But the sea about Ireland is still
less explored than the land. All round the Atlantic seaboard of
the Irish coast are shoals of herring and mackerel, which might
be food for men, but are at present only consumed by the
multitudes of sea-birds which follow them.
In the daily papers giving an account of the Cork Exhibition,
appeared the following paragraph: "An interesting exhibit will
be a quantity of preserved herrings from Lowestoft, caught off
the old head of Kinsale, and returned to Cork after undergoing a
preserving process in England."[6] Fish caught off the coast of
Ireland by English fishermen, taken to England and cured, and
then "returned to Cork" for exhibition! Here is an opening for
patriotic Irishmen. Why not catch and preserve the fish at home,
and get the entire benefit of the fish traffic? Will it be
believed that there is probably more money value in the seas
round Ireland than there is in the land itself? This is actually
the case with the sea round the county of Aberdeen.[7]
A vast source of wealth lies at the very doors of the Irish
people. But the harvest of an ocean teeming with life is allowed
to pass into other hands. The majority of the boats which take
part in the fishery at Kinsale are from the little island of Man,
from Cornwall, from France, and from Scotland. The fishermen
catch the fish, salt them, and carry them or send them away.
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