SHORES OF THE CLYDE AND FIRTH. 
127 
CHAPTER XV. 
ON THE GIRVAN SHORE. 
E have journeyed to the quiet ohi town of Girvan, 
V V well down the Ayrshire coast. Few towns in the 
west afford the zoologist of the shore, and the naturalist in 
general, a better chance of studying Nature in her many 
phases (including the creatures of the deep) than Girvan. 
Situated as it is on what may be termed the very mouth of 
the receding ocean, its fisher inhabitants have no lack of 
fishing-ground to select from on that great bank, reaching 
from Pladda in the north to many miles beyond the Craig 
on the south, from where, in their respective seasons, all 
kinds of fish are brought to the port for disposal. In the 
summer months the herring fishing is prosecuted success- 
fully. The turbot is also caught with long shallow ground 
nets. The stake nets along the shore also indicate the 
presence of the "king of the seas," the salmon; and when 
the long-line fishing begins, the common victims of the 
hook — the haddock, whiting, and cod, with the numerous 
concomitants, large and small, capable of seizing a bait — 
are here in plenty, and always with a curious and inte- 
resting stranger or rare specimen in their midst. Saunter- 
ing down to the beach, on the south of the little narrow 
harbour, immediately behind the jetty, we see from the 
distance of the ebb that the rough, stony ground there 
is a good hatchery for the whelk tribes and other shore 
specimens. Amongst the large wrack-covered stones and 
pools our attention is drawn to a young lady, with a neat 
little basket in her hand, diligently searching for some- 
thing. What is the object of her search '? As we approach 
