140 SEA-FISH. 
sport, at any rate some very substantial advantages. 
First, there is its cheapness, The continual hire of 
boats at 2s. the hour is an impossibility for many 
and an extravagance for more. From the pier, on 
the other hand, many a good day’s fishing may 
with a little attention to detail be had for a few 
pence. On a few piers indeed, as at Deal and East- 
bourne, a trifling charge is made for each rod or 
line, but it is so small as to cause no one incon- 
venience and yet keep the pothunter away. Again, 
even where expense is no object, there is the very 
grave question of sea-sickness which debars so 
many from enjoying themselves in small boats save 
on the very calmest of days, and even then the roll 
from a passing steamer is sufficient to cause dis- 
tress. The pier gives sport of a kind to the most 
squeamish. 
It is not to be denicd, however, that, considered 
in all its aspects, pier-fishing has not a few serious 
drawbacks. In the first place there is the super- 
abundance of humanity, which nothing will get rid 
of short of an cast wind, and then unfortunately 
the fish go too. Then, too, people subject to colds 
will find the landings of piers unequalled for 
draughts. The wind seems to blow from every 
quarter of the compass, as well as from overhead 
and underfoot. Another very objectionable feature 
about these stages is the facility offered for losing 
various articles of value—watches, money, walking- 
sticks, tackle, and the like, through the gratings.! 
For this reason, solid piers of stone or wood are 
1 The remedy for this is to tie everything securely to your 
person. Never care about looks ; but tie your watch, penknife, 
hat, everything of the kind to your buttonholes. Money is better 
left at home altogether, 
