70 EIGS ON THE HUNGEY GEOUND. 



huss," tlie large spotted dog-fish ; the " fiddler," is the 

 angel, or shark ray; " micle owl's jaw," belonged to a 

 species of skate. 



Nearly all these various kinds of dog-fish are caught 

 by the men who " go out after rigs" to the '-hungry 

 ground," over the Warne sands ; and they catch them 

 with " long lines," laid down all night. 



Some of the large rigs are nothing more nor less than 

 sharks of the English waters. They have teeth of a 

 triangular shape, exceedingly sharp, and so arranged 

 that if one is broken off another comes up into its place. 

 *' You see, sir, they has jaws as tears ye like a bramble- 

 bush." The skin is not covered with scales, but with an 

 exceedingly tough armour, which sets the teeth on edge 

 when felt, and is " a terrible thing to dull your knife." 

 When the rigs, &c., are caught out at sea they are 

 thro^vn down to the bottom of the boat, and as they 

 jump about there, they can be heard "grating one 

 against the other." A rig lives longer than any fish in 

 warm weather, but dies soonest in cold. When the 

 lines are hauled, and there are a lot of freshly- caught 

 savage rigs at the bottom of the boat, the men are 

 obliged to be careful not to get bitten. " They all goes 

 mad, sir, and it's like being among a lot of wild beasts." 

 They have been known to catch hold of the men's- 

 ''barbel," or fishing petticoat, and shake it. They are 

 vagabond curs of the ocean, that go prowling and snap- 

 ping about anywhere and anyhow for food. The fisher- 

 men hate them because they do so much damage to the 

 herring-nets, eating the fish actually out of the net, and 

 often rolling themselves right up in it. Ten minutes 

 after the arrival of the boats the small fish-dealers may 

 be seen cutting ofi" their heads, tails, and fins, and split- 

 ting them into halves ; they are then salted and hung 



