THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



693 



getting too ninnerous for the welfare of 

 the roach, I should have left them alone. 

 I see, by the way, that a correspondent 

 of the Wtlncss advocates the importation 

 of this monster. I doubt his thriving in 

 our rapid and rocky streams ; but am 

 quite sure that no trout would thrive in 

 his neighbourhood, and as we have 

 already to deal with the siluroide, or 

 barbel, who may prove a more dangerous 

 enemy than we imagine, but, at the same 

 time is boneless, and when properly 

 cooked by no means unsavoury, I think 

 we should pause before we risk the ruin 

 of a successful enterprise by the importa- 

 tion of a fish which is known in England 

 as the freshwater shark, and which is un- 

 suitable to a country in which, owing to 

 its sloping surface, there will never be 

 extensive ponds or lakes, or any large 

 sheets of water unconnected with 

 the rivers, which will be all, at no distant 

 date, stocked with the salmo ferox. We 

 had better let well alone, lest we tumble 

 into it. 



In those days smuggling was not yet a 

 thing of the past, and at many a farm- 

 house and, if rumour speaks truth, at the 

 tables of either parson or squire, you 

 might, if a privileged guest, try the con- 

 tents of a bottle of French brandy from 

 which the revenue derived no benefit ; 

 and, peradventure, listen to a stiff yarn 

 about its transit into the bargain. 



As I was often on the bay, either run- 

 ning along the coast line, tempting 

 mackerel with the glitter of shiny metal, 

 or at anchor, fishing with squid bait for 

 whiting or gurnard (called red tub) ; and 

 as I occasionally took a placj in one of 

 the larger boats for a night's conger fish- 

 ing, outside the Start, or to take up the 

 crab-pots set some nights before in 

 favourite spots, it may be concluded that 

 I was on fairly intimate terms with the 

 fishermen, and that few of their private 

 affairs were, after a time, any secret to 

 me. Among them, smuggling held a 

 prominent place ; and it found in me no 

 antipathetic listener. 



Now I am not going to enter into a 

 defence of what is, at best, an illegal 

 practice ; and will only suggest that — 

 suppose the political world to be divided 

 into two classes, Protectionists and Free 

 Traders (as it formerly was into Whigs 

 and Tories), neither can the former con- 



sistently abuse a practice which owes its 

 very existence to their policy, nor can the 

 lattar hurl condemnation upon those who 

 are only carrying out in detail the prin- 

 ciples upon which their sj^stem is founded; 

 for is not the " fair trade " free trade ? 

 However that may be, I was fascinated 

 by the spirit of adventure, and more than 

 half promised to take a run across channel 

 for the mere fun of the thing, though, of 

 course, I declined any share in the com- 

 mercial part of the enterprise. 



At that time, two or three successful 

 runs having been made, and the cargoes 

 carried safely into the recesses of the 

 m )ar, the (ioverment had been put on the 

 alert ; and three revenue cutters, duly 

 armed and equipped, had been lor some 

 weeks on the station, patrolling the coast, 

 from Exmouth to the Bolt Tail, at the 

 end of Salcombe Bay. A smart coastguard 

 officer too, whom we will call Captain 

 Winstead, had been appointed in Start 

 Bay, with directions to keep a sharp look 

 out. I had made his acquaintance, as he 

 had taken a cottage in our immediate 

 neighbourhood ; and I need scarcely add 

 that the chief topic of conversation was 

 the prevalence of smuggling, and the 

 captain's avowed intention of suppressing 

 it. 



It so happened, that a wedding was 

 about to take place in our family, which 

 my sister was bound to attend, but at 

 which I had no mind to be present, so 

 that for several days I was the solitary 

 occupant of our cottage, and was longing 

 for a bit of excitement, 



My chief comrade among the fishermen 

 was one Lorane ; he had been in France, 

 and had picked up other things besides a 

 smattering of the language. He could sail 

 a lugger to perfection ; and had taught 

 me enough to make me something more 

 than live lumber in a boat. 



He was the leading spirit in what still 

 survived of life in the smuggling enter- 

 prise, and went at it (so to speak) with a 

 joyous rollicking dash that was very 

 enticing. As for the three c itters, the 

 " Royal Charlotte," the '• Lion," and the 

 " Shark," he laughed at them, and said he 

 would run a cargo right under their noses. 



A day or two after my sister had left, I 

 strolled in^«o the village, and found 

 Lorane's partner, Wood, busy among spars 

 and sheets, masts, and buckets of tar, 



