FISH IN THE BIGHT 125 



taking than ourselves, and therefore the attempt was 

 abandoned. 



It was our custom to put out fishing-lines at night 

 while the vessel lay at anchor, and we also frequently 

 fished during the day, the food thus obtained being a 

 most valuable addition to our daily fare. The fish bit 

 very freely, and we could always catch many more than 

 we required. The night-lines were invariably drawn in 

 with a fish on each hook. 



The most notable fact concerning the fish of this great 

 bay, or gulf, is the large number of bream or perch-shaped 

 species that are found in its waters. Many of these I 

 never saw before this occasion, and most of them were 

 new to my companions also. One of the most remarkable 

 captured was a handsome zebra-fish of the Chcetodon family. 

 Bream-shaped and weighing four pounds, this fish was 

 striped zebra-fashion with bright bronze, yellow, brown, 

 and blue, with some shades of red about the regions of 

 the fins. The fish most prized by us for food were 

 albicores, barracudas, bonitos, and dories. The three 

 first named were very abundant, and formed the bulk of 

 our captures ; but altogether more than fifty species were 

 taken, nearly all of them edible. 



At this time I do not think that the waters of the 

 Bight had been much frequented by professional fisher- 

 men ; consequently the fish swarmed, and were com- 

 paratively tame. It may not be generally known that 

 fish, like other classes of animals, learn caution by 

 acquaintance with man's destructive ways. Such is the 

 case, however, and ground that has been much fished 

 over, especially by trawlers, is always noted for the shyness 

 of its fish ; and notwithstanding the vast numbers of these 

 animals that swarm in some waters, constant fishing 

 materially diminishes their numbers. The great fishing 

 stations of the world are experiencing this. The fish on 

 the Newfoundland bank are far less numerous now than 

 they were as recently as the years 1861-70, and I have 

 recently learned that boats sometimes labour all day on 

 the Dogger Bank and take not more than forty or fifty 



