BOAT-FISHING. 147 
those on the steamer. If there had been another 
man in the boat, I should have got him to stand 
by with a knife and cut the anchor-rope, while 
I handled the oars and got out of the way 
of the steamer. But I was aft at the time and 
alone, and before I could have cut the rope and 
got back to the oars, it would have been too late, 
The very best thing, therefore, under the circum- 
stances was to leave the responsibility entirely 
with the steamer, sit tight, and be ready to jump 
overboard in case of accidents. I do not quote 
this as a very thrilling adventure, but rather asa 
sample of the almost everyday annoyance to which 
one may be put wherever there is a combination of 
fogs and steamers. 
The mention of fogs, to which the Channel is 
probably more subject than any other sea in 
the same latitude, reminds me of another 
very necessary adjunct to comfort, if not indeed, 
-safety, in boat-fishing, and that is a reliable pocket- 
compass. When, as often happens even in 
summer, a dense fog springs up in the course of a 
few minutes, before the fisherman, intent on his 
sport, has any suspicion of its approach, not only 
may the beach, though not a quarter of a mile off, 
be entirely shut out from view, but the effect on the 
atmosphere is so remarkable, that the direction of 
sounds is perverted, and without a compass aboard 
the very best thing to be done is to remain where 
you are until the fog lifts. Should you have no 
compass and no fcod, the situation may become 
serious in an hour or two, and then you must en- 
deavour—no easy matter, I admit, even for the old 
hand—to steer by the current. By this I mean that 
you must bethink yourself of the state of the tide ; 
L 2 
ogs 
