THE FISH BASKET. 



215 



A foot in length, and the same width as the seats round the 

 stern of the boat, will be found the most convenient dimensions 

 for a small boat of fifteen feet length and under, but for a larger 

 craft a tray of eighteen inches in length will be more advan- 

 tageous in fact, if three or four are provided, so much the 

 better for cleanliness. 



On one side (the right) a sheath for a knife should be nailed, 

 and on the other a second for a sharpening stone. 



The tray should be of deal and painted, to prevent the slime 

 penetrating the pores of the wood. 



The Fish Basket (fig. 65). These baskets are of an oblong 

 form, and framed on a stout stick ij inch in diameter, of un- 

 peeled osiers, and pro- 

 tected on the bottom 

 outside by four or five 

 stout rods or bars proj ect- 

 ing beyond the wicker- 

 work ; they are known in 

 Guernsey as ' Paniers a 

 coup,' and are provided 

 with a piece of rope un- 

 twisted at its ends, and 

 woven into the sides of 

 the basket, by which it 

 is carried over the left 

 shoulder. 



They are the most 

 convenient baskets I 

 have met with for boat- 



FIG. 65. 



fishing, as they stow well in the side of a boat, are not easily 

 upset, and are withal comfortable to carry, even up a rugged 

 cliff path. I am told that a similar kind of basket or creel is 

 in use in the northern part of the kingdom. For an amateur, 

 they might be made of peeled osiers, and painted straw colour 

 if desired. 



A useful size I find to be eighteen inches in length at the 

 bottom and a foot in width, and on the top fifteen inches in 

 length and nine inches in width ; depth of the basket, includ- 



