86 to 93. The Safety Fishing Boat of the Royal National Life-boat PAGE 255 258 259 261 264 . 268 273, 274 94 to 97. Four Illustrations of Directions for Restoring the Apparently Drowned. 288-291 THE SEA-FISHERMAN. INTRODUCTION. AMONGST all the useful arts, there is probably not one of which the knowledge has been so much confined to those who make it their vocation, as Sea-Fishing. Any detailed accurate accounts of the modes of capture of our best known fish-such modes of capture as the amateur would wish to avail himself of —were formerly unknown, the difficulty of accumulating facts having always rendered the progress of information slow. The requisite practical knowledge cannot be acquired by a short visit to the sea-side and an occasional day's fishing; neither must it be thought that the methods of one particular locality will suffice for all others: on the contrary, it is only by a long residence at different points of the coast, combined with the practice of sea-fishing as a pursuit, that the required information can be collected regarding the various methods called into action by the varying circumstances of different localities. There can be little doubt that the greater facilities of transit afforded us by the extension of the railway system-inasmuch as they have vastly increased, and in many cases created a great passenger traffic to the coast-have been the means of causing a demand for information on the subject to which this work is devoted. Sea-side visitors must find some occupation pour passer le temps: the monotony of the marine parade becomes weari B some, notwithstanding the attempts at its alleviation by calling in the aid of the last new novel from the library-but they cannot read all day; walking in the heat is not agreeable; everyone is not interested in the study of marine zoology, fashionable as it has become of late years, and deservedly so, although the furore has now somewhat abated; the common objects of the sea-shore fail to afford amusement; they have had a complete surfeit of German bands; mind and body are alike satiated with that fashionable and intellectual amusement so perseveringly followed by beach haunters of all ages, to wit, pelting Father Neptune with the pebbly shingle where there is any to the fore; even the row or the sail require some additional zest. What, then, is there at hand to supply the desideratum? Nothing-positively nothing but Sea-fishing, which in its various phases, afloat or from the shore, affords a field of observation and occupation of which the world at large can have but small conception. Considering the variety of sport to be derived from sea-fishing, its votaries have not been many in number until the last thirty years; latterly they have much increased, and sufficiently to induce a few among them to indite their experiences for the instruction of their fellowsportsmen. The author has frequently observed how very partial is the knowledge of many amateurs of sea-fishing, and how much sport they lose in consequence of their limited acquaintance with the subject; he has endeavoured, therefore, in this work to supply the desideratum, feeling he might venture so to do from the life-long experience he has had on various parts of the coast of England and the Channel Islands. Regarding the fishing of these islands, the methods of taking, preserving, and using the living Sand-Eel for bait, are so excellent, and have been hitherto so little known on the British side of the Channel, that the author has given them a prominent position in both description and illustration, and he is happy to say that former residents in the islands are following out these methods on the British coasts, over the whole extent of which they ought to be disseminated, as superior to all other methods of coast-fishing for Mackerel, Bass, and Pollack in particular, and eminently useful when applied to the capture of other fish. The intention of the author is that this work should be found a truthful description of Sea-fishing, and a vade mecum for reference and instruction, both for the British and other seas ; for, rely on it, any man who is practically acquainted with the varieties of sea-fishing round our own coasts will be able to take fish on the coasts of all the world. This is not a mere assertion of the author, but the result of the experience of British fishermen who have found their knowledge available from Newfoundland to the Antipodes; and in the latter region particularly on the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, where large quantities of fish have been taken by the same methods. A careful inspection of the gear in the Great International Exhibition of Fisheries held in London in 1883 has quite confirmed the author's views as here stated. Throughout this work the author has endeavoured to keep before him the necessity of describing and depicting the different kinds of gear and baited hooks, with which, above all things, the sea-fisherman ought to be familiar. Another matter to which particular attention must be paid is the habitat of the fish, as well as that of the various worms, shell-fish, &c. used as bait, which will be of great service in discovering their haunts at any particular locality. By aid of a chart he should endeavour to ascertain the nature of the bottom, positions of rocks &c. which practice has been specially recommended in an article devoted to the subject. In the following article on 'Marks and how to take them,' accompanied by an illustrative chart, plain directions for fixing the positions of fishing-grounds in order to find them on a future occasion have been laid before the reader. Proficiency in any art cannot be attained without considerable attention and practice, to which Sea-fishing is certainly no exception; and when to this is added the necessity of an acquaintance with the management of a boat, if one really wishes to go thoroughly into the subject, the reader will perceive he has need to exercise no small amount of forethought, as well as bring into play a not inconsiderable amount of personal activity, if he would be anything more than a stern-sheet fisherman, an animal guiltless of letting go, or getting up an anchor, spritting a sail, bowsing on a tackle-fall, et hoc genus omne, added to which he stows himself abaft the after-thwart to eat, drink, and yes, oh! climax of effeminacy !-to have his hooks baited ! MARKS AND HOW TO TAKE THEM. Fishermen, from time immemorial, have, in the exercise of their vocation—namely, in trawling, dredging, setting Crab and Lobster pots, hand or long-line fishing-discovered certain 'grounds,' as they are termed, frequented by different varieties of fish, according to the nature of the bottom. It was of course desirable that these discoveries should not be lost; fishermen, therefore, have contrived methods of taking 'marks,' that these positions may be revisited when required. A boat or vessel is placed in any one of these positions by aid of two imaginary lines drawn from objects on shore, and crossing each other at the said boat or vessel. Two objects are chosen for each imaginary line, which two objects being seen on with, or over each other in one direction, and two other objects being seen likewise over each other in another direction, the position of any particular fishing-ground may be determined with facility, and revisited as occasion may require. As great precision is necessary in some kinds of fishing, the marks selected should not be too close to each other, neither should the lines of direction be too oblique. If too close together, their relative positions will not appear to alter rapidly enough to enable you to detect a change in the position of the boat instantly, and the result will be similar if the lines of direction are too oblique, because you will be too long passing the intersection of the cross bearings. Some degree of obliquity is generally unavoidable; but where a choice of objects exists, select those which will afford you as near an approach as possible to a right angle, or, as fishermen term it, take your marks upon the square.' By adhering to these cautions, your marks will be 'quick marks,' as they are called, and if well selected will alter even by turning your head right or left. The smaller the objects, the nearer they may be to each other; the larger they are, the greater should be the distance between them. If the distant object be of considerable magnitude, |