AN ANGLER AT THE ANTIPODES. 105 



necessary, and no more ; to wit, a box of various- 

 sized hooks, such as are made for sea-fishing, a file, 

 some rough lead, and a couple of the fine but very 

 powerful lines which knowing hands use for snapper. 

 Strength is indispensable where you may have a dead 

 pull against a forty-pounder. These things take no 

 room in a valise, and are ready for service in three 

 minutes. Two turns will bend on a hook immovably, 

 and the doubling of the line close to the hook which 

 is occasioned by this mode of fastening, however 

 shocking to English ideas of neatness, has the ad- 

 vantage of affording some defence against the sharp 

 teeth of " Gristes." As for bait, it is quite needless to 

 be particular. A large worm, a frog, a small fish, or 

 a piece of a larger one, are good baits. Many sorts 

 of garbage, if tolerably fresh, are taken eagerly. I 

 have often shot a magpie or other bird on my way to 

 the water, and used both the breast and the inside 

 with good success. But my commonest resource has 

 been a good lump of raw beef, which is generally pro- 

 curable at any considerable station. This is always 

 taken freely by the larger fish. It is, by-the-by, a 

 curious fact that they never can be induced to taste 

 mutton. I have tried the two side by side again and 

 again, and never have succeeded in getting the latter 

 bait taken. If other diet runs short, the capture of 

 a single fish generally ends the difficulty by making 

 his entrails available against his fellows. All this, 



