12 



all round its outer surface swarm hundred of dark bass 

 attracted by the current, all darting to and fro in the 

 greatest excitement either hunting for food particles 

 brought by the inrushing tide or endeavouring to find an 

 opening in the net and so pass up the current. Mullet 

 being shyer fish do not press forward so excitedly as the 

 bass do and one sees comparatively iew of them. A 

 baited hook dropped among the bass at this time is 

 seized at once and the veriest tyro may haul them out as 

 fast as the hook can be rebaited. 



As in the other sluice operations, "freshening" 

 requires a nice judgment on the part of the gateman, a 

 judgment acquired only after years of experience. Thus 

 while it may be stated as usual for freshening, in its 

 two-fold operations of causing first an outflow and then 

 an inflow, to be carried on twice a day during spring- 

 tides from the middle of March till the beo-inning- of 

 November, there is no fixed rule ; the frequency and the 

 duration of each freshening are left to the discretion of 

 the man in charge who acts according to the varying 

 circumstances of weather, tide, and the condition of the 

 pond water. To a large extent the gate men seem to be 

 guided by that peculiar instinct or intuition gained by 

 fishermen from years of familiarity with their calling 

 which tells them unerringly that certain conditions are 

 present though they may be unable to explain how they 

 arrive at the conclusion. Usually the ponds are fresh- 

 ened at each tide for two days before and three days 

 after new and full moon. During the winter season, 

 November to March, it is not found necessary to carry on 

 these freshening operations, the entrance ponds being 

 then wholly or partially dry, and the fishes removed to 

 the wintering ponds. 



Feeding and Care of the Fish. 



Every time freshening takes place a certain amount 

 of food matter is passed into the ponds. In part this is 

 microscopical life which passes the screens freely, partly it 

 is small fish and shrimps caught in the sluice and thrown 

 into the ponds by the gateman. Beyond this no food 

 is given to the imprisoned fish, which are expected to 

 forage for themselves in the aquatic herbage flourishing 



