SCHNAPPER AND BLACK BREAM 139 



and the third one who is ready to learn. Each 

 carries a small handbag containing his lunch, or 

 at any rate the solid part of it, his line, a very 

 fine one with several feet of single gut and a single 

 sharp hook, and a small jar of live prawns, so- 

 called, though no larger than our common shrimp 

 at home. One of the party, entrusted with 

 that department, has brought a billy and tea 

 as well as something of far greater importance in 

 the day's proceedings, a bundle of the magic com- 

 pound known as ' berley." This Rabelaisian 

 groundbait is cunningly concocted out of sour 

 herrings, condemned tinned salmon, an inex- 

 pensive cheese that could never have been made 

 for eating purposes, and as much bran as is needed 

 to give consistency. There may have been one 

 or two other equally disgusting ingredients ; if 

 so, I am glad to forget them. The smell of this 

 outrageous preserve I never hope to forget, for 

 the sour venom of it is still in my nostrils, and if 

 ten years do not cure you of such a memory, it 

 is ineradicable. In the enthusiasm of the moment, 

 the frightful enthusiasm of the angler, which 

 envisages lugworms, gentles and other beastliness 

 as the accompaniment of a day's pleasure, hands 

 are dipped in the mess as eagerly as were it a 

 savoury Moorish kous-kous, and a small ball of 

 it, well kneaded in the palm, is either thrown 

 close to the line, or else pinched on the gut just 



