306 VARIETY OF FISH. 



There is a great excitement in the sea-fishing, a title that 

 may be given to the sport in this bay, for one never knows 

 what is coming up when there is a bite fish of the most 

 ridiculous shapes, and beautiful colours, and all sizes, 

 now a small rock-cod, then a large parrot-fish ; again a 

 tremendous tug at your thick line, and away it flies, with 

 no chance of holding or staying it some monster has 

 carried off everything. A gallant friend of mine, who 

 was not very careful in the arrangement of his tackle, was 

 near meeting with an accident here. A bite and tug, 

 such as I have mentioned, pulled the line out of his hand, 

 and it flew over the side at the rate of twenty miles an 

 hour. I saw that he had a coil of the line round his body, 

 and had just time, by snatching up a knife, to cut the line, 

 when the whole piece was carried overboard. It must 

 have been a ground-shark or some such monster. My 

 friend would in another instant have been dragged over- 

 board or cut in two, as the line was nearly as thick as 

 my finger, therefore too strong to break before it would 

 have seriously damaged him. 



Shoals of porpoises frequently played about in the surf, 

 close to the shore, and good bullet practice might be had 

 at them. 



