FISHING. 211 



fish of such dimensions will rarely bite at a hook 

 worked in the usual manner. For them the negro 

 fisherman takes a wire hook (No. 1. or 2.) as large 

 as a goose-quill, which he throws overboard, baited 

 with a sprat, but in a peculiar fashion. One side of 

 the sprat is split nearly off", remaining attached only 

 by the tail ; tliis is allowed to hang free ; and a slice 

 from the back and one from the belly are allowed to 

 hang in the same way. The hook is then passed 

 in at the mouth, out at the gills, and again through 

 the middle, and the head is tied to the top of the 

 hook : another slice is then put upon the hook, and 

 made to hang down. This is designated a " full 

 bait." No sinker is attached, but its own weight is 

 sufficient to carry it nearly to the bottom. The line 

 being passed with two turns round the fisherman s 

 great toe, he lies comfortably down in his canoe 

 (Blackie will always lie down wherever he can), and 

 awaits the bite of the first large fish that may choose 

 to essay the baited hook ; which it usually does by 

 taking in the whole at a gulp. 



The seine is here, as elsewhere, the chief re- 

 source of the fisherman ; and many kinds of fishes 

 are taken by this means, that rarely enter a pot or 

 seize a bait ; together with many species that he 

 calls rubbish, as being of no esteem in the market, 

 though often interesting to the naturalist. There 

 are several places in the vicinity of Bluefields, where 

 the peculiarities of the beach and of the shoaling 

 water are favourable to the hauling of the seine ; 

 one of these is Belmont beach, already spoken of; 

 another, still more used, is the beach at Cave, a few 



