213 



cularly for the occasion, \vith an eye for the reception of 

 the line. 



Eels swallow fishes head-foremost, the same as jacks 

 and perch ; but they have a canning trick of taking your 

 dead baits by the tail, and of stripping them off the hook. 



I sometimes match them, by wrapping some common 

 sewing worsted round the tail of my dead-baits, so as to 

 secure them to the gimp ; the fibres getting among the 

 eels's teeth, cause him to desist, and to swallow the bait 

 without further trouble. Wire does not answer this pur- 

 pose near so well, as it is apt to cut the bait when pulled; 

 besides, the ends wound the eel, and frighten him. 



Towards the latter end of summer, and in autumn, 

 many rivulets abound with griggs, which bite very 

 keenly at a worm. They are taken in great numbers at 

 such times, by what is called lobling. A moderately 

 stout pole sustains a good laid-cord line, which at the 

 end spreads into four directions, and perforate the four 

 corners of a piece of sheet-lead, about six inches square. 



The lead is pierced in many places besides. A num- 

 ber of thick worms, or chickens 1 guts, being threaded, 

 by means of a kind of bait ing- needle, on a long line of 

 common worsted yarn j they are tied up in loops under 

 the lead, which, being thus prepared, is let down into 

 the water, very gently, to within two or three inches of 

 t'lae bottom. 



The griggs soon attack the worms, swallowing the. 

 loops, and endeavour to cut the worsted, which entangles 

 among their teeth. In this state, die line being gradu- 

 ally lifted, indeed very slowly, the griggs will come wil- 

 lingly to the surface ; bat they try to get quit as soon as 

 their noses are above it - } therefore, the person holding 



the 



