142 FISHES AND FISHING. 



upon one of the old piles and it began to spin round, 

 when, as the head and stern came alternately near 

 the bay, the water, about three or four inches deep 

 on the bay piece, poured into my boat ; my dog, not 

 liking such a shower bath, jumped overboard, and 

 swam down to the mill. I saw my danger ; there 

 was I in a pool between thirty and forty feet deep, 

 surrounded by precipitous banks, and I, only a novice 

 then in the art of swimming. I stood up in the bow 

 of the skiff, struck the point of the hitcher into the 

 bay piece, gave a jump, and off glided the boat, but I 

 was obliged to leave my hitcher behind. I then sat 

 down to the sculls, pulled the skiff up again, avoiding 

 the pile this time on which the keel had before 

 rested, caught hold of my hitcher ; by shaking, got it 

 out, took up my lines, rowed down to the mill, got 

 some dry things out of the counting-house, cleaned 

 my gun, and went home to breakfast, presenting my 

 father with the result of my morning's adventure, 

 without saying a word about it, a pike above eight 

 pounds, which he sent to our worthy rector, and an eel 

 of three pounds, which we had fried, as part of our 

 dinner. 



I was very successful in taking grigs and eels by 

 pot?, and any one who takes the trouble may be so, 

 ifhe bait and deposit them properly. First as to 

 baiting, take some dew worms, or small pieces of raw 

 meat, suspend them across inside the pot by a piece 



