76 SEA-FISH. 
pocket-knife for cither, or accidents will be frequent. 
Failing one of the excellent Norwegian pattern, 
which are far and away the best for most outdoor 
work, it is best to take an old table knife, in doing 
which be careful to select one with a stiff blade. 
Those in which, through long use, the blade has 
been worn thin, bending easily to left or right, slip 
into one’s fingers at the least provocation, and are 
far better overboard. 
This chapter may perhaps be brought to a close 
with a word more, in addition to what has been 
said above, as to the care of tackle,—a most im- 
portant subject in all fishing, in sea-fishing more 
than the rest. The maxim of the French engineer, 
that no fortress is stronger than its weakest part, 
has been so often quoted in connection with tackle 
that I am afraid to take it as the text of the 
following remarks; but it should at any rate be 
borne in mind that every inch of the line, every 
strand of the gut, every part of the hook must be 
kept perfect, and that there is no co-operative 
principle whereby extra strength in one part 
atones at the critical pass for weal:ness in another. 
The great enemy, one ever at work against the 
owner of tackle, is damp. Paradox as this may 
seem in the case of tackle manufactured to endure 
long exposure to water, it is a fact that damp is 
almost as fatal to tackle as it is to guns and 
powder. It is customary to keep tackle in out- 
houses without regard to their dryness or tempcra- 
ture ; but this is a most absurd practice. If there 
is a harness-room handy, as when putting up at an 
hotcl, it is a good plan to earn—otherwise buy— 
the friendship of the ostler and sccure a corner for 
your gear, for such places are usually kept at a dry 
and equable temperature. Otherwise, I generally 
