THE FUB-SEAL. 255 



jone foot long is met -with in these bays ; and there are 

 some very pretty varieties of star-fish. But we had very 

 few shells on these coasts : those which we did find were 

 small and plain-looking ; and whatever value they might 

 bear in the eyes of a conchologist, were certainly not to 

 be prized on account of their beauty. 



Good fishing-gear is still dear out here, especially 

 English sieve-nets and a good whale-boat : and to start 

 right, a fishing-party requires some capital. I have known 

 men stick to it during the summer, in a small dingy, 

 single-handed, and make a good living, when the hook- 

 fish were well in : but this is dangerous work ; for the 

 squalls come on so suddenly in these bays, that the 

 fishermen have often to "up killoch" and run into 

 shore before the wind with scarcely five minutes' warn- 

 ing. Four is about the right number for a good fishing- 

 party ; and if they only understood their business, worked 

 steadily at it, and shunned the "nobbier" the ruin of 

 many a good man in this country, they could hardly 

 fail to do well. But, like the shooters, the fisherman's 

 motto is generally "happy-go-lucky;" and perhaps the 

 principal reason why we never see either in very flourish- 

 ing circumstances is, that there is rarely a woman in the 

 bush-tent to keep " the house in order." 



The fur-seal abounds at certain seasons on some of the 

 rocky islands at the entrance to "Western Port Bay. The 

 skins are valuable, and I should think the blubber was 

 worth something : but nobody seemed to care much 

 about them. Sealing, however, is not a boy's game ; for 



