Page:A Book of the West (vol. 2).djvu/390

316 of silver. The fish are now taken or dipped out with baskets into the boats. When the boats are filled, if more fish remain in the large sean, it is left in the water, till by successive tuckings all the fish have been removed.

The fish that have been caught and brought on shore are taken to the cellars. Fish cellars are usually dug out of the rock, and in them the pilchards are deposited in heaps, to be cured by the women, who work at this night and day. The cellar floor is covered with a layer of salt for the distance of five or six feet from the walls, and on this is laid a row of fish with their tails touching the wall; then next to these is laid another row, and so on in concentric rings, till a sufficient space is paved with fish. On this foundation is laid more salt, and then more fish, and this process is continued till the pile is complete and the cellar is stacked with fish. They are now said to be "in bulk," and so are suffered to remain for some weeks, during which time boards are placed on them with stones, so as to squeeze out of them all superfluous water and oil. The process of salting completed, the fish are packed in barrels, and are sent away to market.

After July or August the pilchards leave the coast, and do not reappear until the end of October or the beginning of November. They now appear in the Bristol Channel, and come down towards Land's End, which they turn and follow the south coast of Cornwall, and then disappear.

Formerly pilchards were smoked, and went by the name of fumadoes. The name clung to them after