CHAP. IV.] 



SEA-ANGLING TACKLE. 



157 



by many little adventures. There are various minor monsters 

 of the deep that vary the monotony of the day by occasionally 

 devouring the bait. A tadpole-fish, better known as the sea- 

 devil or "the angler," may be hooked, or the fisher may have a 

 visit from a hammer-headed shark or a pile-fish, which adds 

 greatly to the excitement ; and if " the dogs " should be at all 

 plentiful, it is a chance if a single fish be got out of the sea in 

 its integrity. So voracious are this species of the SqualidaB, 

 that I have often enough pulled a mere skeleton into the 

 boat, instead of a plump cod of ten or twelve pounds weight. 



I shall now say a few words about the machinery of cap- 

 ture. The tackle in use for handline sea-fishing is much the 

 same everywhere, and that which I de- 

 scribe will suit almost any locality. It 

 consists of a frame of four pieces of wood- 

 work about a foot and a half in length, 

 fastened together in the shape of such a 

 machine as ladies use for certain worsted 

 work. Bound this is wound a thin cord, 

 generally tanned, of from ten to twenty fathoms in length. To 

 the extreme end of this line is attached a leaden sinker, the 

 weight of which varies according as the current of the tide 

 is slow or rapid. About two feet above 

 the sinker is a cross piece of whalebone 

 or iron, to the extremities of which the 

 strings on which the hooks are dressed 

 are attached. Sometimes a third hook is 

 affixed to an outrigger, about two feet 

 above the other hooks. The length of 

 the cords to which the lower hooks are 

 attached should be such as to allow them to hang about 

 six inches higher than the bottom of the sinker. In some 

 parts of the Western Highlands a rod consisting of thin fir 

 is used, but from the length of line required it is rather a 



