64 APPENDIX. 



in a die of fustic wood for a few minutes or seconds only, merely to 

 give them the slightest shade of yellow ; after which dip them in a 

 pipkin in which a small piece of copperas has been dissolved, this 

 will kill the yellow and make the feathers a gray-olive. 



(U.) 



Sea-fishing on the West Coast of Ireland. 



" With a gentle breeze and a favouring current, we reached the 

 fishing-ground just as the evening was closing. We first threw out 

 our long lines, and came to an anchor. We had hit the exact mo- 

 ment; no sooner were our lines at the bottom, than whiting of a very- 

 large size, and such as are never seen in England, were drawn up. 

 These were immediately put on the large hooks, and set out. Four 

 lines, baited with mussels, were continually going until darkness stop- 

 ped our further sport. Sundry vehement tugs at the boat's side now 

 indicating the neighbourhood of some of the tyrants of the deep, I 

 was anxious to haul in with my own hands the first fish. After haul- 

 ing away for some time, I was brought to a stand, my fish having, as 

 the sailors call it, bored downwards. After a few more struggles, 

 however, with the assistance of one of the boatmen, an enormous 

 skate was secured : he was as large as an ordinary table, and weighed 

 nearly a hundred weight. On our reaching shore, the only way we 

 could carry him was by thrusting one of the spars through his body. 



" Certainly the perfection of sport is the opportunity of fishing new 

 ground. The delight at the first violent movement perceptible on 

 the long line will be easily understood ; at one time was hauled in a 

 fine cod, then a conger eel, a large ling, skate, haddock, then only a 

 row of heads, the bodies having fallen victims to the ruthless com- 

 munity by which, in their thraldom, they had been surrounded, now 

 a flat fish, and here and there a tolerable turbot, served to supply us 

 with a splendid cargo of fish. 



" As yet, all my experience on these seas had been accompanied 

 by singularly fine weather ; but on the third day, when about twenty 



