HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 115 



fog was so thick that, until we caught a glimpse of the land 

 into which we had been so gaily running, it was an open 

 question whether we had not drifted out to sea. 



The greater part of the next two days found us still 

 uncertain as to our whereabouts. The wind had shifted to 

 the opposite quarter, and now blew strong from the north- 

 west, and nothing could be seen beyond a few yards from the 

 side ot the vessel. The feeling of ennui created by this 

 enforced idleness was relieved by the fact of our having hit 

 upon a fisherman's paradise ; the lines generally relegated 

 to the watch were in constant request, bringing up fine 

 specimens of kelp fish, so called from always being found in 

 the neighbourhood of that long-stemmed, streamer-like 

 weed. The colours of these fish are very beautiful, blue, 

 red, and yellow predominating ; weighing generally from 

 three to four pounds, they would doubtless have proved an 

 agreeable variety on table, but cod being equally plentiful, 

 their uncanny appearance caused them to be consigned to 

 the fo'castle. They were probably a species of wrasse. 

 The greatest sport we had was with halibut of huge size, 

 some weighing not less than three hundredweight, and this 

 was not an extraordinary size in these waters. Special 

 tackle had to be improvised for these monsters, as we soon 

 found to our cost. Spare log and lead lines were, there- 

 fore, rigged, and the fun began. The bait used, in all 

 cases, was a piece of fat pork. Even with the largest of 

 these fish, a considerable time would elapse from the first 

 seizure to the actual swallowing of the bait; so it was 

 allowed to remain on the ground till we felt certain of our 

 prize. The continual vibration of the line made it an easy 

 matter to tell when one was biting, though he might seem 

 undecided for some time, and, through impatience, many 

 were lost at first by striking too soon. The boldness of 

 the play, however, made up for the timidity of the bite. 

 As long as the head was kept up, it was an easy matter to 

 pull them to the surface ; otherwise, nothing would hold 

 them, and it became a question of either letting go or being 



I 2 



