BOAT-FISHING. 199 
the coast, only the local fishermen are able to 
pick them up with any certainty. Although they 
predominate, it is rare to take only whiting on 
these grounds, large mackerel, gurnard and flat- 
fish of various kinds, not to mention rays and 
dog-fish, usually helping to fill the bag. At 
the same time, I have sometimes found it pos- 
sible to adjust the depth of a couple of hooks 
on the tackle above mentioned so accurately 
as to take only whiting, the baits being too high 
for the gurnard and _ flat-fish, too low for the 
mackerel. 
The whiting should be split and cleaned by your 
boatman almost as soon as removed from the 
water ; although few fish are more delicate eating 
when perfectly fresh—and doctors are fond of 
ordering them for ‘convalescents, even in the half 
stale condition in which alone they are to be had in 
London—few, as I have had occasion to say on a 
previous page, lose their freshness more rapidly, 
and they are in fact less adapted than most fish to 
the purposes of gifts to absent friends. The will is, 
in such case, better than the deed. 
On the subject of the remaining fish that are 
likely to be caught in small boats within a few 
miles of the coast, I have thought it unnecessary to 
offer, save incidentally, any remarks. Wrasse and 
rocklings-of more than one species will often seize 
the bait meant for pouting; while weevers, bull- 
heads, snake-fish and other monstrosities, interesting 
to the naturalist if not to the sportsman, will like- 
wise die on hooks intended for dab or whiting. 
These are, however, to be regarded in the light of 
chance catches; and, like most. things undesired, 
