English tongue is spoken.




II

THE NORTH SEA FLEETS


The North Sea, big as it is, has no great depth. Geologists say that
not long ago, as geologists calculate time, its bottom was dry land
and connected the British Isles with the continent of Europe. Then it
began to sink until the water swept in and covered it, and it is still
sinking. The deepest point in the North Sea is not more than thirty
fathoms, or one hundred eighty feet. There are areas where it is not
over five fathoms deep, and the larger part of it is less than twenty
fathoms.

Fish are attracted to the North Sea because it is shallow. Its bottom
forms an extensive fishing "bank," we might say, though it is not,
properly speaking, a bank at all, and here is found some of the finest
fishing in the world.

From time immemorial fishing fleets have gone to the North Sea, and
the North Sea fisheries is one of the important industries of Great
Britain. Men are born to it and live their lives on the small fishing
craft, and their sons follow them for generation after generation. It
is a hazardous calling, and the men of the fleets are brave and hardy
fellows.