INTRODUCTORY. 3 
traverse it in the security of modern steamships, 
comes home daily to the sportsman who spends 
his time miles from land in a mere cockleshell of a 
boat, with no other company than that of rorquals 
twice the length of his craft, sharks, seals and 
unsuspicious sea-fowl, many of which scarcely 
touch earth from one year to another. 
At times, the very delight of sea-fishing is in its 
loneliness, especially down off the rugged Austra- 
lian coast, where every other fish is snapped from 
the incoming hook by sharks that could, if so 
minded, crunch the boat with a flick of their 
powerful tail as if it were so much matchwood. 
To the river-side angler, whose most memorable 
adventure is perchance with an inquisitive cow, or 
an equally inquisitive keeper, this hankering after 
the company of sharks may come as a shock; but 
the presence of danger—not indeed ignored, but 
mastered—must carry with it a feeling of satis- 
faction unknown where danger is not. Equally 
pleasant memories in their way are the skilful 
handling of the tiller in a sudden squall, the deli- 
cate rounding of an ugly rock, while yet keeping 
the trailing hooks clear of the lobster-pots on the 
other quarter, or the judgment called for in launch- 
ing and beaching in a heavy ground-swell; and if 
I say that they have no equivalent on the average 
river, I shall not, I think, be far wide of the mark. 
Danger and difficulty in moderation are conditions 
of sport, and the sea offers plenty of both. 
Another hitherto neglected point that tells in 
favour of sea-fishing is its cosmopolitan range. I 
do not mean to say that it is advisable to hang out 
a line anywhere in mid-ocean and expect a great 
catch ; for there is often a strong combination of 
B2 
