FISHING. 
211 
fish of such dimensions will rarely bite at a hook 
worked in the usual manner. For them the negro 
fisherman takes a wire hook (No. 1. or 2.) as large 
as a goose-quill, which he throws overboard, baited 
with a sprat, but in a peculiar fashion. One side of 
the sprat is split nearly off, remaining attached only 
by the tail ; this is allowed to hang free ; and a slice 
from the back and one from the belly are allowed to 
hang in the same way. The hook is then passed 
in at the mouth, out at the gills, and again through 
the middle, and the head is tied to the top of the 
hook : another slice is then put upon the hook, and 
made to hang down. This is designated a full 
bait.” No sinker is attached, but its own weight is 
sufficient to carry it nearly to the bottom. The line 
being passed with two turns round the fishermans 
great toe^ he lies comfortably down in his canoe 
(Blackie will always lie down wherever he can), and 
awaits the bite of the first large fish that may choose 
to essay the baited hook ; which it usually does by 
taking in the whole at a gulp. 
The seine is here, as elsewhere, the chief re- 
source of the fisherman ; and many kinds of fishes 
are taken by this means, that rarely enter a pot or 
seize a bait; together with many species that he 
calls rubbishy as being of no esteem in the market, 
though often interesting to the naturalist. There 
are several places in the vicinity of Bluefields, where 
the peculiarities of the beach and of the shoaling 
water are favourable to the hauling of the seine ; 
one of these is Belmont beach, already spoken of ; 
another, still more used, is the beach at Cave, a few 
