11,946. Still there are some of them who are usually a good bit behind?-Yes; but I hope they will get and be able to pay it off. Some of them are men whose [Page 294] sons are willing now to pay for their fathers, and it is a great matter to see that.
11,947. The debts you refer to have been incurred for supplies of hooks and lines, and meal and other things required for the family?-Yes; chiefly for meal. Of course, they get hooks and lines also but they require a great deal of bread and meal.
11,948. Do those men who fish for you own their own boats, or do the boats belong to you?-The boats are all their own.
11,949. Are you not a boat-owner?-Not with these men.
11,950. Have you some boats here?-Yes; I had too many, and got very little profit from them.
11,951. The boats you had at Scalloway were hired out by you?- Yes; it got the name of hire, but I never received it. The nominal hire is 5s. per man. If it carries three men it is 15s. and if four men, £1. That is for three or four months in the year.
11,952. These are small boats?-Yes.
11,953. Is that the kind of boat that is commonly in use in Scalloway?-Yes.
11,954. Are there none of the six-oared boats in use here?-There are none in use here just now. Even in summer it is the small boats that are used here. They fish near the shore and the small boats are more handy than the big ones.
11,955. Then there is no haaf fishing from Scalloway?-No.