TRAWLING. 11 



sunk at some distance from it ; being still a danger to craft 

 trading along that coast it was resolved to destroy her by 

 dynamite. A consequence of the explosion was to throw up 

 whiting, iiathead, flounders, and other fish to the surface of 

 the water in enormous quantities ; it may readily be inferred 

 that the systematic trawling of these bights would yield most 

 satisfactory results. 



In this Colony there are not any vessels having facilities 

 for working the trawl-net. On one occasion rough trawling 

 gear was improvised on a small steam tug. The trial was in- 

 tended to occupy a week, but as regards the amount of work 

 done the results were disappointing, this was due entirely to 

 the severity of the weather and the unfitness of the steamer 

 to contend against a heavy sea. The trawl could be put over 

 the side only twice during the trip and then only for a few 

 hours, so that the actual length of ground traversed was very 

 short. On the first occasion the trawl was lowered about 6 

 miles off the south head of Botany Bay in 40 fathoms of 

 water ; it was kept down three hours when it was hauled in 

 from 55 fathoms down. The trawl showed evidence of having 

 been well on the ground, and its contents were three dozen 

 Lepidotrigla, several John Dorey (Zeus Australis), two dozen 

 stingrays, four dozen skates (Rai), several saw-fish. 



The trawl was again lowered four miles off Curranulla Reef 

 in 22 fathoms of water and drawn in a south-easterly direction 

 for three hours when it was raised in 40 fathoms of water. 

 The haul consisted of several dozen of Lepidotrigla, fourteen 

 John Dorey, a number of stingrays, a flathead, three small 

 soles. 



Looked upon as a whole the results of this experiment, 

 carried out under such extremely unfavourable conditions, 

 were regarded in scientific quarters as decidedly promising — 

 the existence of a true skate was thought to be a valuable dis- 

 covery and the abundance of the John Dorey as also important, 

 for it was hitherto considered very rare, while its quality as a 

 food-fish is unrivalled in the world. But whether regarded 

 commercially as successful or unsuccessful, this attempt at 

 deep water trawling in Is'ew South Wales proves incontestably 

 that we know very little of the inhabitants of our ocean floor ; 

 indeed, of the few fish dredged up, the Lepidotrigla and Rai 

 were of a species utterly unknown, and others were extremely 

 rare. We do know, however, that ground fish of various 

 species exist in al3undance, and this alone should be sufficient 



