122 FISHES I HAVE KNOWN 



a lump of lead, and a 12-lb. schnapper. The fish 

 did not show much fight, and there was no real 

 sport, it being more a question of skill in striking at 

 the right moment, and of strength in pulling the 

 schnapper to the surface. 



We kept on until the ice-well was getting half 

 full. Presently I felt an extra strong tug at my 

 line, and, thinking it was a big fish, struck hard ; 

 but, after hauling in a few yards with some 

 difficulty, the strain suddenly ceased, and up 

 came, not the body, but the head only, of a large 

 schnapper. It had been bitten clean off! Every- 

 body laughed, but in a moment or two each man 

 was going through a similar experience. " A 

 school of sharks ! " was the cry. " All lines in 

 board ! " and we weighed anchor and moved away 

 some miles further down the coast of Kangaroo 

 Island through the Backstairs Passage towards 

 Encounter Bay. 



There we again found our fish, and, with an 

 interval for dinner (a repetition of breakfast, plus 

 bottled beer for those who did not care for tea), 

 we worked hard until evening, when we returned 

 to Glenelg, tired but exultant, realising that, 

 although amateurs, we had done our part in 

 securing an abundance of fresh fish for the good 

 people of Adelaide next morning. 



