ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 59 



flood and the draw of the ebb.' When the ebb draws too 

 strongly men up anchor, make sail, and head for the beach. 

 When the water is clear, the best fishing is at night. From the 

 pier there is fishing all day during neap tides, but for not more 

 than six hours at a stretch during spring tides, unless a very 

 heavy lead is used. The autumn and winter tariff at the Deal 

 hotels is very moderate. For a sailing-boat and man a fair 

 charge is about 6s. a tide, or 8s. a day. 



Ramsgate offers much the same fishing as Deal that is 

 to say, for whiting and codling inside the Goodwins during 

 autumn and winter. A good many silver eels are caught in the 

 harbour, and a very occasional bass. In the spring months 

 there is some fair fishing for whiting pout, dabs, and 

 codling. 



In the Thames estuary professional sea fishing is carried on 

 for shrimps, whiting, flat fish, and lampern up to St. Clement's 

 Reach, but there is not much done above the Lower Hope 

 at Gravesend. From most of the jetties where the water is 

 brackish a few flat fish and eels can be caught. It would 

 seem, indeed, that the good old times when fish abounded 

 were about to return, for the professional fishermen who are 

 not a class ready to admit any improvement in the fisheries 

 one and all declare that there is a marked improvement in the 

 quantity and size of the fish caught in the mouth of the Thames, 

 and that not only are fish more numerous, but that they are 

 found higher up the river than has been the case for many 

 years. This welcome improvement is, of course, owing to the 

 increased purity of the water brought about by the action of 

 the London County Council. Mud, marl, and sandy flats are 

 the general characteristics of the river ; here and there, par- 

 ticularly near Southend and Leigh, flat fish are very abundant, 

 and are much sought after by anglers. 



Working up the east coast, we now come into the land of 



