VOYAGE ACROSS THE NORTH SEAS. 
79 
celebrated for its fishery. At noon—to use a sailors phrase—it fell clock calm ; 
the fishing gear was prepared, and hooks of the smallest size, used for Cod, were 
baited with pieces of raw pork and beef, cut by the critical hand of the mate ; a 
line containing two, attached by short pieces of cord to the extremities of a stout 
iron wire bent in the shape of a bow (technically a a chopstick”), was let over 
the ship’s quarter in thirty fathoms of water; another, to which I gave my 
personal attention, over the stern. An hour passed without a single nibble would 
have been sufficient to blunt the ardour of a keener sportsman than myself, had 
there been other amusement stirring; but as this was not the case, I determined 
not to relinquish my line without giving it a fair trial ; and contented myself 
with ten-minute te§ts—if I may use the expression— u plurima volvens but 
with no success. This bank, however, in most places, abounds v T ith Cod 
(Morrhua vulgaris , Cuv.), Haddock (M. cegleftnus , C.), Ling ( Lola molva , C.), 
and Hollibut ( Hippoglossus vulgaris , C.). The water has a dull green appear¬ 
ance, and is rather turbid. 
The following day we came in amongst the Dutch fishing-boats, which resort 
mostly to the centre of the bank. The shrouds of these skiffs were covered with 
fish undergoing the drying process, after being salted. The men in their red 
woollen caps, and breeches of the same colour, with their broad, honest, cheese¬ 
shaped countenances, corrugated by hard north-easters*, had a picturesque 
appearance; some of them hailed us as we passed, in broken English. The 
vessel was going too fast to permit of fishing. The next morning we had “ the 
blue above and the blue below” again to ourselves, without a sail in sight to 
employ the telescope upon. By the reckoning we were now entering upon th e 
southern extremity of the Great fish-bank, a northern limb of the Dogger; and 
here we were visited for the first time by a Ring Dotterel ( Charadrius hiaticula ), 
which approached, and performed several revolutions round the ship, as if with 
an intent to alight and rest upon it, occasionally emitting his common low 
melancholy note. He remained with us more than ten minutes, darting up, and 
passing over us, till his fears seemingly obtained the mastery over his inclinations, 
when he .left the ship, and held his course to the westward, close to the water, 
at a round rate. I followed him with my eyes as he skimmed the surges, which 
must have appeared to the little creature interminable, till he was no longer to be 
seen, wishing him a prosperous passage to, and a safe arrival in, Old England 
whither no doubt he was bound, as we encountered him almost in mid sea. The 
instinct of migratory birds is really wonderful! Several Great-black-backed Gulls*- 
( Larus marinus) and Common Gulls (H. conus') were seen in the course of the 
* At least we presume this is the species alluded to by Mr. Drosier’s MS., as “ the Wage! 
{ L . ncBvius ). If we are in error;, our^correspondent can correct us; but the above names are no 
longer employed by naturalists j and their adoption can only lead to confusion.— Ed. 
