294 WILD LIFE ON A NORFOLK ESTUARY 



feel certain they were fleeing from pursuing codfishes, who 

 are not averse to silvery whiting or the luscious tentacle of a 

 savoury cuttle. In the latter instance my friend touched the 

 squid with his walking stick, when it vomited its ink, making 

 a peculiar gurgling noise. He flung the creature in again, 

 and saw no more of it. I have seen the squid come ashore 

 in a similar manner, and heard that curious vomiting sound 

 as it stained the sand all round it. Occasionally a " round " 

 fish is found that undoubtedly owed its demise to an 

 unfortunate adventure with a sea-angler's hooks. After an 

 exhausting struggle, it had dropped or torn itself off, to 

 be thrown up by the waves ere returning strength had 

 enabled it to hold its own, or it had succumbed to its 

 injuries. 



In the old leisurely days of the herring fishery, when 

 " little masters " had an innings, and steam had not come to 

 the fishing fleet to encourage the greed of company mongers, 

 the fishermen had more leisure, being dependent on winds 

 and tides. On breezeless days the boys, finding time hang 

 heavily on their hands, would get what fun they could from 

 bird and fish, sometimes by hooking and in other ways catch- 

 ing the former, at other times by tormenting the latter. The 

 dog-fish, hated for its shark-like ways and appearance, was 

 badly treated. Sometimes the living fish would be turned 

 adrift with corks attached to its tail, so as to be unable to 

 sink again or to control its movements ; often it would be 

 disembowelled and flung overboard to perish miserably, 

 while the livers would be cut out of the larger ones for the 

 purpose of making into oil. As a lad I often found these 

 wretched fishes dead among the flotsam, with their misplaced 

 floats still attached to their tails. 



YOUNG HERRINGS 



The great spawning-time of our East coast herrings is 

 looked for in the autumn, the " full " fish inshoring to the 

 spawning-grounds in October and November. One would 

 naturally suppose that there would be a well-defined grada- 

 tion in the sizes of young herrings taken from time to time 

 during the year. I make no comment, but simply state that 



