AFTER ALBACORE 83 



among the shoals of small fish, they rush and 

 leap out like salmon and pollock, and are so 

 ravenous they are often dangerous to fisher- 

 men picking their nets, as they rush from 

 beneath the boats after the fish falling out 

 of them. Albacores, though not generally 

 eaten by Englishmen, yet are very nice eat- 

 ing, and are more highly prized by Portu- 

 guese and Spaniards than any other fish 

 they take, and sell for the highest prices. 



Prompted by the desire for a little excite- 

 ment, a friend and I decided to attempt the 

 capture of one of them. As we knew the 

 gear required must be first-class, we procured 

 two of what in fishing parlance are called 

 18th hemp cod-lines, each 32 fathoms long. 

 Then we had a hook made for each out of 

 steel three-eighths thick, 8 inches wide, with 

 a 3-inch shank, and long heavy beard. With 

 our lines attached to swivel-reels to run them 

 on and off, we felt we were equipped for 

 the expected spree, so, having secured a stiff 

 medium low boat, we proceeded one morning 

 quite early to the netting-ground. There 

 we found the nets well fished, and knew by 

 that our game would be on hand. 



