4 ADVENTURE WITH AN ANGLER. 



widest part of, 2 feet 10 inches. I put a rope tlirough 

 liis lower jaw, and my boy John and myself tried to 

 haul him up. The rope broke, and he fell down, a 

 great flabby mass, on to the stones of the area. I had 

 no scales to weigh him. I then sent for a new rope, 

 and hauled him up with great difficulty, the rope which 

 very nearly broke in two being passed over the open 

 door of the coal-cellar. In this attitude his mouth was 



THE ANGLER. 



something wonderful to behold. It measured across 

 the widest gape no less than 1 foot 2 inches, and from 

 one corner of the mouth to the other 1 foot 2 inches. 



"Through this monster mouth one looks into an abyss 

 of throat which, measured by a stick, turns out to be no 

 less than 1 foot 10 inches deep. Not liking to lose the 

 preparation altogether, I sent for the pepper-box, and 

 gave his throat a good peppering. I then sent for a 

 sack of sawdust, and began to fill him wdth sawdust, 

 using a broom-handle as a ramrod. I had just finished 

 charging his stomach, which held a bucketful of saw- 

 dust, when my operations were suddenly put a stop to. 

 The large fish was, in fact, rather stinking • and I had 

 buried my friend all the previous night in the coals in 

 order to avoid detection, and I had chosen Mrs. Buck- 



