72 FISHERMEN'S WEATHER 



dark, and I put down an electric lamp to 

 try if it would light them to their supper 

 or otherwise attract them. None took a 

 bite at all, and I concluded that in this 

 case perhaps the light scared them away, 

 as its glow might suggest the phosphor- 

 escence caused by the movements of some 

 large fish, potentially an enemy." Mr. 

 Brown's inference of his submarine lamp 

 suggesting the proximity of a shark or 

 hake is ingenious, but the case of a torch 

 suspended over the water cannot be 

 regarded as analogous, as light from such a 

 source must certainly have a different 

 effect from that of a lamp under water. 

 At any rate, I satisfied myself of the bene- 

 ficial effect of the flare on mackerel and 

 scad, off Funchal, on more than one 

 April night, by trying, always without 

 success, to catch even a single fish on 

 the dark side of the boat. I was further 

 convinced that these fish fed much 

 nearer the surface in the artificial torch- 

 light than they had done before sundown 

 in the natural light of day. To catch 



