From Newcastle to Port Said. 235 



and is by some conducted not far from shore. The majority 

 of the fleet which in the herring season I had seen busy 

 with their drift nets were now trawling in the North Sea. 

 The trim yacht-like cutter which in the afternoon sailed across 

 our bows towards land was one of the fleet carriers whose 

 business it is to convey the smacksman's hauls to shore. As 

 far distant as the eye could stretch in the miserable yellow 

 haze you might descry a keg-like buoy floating in the sea, 

 conspicuous afar by reason of a blue flag fluttering from its 

 head. 



This was the termination of the cod-line which we had 

 watched the men in the boat shoot out from the smack. It 

 was an immensely long line, and attached to it by snoods six 

 or seven feet long were probably a hundred or a hundred 

 and twenty hooks baited with sand launce, mussel, or morsels 

 of fresh white fish. Cod is the one sea-fish that is caught 

 only by hook and line as a matter of habitual business, and 

 when the creature does bite he takes the bait freely. I have 

 heard of three hundred fine cod captured by one boat during 

 a single night of long-line fishing. 



The line having been shot across the tide, the crew of our 

 smack in view proceeded to fish with hand-lines from the 

 deck of their craft ; and in default of better employment our 

 first officer kindly got out such tackle as the steamer carried, 

 and we attempted a little angling on our own account. But 

 our lines were too coarse and we had nothing but butcher's 

 meat for bait. To state this is tantamount to saying that 

 our labours were in vain, for the small fish which alone were 

 likely to cross our station were not to be caught in so igno- 

 minious a manner. Nevertheless we tried perseveringly, and 

 deserved better fortune than befell us in our last bit of 

 angling in English waters. 



Ah ! how well one knew whither those birds were bound ; 



