LINE-FISHING. 305 



day, but they are always hauled up before night. They 

 are laid across the tide so that the snoods, or short lines to 

 which the hooks are fastened, may drift clear of the main 

 line. When a "shot" is to be made, the smack is put 

 under easy sail, and kept as much as possible with the 

 wind free, so as to lay out the line tolerably straight. In 

 some parts of Scotland, however, the opposite course is 

 adopted, the fishing boat being sailed against the wind 

 when putting out the lines. In either case the line must 

 be shot across the tide, and the local custom is not very 

 material. With such a large number of hooks to deal 

 with, of course great care is necessary to prevent entangle- 

 ment, and accordingly the lines are neatly coiled, and with 

 the baited hooks are laid in trays all ready for running, 

 each tray containing from twelve to sixteen pieces of line, 

 and they are paid out one after the other as the vessel sails 

 along, until the whole length of line is overboard. No 

 corks or floats of any kind are here used to raise it off the 

 ground, but the line is kept steady at every forty fathoms 

 by a very small anchor, and its position at the two ends 

 and at every intermediate mile is marked by a conical 

 hooped buoy or "dan," with a light pole or staff passed 

 through it, and carrying a small flag at the top. The line 

 is usually shot at half-tide, and when the operation has- 

 been completed, the smack heaves to in the neighbourhood 

 till the tide has nearly done running. Then the hauling 

 up begins. The foresail of the smack is lowered, and the 

 end buoy being taken on board, the vessel makes short 

 tacks along the course of the line, which is shown by the 

 buoys placed at every mile ; the line is hauled in as the 

 vessel works along, and the fish are taken off the hooks as 

 fast as they come in. . Sometimes the line is hauled into 



the smack's boat, which is about 1 8 feet long and very 

 VOL. I. H. X 



