‘AN ANGLER AT THE ANTIPODES. 105 
necessary, and no more; to wit, a box of various- 
sized hooks, such as are made for sea-fishing, a file, 
some rough lead, and'a couple of the fine but very 
powerful lines which knowing hands use for snapper. 
Strength is indispensable where you may have a dead 
pull against a forty-pounder. These things take no 
room in a valise, and are ready for service in three 
minutes, Two turns will bend on a hook immovably, 
and the doubling of the line close to the hook which 
_is occasioned by this mode of fastening, however 
shocking to English ideas of neatness, has the ad- 
vantage of affording some defence against the sharp 
teeth of “Gristes.” As for bait, it is quite needless to 
be particular. A large worm, a frog, a small fish, or 
a piece of a larger one, are good baits. Many sorts 
of garbage, if tolerably fresh, are taken eagerly. I 
have often shot a magpie or other bird on my way to 
the water, and used both the breast and the inside 
with good success. But my commonest resource has 
been a good lump of raw beef, which is generally pro- 
curable at any considerable station. This is always 
taken freely by the larger fish. It is, by-the-by, a 
curious fact that they never can ‘be induced to taste 
mutton. I have tried the two side by side again and 
again, and never have succeeded in getting the latter 
bait taken. If other diet runs short, the capture of 
a single fish generally ends the difficulty by making 
his entrails available against his fellows. All this, 
