SPEAKING GENERALLY 17 



Nottingham fashion. That wonderful bowler is 

 not so well known as a fisherman, but the accuracy 

 with which he threw from the reel into a tiny 

 patch of deep water among the reeds was beauti- 

 ful to watch, though I found it impossible of ac- 

 quisition in so short a time. Still his patience 

 was inexhaustible, and we spent some very agree- 

 able hours, in the intervals of shooting, I casting 

 with great precision into the thickest of the reeds, 

 and the two of us then punting across to disen- 

 tangle my trace and line. 



The interest of an occasional night's conger- 

 fishing cannot be gainsaid, and, of the two, 

 there is far less discomfort on a warm and calm 

 night in August than on the cold, rough seas 

 of November. The stillness, the twinkling lights 

 of fishing fleets, the strange sounds from unseen 

 birds and porpoises, the thrilling sensation of 

 fighting with a big fish in the darkness, all combine 

 to afford an experience, which every fisherman 

 should be able to call his own, but which soon loses 

 its first novelty. It is therefore not without 

 satisfaction that I have learnt the whereabouts of 

 isolated lighthouse-rocks and other sites, where 

 large conger may be caught in broad daylight 

 any fine week in August. The blackness of 

 night, to say nothing of losing your rest, is 

 a comfortless handicap. 



Sea-sickness is the worst form of discomfort, 



3-(2272) 



