I PILOT WORK 45 



the fogs he has experienced in his sixty years, on 

 ships ashore, and on ships he has found in the fog 

 that had lost their way. 



It is a proud event for a fisherman when he 

 goes in search of a ship — most often an excursion 

 steamer — that is lost near shore in a fog, finds 

 her, tells her where she is, and guides her into 

 safety. 'My senses!' he will say, 'to think o' 

 they there captains navigating up an' down this 

 coast all the year round, an' then depending on 

 the likes o' us in our little craft, what an't got no 

 navigation cistificates, for to bring 'em into safety 

 direc'ly there's the leastis bit o' fog. They ought 

 to be 'shamed o' theirselves! I don't never lose 

 meself, however thick 'tis. I always knows where 

 I be, when 'tis anywhere near land, an' 'tisn't often 

 I carries a compass, 'cept drifting, though I got a 

 fine one put away in house, only I don' know 

 where to lay me hand on it.' Many fishermen 

 (not all) do seem to have an extra sense, which 

 tells them when they are near land, especially near 

 cliffs. Whether it is that they can detect a back- 

 wash from the shore, a hardly perceptible change 

 in the boat's motion (boats drag in shallow water) ; 

 whether a faint echo, or a deadness in the air warns 

 them; or whether, knowing tides, currents, boat, 



