2io O'er Crag and Torrent 



short shrift by the boatmen, who killed them 

 by whacking them over the head with the 

 handle of a short gaff, and then cast the body 

 overboard again, " to feed the crabs," as they 

 said. The fishermen seemed to look upon 

 these hideously ugly fish as their natural 

 enemies, for they said they drove other fish 

 away from the baits, and certainly after having 

 caught a dog-fish it was generally several 

 minutes before we got another bite. 



The sport continued good, and suddenly 

 " J." exclaimed, as he began to haul up : 

 " I've got a monster of some kind this 

 time." Our old friend, the owner of the 

 boat said : " Pull up steadily, sir, and don't 

 slack or jerk your line ; it may be a cod " 

 and so it was. He looked a huge fellow as 

 he loomed in sight, and of course the gaff" 

 was now put into requisition, for as it turned 

 out he was about sixteen pounds weight, so 

 that it would have been risky to attempt to 



