SCHNAPPER AND BLACKJBREAM 137 



with the seedy -looking sole and dory of northern 

 latitudes. A few, no doubt, are quite acceptable. 

 The schnapper itself, the nannygai, the garfish 

 are all fish that one can eat^ but as a whole 

 the Australian maree is poor food indeed. The 

 brilliant raiment is easily accounted for if we 

 remember that in the clear, sunlit seas of that 

 continent pronounced reds and yellows are in 

 reality more efficient protection from prying eyes 

 than the darker coat of the cod and haddock would 

 afford. 



Again the signal to coil lines ; and this time we 

 steam away south, well satisfied, all but one or 

 two incorrigible grumblers, with our morning's 

 work. One more attempt is made, by way of 

 using up what remains of the bait, on the Red 

 Road, a reef off Manly, but without adding to the 

 catch more than a few " squires," the schnappers 

 that are to be, otherwise red bream of about two 

 or three pounds weight. Then, as it is Sunday, 

 and as no one has anything to take him back to 

 Sydney, we spend the remainder of the day in 

 the beautiful creeks of Middle Harbour, where 

 we have more tea and food and try for a black 

 bream. This meets with little success, for the 

 most fastidious of Australian fishes will not be 

 wooed without much preparation. 



Let me try and recall, from a page in the July 

 diaries, a day after black bream, exactly a month 



