140 FISHES I HAVE KNOWN 



wedged the strip of tin into the cleft of a light 

 pole, the butt of which was weighted with lead, 

 and attached the entire apparatus to a fishing- 

 line. 



Throughout the day when the sea was calm 

 and the wind light, every now and again the 

 water, within a circumscribed area, would suddenly 

 appear to be boiling, as if dashed up by a shower 

 of hail. This would come on without the slightest 

 warning (save for the hovering overhead of pelicans 

 and gannets) and would last several minutes. 

 Then, from the midst of the tumult, the formidable 

 head of a sea-lion or seal would pop up, its mouth 

 full of something, and the sea would resume its 

 normal appearance. 



These agitations were caused by great shoals 

 of small fish coming to the surface, either to play 

 about and feed, or to escape from their pursuers 

 below. When we wanted a supply, three or four 

 of us would get into a boat, watch for a "rise," and 

 quietly scull in its neighbourhood. Presently we 

 would find ourselves on the very edge of one, the 

 fish showing no alarm at our presence. Then 

 we would deftly pitch the grains like lances into 

 the thick of them. They would disappear, but 

 reappear floating upright, with, as a rule, four or 

 five fish impaled on the hooks. In one hour we 



