fishinj 



76 DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN chap. 



We sounded, therefore, at Station 35 and got 2603 metres. The 

 trawl was dropped with 5200 metres of wire and towed for 

 about two hours till 6 p.m. At 9 p.m. it was on board again 

 with an extremely interesting catch, including two baskets of 

 holothurians and twenty fishes, several of which were remarkable 

 bottom forms {Harriot fa, Bathysaurus, Halosanrus, Alepoce- 

 phalus, and different species of Macrurus). There were also 

 several pelagic fish, including the interesting Gastrostoimis 

 bairdii, with its huge gullet, which had previously only been 

 found on the American side of the Atlantic. 



At Bojador there were seven fishing schooners and two 

 smacks at anchor. Some of the people were rowing about in 

 boats setting traps, while others were jigging from the vessels 

 themselves. We went on board the " Isabelita." Along the 

 port-rail stood ten men with hand lines, each furnished with 

 three hooks, by means of which they hauled up the big grey 

 "burro" as fast as they could pull. Every now and then they 

 captured " chiacarone " and smaller silvery fish with red fins and 

 strong teeth. Their bait consisted of anchovies and sardines, 

 Seine-net which they secured near the shore by means of a seine net. We 

 were told that at daybreak next morning they were going close 

 inshore to use their seine, and we obtained a promise to be 

 allowed to accompany them. To our surprise we were asked 

 to bring carbines and revolvers, as the fishermen were very 

 much afraid of the Arabs. 



Before daybreak we rowed towards the shore along with the 

 fishermen to work the seine. The view was magnificent. For 

 miles we could see the coast stretching away in a straight, 

 clear-cut line like a mole, a hundred feet or so above the sea ; 

 up beyond the cliffs the land apparently was quite fiat, and the 

 sun rose over this line as it does from the horizon at sea. 

 Unfortunately the breakers prevented us from landing, and we 

 had to He a short distance out from the shore. On the heights 

 above we could see the dreaded Arabs, with their long, thin 

 firearms ready for use ; but they sat as motionless as statues, 

 and were probably only thinking of defending themselves. 



The Spanish fishermen now made several casts with their 

 seine (see Fig. 54), but were unsuccessful. They had expected 

 to catch large quantities of sardines for bait. We got from 

 them, however, some interesting samples of the small fish that 

 live in quite shallow water, which it would otherwise have 

 been difficult for us to obtain. Among them were young fish 

 (sardines and anchovies), and a number of small spiny-finned 



