A SEASIDE YARN. 49 



nerves of an ogre, and sink it by a piece of line 

 to within three feet of the bottom, and be assured 

 your trouble will not be thrown away. I remember 

 some few years ago, when visiting the island of St. 

 Helena, having great sport with the mackerel, which 

 are at times to be taken there in large quantities, pro- 

 vided the proper method is pursued. Whilst busily 

 occupied in (on this occasion) my by-no-means-pro- 

 fitable piscatory operations, a canoe-like boat, paddled 

 by a perfect specimen of a " coast of Guinea nigger," 

 made its appearance under the stern, and I was ad- 

 dressed as follows : " Suppose massa wants for catch 

 um. fish, an Massa Teward gib um plenty biscuit- 

 dust an lilly bit ob pork, massa come along ob me, 

 plenty catch urn berry soon." Right welcome was 

 my sable friend, "a man and a brother." Massa 

 Teward was found equal to the occasion for once. 

 Pork and biscuit-dust were procured, embarked, and 

 we started. After paddling about half-a-mile from 

 the ship the tail end of an eddy or run was reached, 

 and the canoe was anchored by letting go a heavy 

 stone at the end of a rope made fast to the midship 

 thwart. The gunwale was thus brought down almost 

 to the water's edge, a proceeding rather unpleasantly 

 suggestive of sharks, which at times, to quote from a 

 bucolic friend, " show in this district a capacity for 

 feeding and increase of bulk perfectly amazing." My 

 sable gondolier produced from some secret nook four 



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