4 SEA-FISH. 
depth, currents, and, in the wake of ships at any 
rate, sharks against the fisherman. 
On the contrary, it is essential to hit the exact 
grounds frequented by the fish. The sea- 
pola angler soon recognises the fact that, be- 
range neath the water, as on land, there are con- 
fe siderable tracts, mostly of sand or mud, 
uninhabited, the fish crowding to the spots 
where the conditions of life are easier. This is 
found to hold equally good of fishing within a mile 
of the coast or hundreds of miles from land. At 
the same time, so great is the abundance of fish 
in the sea and so fierce are their appetites, that a 
paternoster, or other suitable tackle of the kinds 
described in the following pages, baited with fresh 
meat or fish, will usually take fish of some kind in 
any deep water. I have taken fish in this manner 
in various parts of the Channel, Mediterranean and 
Indian Ocean, in the Suez Canal, in the Gulf of 
Aden and in the shallower water off the north coast 
of Java. 
It is important at the same time to bear in mind 
the need of precise acquaintance with the fishing- 
grounds, concerning which much information will 
be found in the Appendix. 
If those who have its interests at heart will 
only develop it along the right lines, advocating 
methods not distasteful to the angler who has 
served his apprenticeship in fresh water, and attrac- 
tive to those who have never handled rod or line 
before, there is little doubt that the sport of sea- 
fishing, of such recent origin that there was until 
1893 no society representing it, has a great future. 
One of the greatest attractions of this sport is 
perhaps the close acquaintance entailed with the 
