60 THE POLLACK OR WHITING-COLE OR COAL. 



Whiting. Included in our catch was a Hake, which in playing 

 about amongst the lines, had become hooked close by the 

 ventral fin, and sheering round, got three of the lines in a con- 

 siderable foul. This gave us some trouble to clear ; but such 

 things will happen, and as the fish weighed seven or eight 

 pounds, we might consider he atoned for the entanglement. 



As our boxes were now full, I determined to cease fishing ; 

 we therefore got up our anchor, and, setting our canvas, an 

 hour's sailing saw my little ' Fairy ' again riding at her moorings 

 in Cawsand Bay. Our catch consisted of twelve dozen 

 Whiting, one Hake, one Pollack, a dozen Bream, and a dozen 

 red and grey Gurnards a fair, although not a large catch. 

 For this fishing a small yacht, or large waterman's boat, may 

 be hired at 1 2 s. 6d. or a pound a day, under the Hoe, at the 

 Barbican, or if a visitor elects to lodge at Cawsand, he may 

 arrange excursions from thence. N.B. Cawsand is three 

 miles on the way to the Whiting-ground, and about a mile from 

 Penlee Point. 



THE POLLACK OR WHITING-COLE OR COAL. 



(Merlangus pollachius. ) 



This fish, although somewhat similar in shape, is of quite a 

 different colour from the genuine Whiting, being of an olive 

 brown on the back, the sides shading off to a yellowish white ; 

 it attains a very much larger size, sometimes even 15 or 20 Ibs. 



It differs quite as much in its habits as in its colour from 

 the true Whiting, which prefers a soft bottom, whilst the 

 Pollack frequents the rocky ground, particularly off headlands 

 where the rocks run a long distance seaward, over which the 

 tide sets strongly. Wherever an extent of sunken rocks exists 

 at a distance from shore, there is a stronghold of the large 

 Pollack in all the British and Northern Seas, as, for instance, 

 round the Eddystone, off Plymouth &c. On rocky ground, 

 or close thereto, they are more or less to be found at all seasons 

 of the year ; they occasionally, however, disperse in pursuit of 

 the Sand- Eels or Launce, of which they are immoderately 

 fond, and after remaining any length of time on the sandy 



