POINT JUDITH. 155 



all that is requisite. The line should not be less 

 than six hundred and may be a thousand feet long, 

 and if of flax should not be over fifteen strands. 

 The rod, reel, and line, must be of the very best, 

 and the guides and funnel top large, or the angler 

 will fail to do himself justice, and will probably lose 

 his largest fish. 



The friction is so great in casting, that the thumb 

 must be protected by a thumb-stall or cot, as the 

 natives call it, or better yet, one for each thumb, so 

 that you can cast from either side, and snub the fish 

 with either hand. They are made of chamois 

 leather, India-rubber, or some equivalent material ; 

 and in casting by hand, a similar protection is re- 

 quired for the forefinger. A shoemaker's knife is 

 admirably adapted to cutting bait. 



If, then, familiar with these things, you shall have 

 chosen a favorable time during or at the close of a 

 south-easterly storm, and at break of day, accom- 

 panied by John Anthony, shall have posted yourself 

 upon Bog rock, or the Quohog, which is New Eng- 

 land and Indian for hard clam, or upon the famous 

 Scarborough, that great station in a heavy north- 

 easter, you may anticipate brave sport. The 

 waves will come rolling in, streaming out in the 

 wind like a courser's mane, with snowy crest, and 

 breaking with thundering roar they will sink back 

 seething with foam. As the tide rises a few drops 

 will fall pattering upon your feet ; shortly the waves 

 will leap up to your knees, then plunge into your 

 pockets, reach to your waist, pour down your neck, 



