SHORES OF THE CLYDE AND FIRTH. 
107 
avoiding the thick bank of shells that occupies the ground 
a little to the south of the burn, we drop our dredge and 
net in about fifteen fathoms of water ; and paying out the 
line to the angle of forty-five, with the tide in our favour, 
we pull towards Kempoch. With the rope in our hand, 
we feel she (that is, the dredge) is dragging a little roughly — 
sticking now and again, and then going freely ; but now 
she sticks altogether, and seems a dead hold-fast. A little 
more strength to the oars, boy?!, and away she goes. Easing 
her now and again wdth a lift, we feel she is pretty heavy; 
and having now travelled about a hundred yards we ship 
our oars, and proceed to raise the gathered contents to the 
surface. Heave oh, boys ! the haul is a heavy one, but we 
may be richly rewarded. Haul aw^ay ! haul away ! till here 
she comes ! But, see what a thick white cloud of vapour 
she is throwing around her. Ha! we have struck upon a 
thick bed of slime, and we have a mass of slime-besmeared 
contents to inspect. Tin pans, old boots, broken crockery, 
and a large proportion of cinders and heavy masses of slag 
from steamers' furnaces are what we find ; while a few 
urchins are the only living creatures. 
But Ashton Bay is not yet filled up with such rubbish, 
and, like the beasts of the fields, the creatures will stick to 
their old haunts while they are able to live in them. Down 
she must go again ; and this time, we hope, with better luck. 
There is no such thing as luck, says the unbeliever, but do 
not go to the fisherman with the denial. Returning to our 
starting point, a boat length or two further shoreward, we 
cast again, and this time, with an easier sweep, we soon 
overshoot our former distance. Heave up again, boys I 
haul away ! and we have her soon on board. What are the 
contents this time ? A good deal of the former rubbish, 
but apparently more animal life. Bit by bit w^e throw 
