DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 281 



He tried one, but it made no difference, so I pro- 

 posed that I should put a long length of wire next 

 to the bait so that the fish might not see that his 

 glaring line was connected with it. He consented, 

 but not readily, and, could he have analysed his 

 feelings, he would, I believe, have found a shadowy 

 hope that it would not answer. It did, but still he 

 was at a disadvantage and did not get half so many 

 fish nor nearly such large ones as Harry got. 



Pat, on being asked what drink we should bring 

 for him had said " Porter," so we had brought three 

 bottles with us. His failure to keep up with his 

 opponent made him so thirsty that he opened one 

 of them, popped the fizzing hole into his mouth and 

 nearly choked himself. He sought consolation in 

 a potato from the crock. The tuber burst with 

 little pressure and the steam that came from it 

 showed it to be very hot, but he managed to eat it, 

 although the first mouthful caused a tear and had 

 to be held between his teeth and breathed on before 

 he dared swallow it. We saw as little of this as 

 we could : Harry acted as if he had a tug at his 

 line and I was busy watching Harry's movements. 



The boatman's thirst and hunger prompted the 

 production of a basket which we found well filled 

 with tasty sundries, a loaf of bread, some cheese 

 and butter, and, while we were satisfying our 

 hunger, the boat held on her way to another of our 

 boatman's favourite spots of which he spoke in 

 terms that quite excited us. 



Illaunacrough is one of a group of rocks well out 

 to sea, some of which are submerged at high water, 

 while others of them are much above the highest 

 Spring tides and provide haunts for numerous seals. 



