HAKE. 117 



known as the Bay of Hakes. Off the coast of 

 Waterford, on the Nymph bank, it is so plentiful 

 that six men fishing with lines have been known 

 to take a thousand in a single night. It is a fish 

 gifted with an insatiable voracity, as its name 

 " Merlucius," or " sea pike/' implies. An immense 

 amount are salted, dried, and exported annually 

 to Spain : they are also caught in abundance on 

 the coast of North America. The supply of this 

 fish is much depended on by the poorer classes for a 

 very good cheap food, the flesh being very white and 

 firm. They seem to be particularly fond of the 

 pilchard and herring, the shoals of which they 

 continually haunt, preying on the outskirts. In 

 fishing for them it is customary to use a conger 

 hook, which has the line guarded for some distance 

 up with fine brass wire, to prevent the strong 

 sharp teeth of the hake from biting it in half. 



