7800. And for their moral virtues?-Yes.
7801. Is it not the case that a considerable part of the year is spent in comparative idleness by the Shetland fishermen?-I believe it is, but that perhaps does not arise from any unwillingness on their part to work.
7802. From what does it arise?-From want of employment.
7803. Have they not their land?-They have their land, but, as I observed before, there is a bar to improvement there.
7804. Would it not be possible to introduce a more extensive system of winter fishing than that which exists now?-I don't think it.
7805. It seems a little peculiar, does it not, that the summer fishing should be prosecuted in the big boats, and that only the small boats should be sent out in winter?-They prosecute the fishing in the big boats in winter too, when the weather permits.
7806. But they don't go so far to sea in winter as in summer?-No; they don't go so far.
7807. I understood it was principally the small boats that went out in winter?-That is true, but on several occasions they employ the big boats too. But the smaller boats, when the weather permits, are much handier and lighter to manage.
7808. Are they safer?-They are equally safe when the weather permits.
7809. But would they not be able to go greater distances to sea with the big boats?-It would not matter much what size of boat they had if they were caught at sea by a gale.