919. Are there any leases given in Burra?-I never knew of any
being given.
920. Do you know that most of the young men in Burra go to the
Faroe fishing?-They do.
921. Do you know that they have shipped both with Messrs. Hay
and with other merchants?-Yes.
922. Do they get the same terms both from Messrs. Hay and from
other merchants?-I believe they do, so far as I know.
923. Do you know from your own knowledge, whether there is any
objection made by Messrs. Hay to their shipping with other
merchants for the Faroe fishing?-I have not heard of any recently,
but it used to be objected to a few years back. There have been
good fishings at Faroe for some time back, and all the agents can
get plenty of men; so that there is no need for any restrictions.
924. Supposing you were at liberty to deliver your fish to any other
merchant than Messrs. Hay, what reason have you for supposing
that you would be better paid than you now are?-I have been a
fisherman in Burra for fourteen years, and I was a fisherman in
Havera for twenty years before that. There I cured my own fish,
and I could do with them what I liked; and I learned there how
much I could make by curing them for myself, or selling them to
any one within reach who would buy them green.
925. It costs you something, both money and trouble in curing
them?-Yes.
926. But, notwithstanding that, you would make more money by
being allowed cure them for yourself?-We believe that, and we
know it. We know that we would make more money than we have
ever got.
927. To whom would you have an opportunity of selling your fish
cured?-We could them to any one who would give us the most
for them.
928. Are there people there who would buy them from you?-Yes,
there are plenty of merchants in Shetland or in the south country
who would come and buy them; and we would have a chance of
sending them south at our own risk, or to our own advantage.
929. Has any one in Burra ever cured his own fish?-No; I believe
no one has ever done so since Burra rose out of the water.
930. Has any one near Burra done so?-Havera is near Burra, and
belongs to the same parish, and I cured my own fish there.
931. Why did you leave Havera and go to Burra?-Havera is a
very small island, and it became too strait for me.