184 



THE BLACK- FISH. 



with a common drop line made of flax, and from ten to thirty 

 yards in length, according to the depth of water. 



When the black fish favors you with a bite, give particu- 

 lar attention and pull quickly, for he has a hard, tough mouth, 

 and if your hook and tackle are strong, you need not be fear- 

 ful of any damage to your tools, and with proper precaution, 

 you can call him in. 



Give him no quarter, when using the hand-line, (until you 

 quarter him for dinner ;) keep your line tight, and draw him 

 straight up until he suuff the pure air of heaven, much to his 

 chagrin, and greatly to your satisfaction: and remember, 

 should you be unwatchful, and he take you unawares and go 

 to the bottom, your chance is very small; for although he 

 may roam occasionally, in search of his favorite food, still he 

 loves his rocky home, and down he will go with your bottom 

 tackle, unless you are on the alert. Remember, then, that 

 "Eternal vigilance is the price of" a black fish. 



How to Cook the Black-Fish Not seemingly by a pro- 

 fessor of the rod and line, yet certainly by one who well 

 understands how to bring out the gastronomic properties 

 of the subject under discussion, the following, from the 

 pages of the Knickerbocker magazine, although containing 

 much that is extraneous, will, we think, suit the taste of our 

 reader: 



"And now, fair ruler of the destinies of dinner! (for if 

 thou beest a man, I have no sympathies toward thee,) smoke- 

 compelling Betty, or Mary, or whatever else may be the 

 happy appelative in which not only thou but all of us rejoice, 

 thou hast lying extended before thee one of the most deli- 

 cately absorbent substances in nature, imbibing flavor from 

 everything which surrounds it, whether of adverse or of pro- 

 pitious tendency; subject, as Warren Hastings said of the 

 tenure of the British possessions in India, alike 'to the touch 

 of chance, or the breath of opinion.' 



