174 ' SEA-FISH. 
meeting-point of two imaginary lines from diffcrent 
parts of the neighbouring shore, as near as possible 
at right angles, and noting objects that lie along 
each line. It must be clearly understood from the 
first that these “marks” are for re-discovering old 
grounds, not for finding new ones. The bearings 
for the Outer Durley rocks off Bournemouth may 
be quoted as a practical example of the method 
adopted: the flagstaff on the end of the pier 
being got in line with the middle of the patch 
of trees beyond the square red-tiled house just 
above the Bath Hotel on the East Cliff, while a 
conspicuous red house in Alum Chine (the third 
from the pier) is brought “dead on” the sloping 
roadway beneath it. These “marks” have served 
the purpose for some time, though I fished the 
reef long before there were either red houses or 
roads in the Chine, and we then had two tall pines, 
one of which seems to have disappeared before the 
invasion of bricks and mortar, to guide us. 
Moreover, on very calm days, it is generally easy to 
pick up Jack Bridle’s corks, he being the only man 
who sets pots on both this and the Inner Durley 
rocks. With a breeze on the water, however, or 
worse still a strong tide to drag them under, the 
corks often baffle you until you are right over 
them. Old Harry Rock, outside Swanage, will also 
be found to cover the extreme point of St. Alban’s, 
the headland beyond. 
There is one great fault- about many of these 
bearings in that they are of a not sufficiently 
permanent nature. As it is, the pine that served 
the purpose so admirably in the old days, is no 
more ; and, in the case of houses, there is the ad- 
ditional danger of more of the same pattern 
