SALT-WATER LOCHS. 77 



important, as your success, in a great measure, depends 

 upon the selection of a good one. After the line 

 is set, it should be left exactly one hour ; and, if you 

 have hit upon a shoal, you will most likely half-fill 

 the boat. I have several times killed about a dozen, 

 from twenty to fifty pound weight, besides quantities of 

 smaller. The fish for the most part taken are cod, ling, 

 haddock, skate, large flounders, and enormous conger- 

 eels, some .of the latter more than half the length of your 

 boat, and as thick as a man's leg. These would gene- 

 rally be thrown back again, were it not for the havoc 

 they make among the other fish, and the damage they do 

 to the set-lines. Their throats are, therefore, cut as 

 soon as they are pulled up, after which operation they 

 will live for hours. The skate is also very tenacious of 

 life ; and nothing can be more absurd than the grotesque, 

 pompous faces it will continue to exhibit for some time, 

 after being deposited in the boat. The round shape of 

 its jagged crown is exactly like a judge's wig; and when 

 it puffs out its cheeks, the whole face and head so 

 forcibly remind one of those learned lords, that you 

 almost fancy you hear it pronouncing sentence upon the 

 devoted congers. The conger, if dressed like other 

 fish, is uneatable; but when the oil is taken out, by 

 parboiling, some people prefer it to cod. Care should 

 be taken to untwist the line as much as possible when 

 drawing it, which saves a deal of trouble afterwards. 

 There is generally so much filth and discomfort in the 



