14:0 BASS FISHING. 



is marked in stormy weather by the waves, that, 

 rushing together from opposite quarters, meet at its 

 summit, and, jutting upward into the air, fall in a 

 sheet of foam. When the bank stood above water, 

 it formed a barrier against the sea ; and while the 

 surf beat on the outer side, the inner was protected, 

 so that a boat could land in security. I used to 

 push over from Bay Point at early flood, land on 

 the inner side of the bank, and, leaving a few oars- 

 men to take charge of the boat, walk over to the 

 sea-side of the bank, with a servant or two to carry 

 bait and lines ; and, wading out into the surf waist- 

 deep, toss my line into the breakers in quest of 

 bass. I was usually armed with a light spear ; for, 

 as the clear, transparent wave came rolling in from 

 the deep, and as the pearly fragments of sea-shell 

 passed glittering by you with the flux and reflux of 

 the tide, objects were occasionally encountered, as 

 brilliant, perhaps, but by no means as pleasant to 

 look upon : the eyes and jagged spines of immense 

 sting-rays, buried in the sand, all to these, and 

 lying in wait for their prey ! One incautious step, 

 and your leg may be transfixed by the venomed 

 weapon! Sometimes, indeed, the bass would 

 approach close to your feet, in couples, and gaze 

 upon you, seemingly, with curiosity and alarm! 

 You might perceive their pectoral fins in rapid 



