SUNSHINE 71 



ledge of the sight of fishes and of the Use of 

 precise effect which natural or artificial 

 light may exercise upon their eyes is for 

 the most part guesswork. In some seas, 

 for example, in which I have fished, torch- 

 light is largely employed by night, with 

 the object of keeping the shoal of mackerel 

 or other fish round the boats. This im- 

 plicit faith in the attractiveness of a flare 

 hung over the bow is shared by Spanish, 

 Portuguese, and Italians, all of whom are 

 efficient fishermen, and I have felt the 

 benefit of the practice in different parts of 

 the Mediterranean, as well as on the coast 

 of Madeira. 



Mr. Brown has, however, come to a 

 different conclusion with regard to arti- 

 ficial illumination as an aid to fishing in 

 the sea. " I have," he writes, " when pull- 

 ing about in shallow water, put a torch over 

 the bow of the boat, and seen fish quietly 

 swimming about below, not minding the 

 boat or flare. After fishing for sea-bream 

 one evening in fourteen fathoms, getting 

 moderate sport, the fish ceased taking at 



