300 THE HOME OF A NATURALIST. 



together and tied to the end of a stout stick six or 

 eight feet lonjj. The water is not more than one or 

 two fathoms deep : you lower your poke to the bottom ; 

 the sillacks scuttle off in all directions, and for a moment 

 you see the stones or sand or seaweed through the clear 

 water almost like a well with a wall of fish all round. 

 You watch for a few minutes, and presently the dark 

 brown mass of sillacks, several feet deep, covers and 

 completely conceals your poke ; you then raise it as 

 quickly as possible, and so densely packed are they 

 that they have no time to escape. You are rewarded 

 with perhaps a bushel of fish. In this very simple 

 way I have boated from twelve to twenty barrels of 

 sillacks in a very short time. It is a great godsend 

 to the people when on the approach of winter a 

 " steethe " of sillacks " sets in " in this way. But, 

 contrary to what might be expected, they cannot be 

 calculated upon to make an annual appearance; nor 

 do they show anything like the same regard to 

 punctuality as do migratory birds. They come, some- 

 times early, sometimes late, in winter. It is impossible 

 to account for this capriciousness. Moreover, these 

 shoals affect some voes, as Baltasound, greatly in pre- 

 ference to others, and for no reason that is apparent. 

 However, plenty of sillacks can generally be caught 

 anywhere and everywhere from the rocks or along 

 the shores in sheltered places during the winter 

 months. 



As spring advances the sillacks draw off to deeper 

 water and disperse, still however keeping on the coast. 



