106 
ANIMAL LIFE ON THE 
the round fish, some of which would leap completely over 
the back rope and corks ; others I have seen dash furiously 
4igainst the net, and if one managed to make or find an 
opening, a continuous stream followed, and sailed out, rank 
and file, in good order, without any human-like scrambling 
as to which would be first. Flat fish, however, do not seem 
to possess the same amount of intelligence as round fish ; 
when imprisoned in a net they do not exhibit the same 
anxiety to escape, and most of them, even then, will 
greedily devour whatever food may come their way. In 
the midst of an imprisoned shoal, clashing and darting about 
in all directions looking for a means of escape, I have seen 
the common angler place himself against the back of the 
net, and there stow a round dozen of splendid fish into his 
capacious wallet, without the least concern for his own 
safety. The bank trawl is a complete store -house of 
-curiosities ] and although it is now many years since we 
witnessed the operation, and the style, through a combina- 
tion of causes, is almost obsolete here in the west, we will 
endeavour to satisfy the reader regarding what might be 
■expected from such a haul. 
In the near neighbourhood of the shore there are 
■creatures who seldom trust themselves to the easily -dis- 
turbed and more broken waters of the ebb and flow ground 
of the beach, but constantly keep in the deep, where the 
surf and surge of the waves above pass over them, and 
cannot harm them. These are the specimens generally 
brought in by the trawl ; and for their capture we will now 
launch our small boat, and, provided with a little dredge 
and a forty -fathom rope, proceed to Ashton Bay in our 
neighbourhood. 
Our boat is firthy and of steady beam — fit for the lumpy 
waters of this October aftsrnoon. Ee.iching the bay, and 
