146 DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



tackle, and secondly for the aggregate of fish that 

 the seven fishers took ashore. 



My two eldest sons, with their oarsman keeping 

 to the ground where the fish were feeding in a ring 

 of considerable dimensions (within which the shoal 

 of pilchards on which they preyed rose first here, 

 then there, with a flutter that gave a hiss to the 

 surface of the water), for fully two hours worked 

 their will on the greedy monsters that seemed not 

 to care whether their next mouthful was an oily 

 pilchard or a seemingly luscious worm. 



The Shag sailed as sedately as one could wish, 

 but for an hour or more nothing came to either of 

 my three youngest sons, two of whom fished from 

 the stern while the third was seated in the bows 

 with a heavier weighted line so as to have no need 

 for a length being out that might take his lure back 

 to his brother's lines. The captain, while witness- 

 ing the sport his brother was giving, tried all he 

 knew, by keeping as near the rocks as he dared, to 

 give his fishers a start, and his delight was great 

 when a wheel sang out and a lad exclaimed : " I've 

 got him." So he had, for just long enough to say 

 so, and then it was amongst the weeds and, before 

 the boat could turn, he lost his lead, trace and lure. 

 The unlucky angler looked sad, or tried to, while I 

 was starting him afresh, but his sorrow did not 

 seem to hurt him so much as did his anxiety for 

 haste when one of his brothers called : " I've got a 

 bouncer, dad." The bouncer was more considerate 

 than our first fish had been and showed less haste 

 in getting amongst the weedy rocks ; but he got 

 there, taking with him another set of tackle. This 

 loser was too full of the enormous fish he had lost, 



