
its beauty and scarcity all over Il
world. Some of the shells contain
ing artificially constructed pear
are shown here in one of the case
and though they are no novelty
the divers alike of China, CeylC
and Panama, thev will doubtless
new to many. 1t will be observe
that some of them are in the shaI
Of quaint little images adhering
the she'll These metallic imag
have been inserted while the muss
lived, and finding itself i'll at ca
with this encumbrance, which it b
been unable to eject, the bivalve h
adopted the process which is Il
cause of all pearls, and has silent
covered the irritating, foreign su
stance with layer after layer of u
white material known in the perie
form OF pearl.