weight just to keep the line under the water when sailing with a steady breeze.

The best bait is a small piece of the under part of the mackerel, about two inches in length, and a quarter of an inch in breadth, tapering towards one end, the hook merely run through the wider end. The end of the line may be fastened to the side of the boat, for better security; and this ought to be done in the first instance, to prevent the line from slipping through your fingers as you are letting it out; you will, of course, hold the line in your hand, occasionally drawing it gently towards you and then gradually letting it out again. You will readily perceive when you have a bite, as the mackerel are very strong for their size, and bite sharply; The resistance offered by the advancing of the boat at the same time that it hooks them adds very sensibly to their weight.

When you hook your fish, draw him in gradually not allowing the line to become slack, and then lift him gently and perpendicularly into the boat, as he is less liable to become unhooked in this position. On a good day each line may take several dozen. If there be no wind, so that the sail cannot be used, you can then have recourse to the oars; but you must not expect as good sport as with the sail; though you may take a few.

If you have no mackerel for a bait to start with, you can try a white fly, or a bit of red

cloth; with both of these I have frequently taken them. If you do not see any mackerel playing any where on the surface of the water, observe where the gulls are hovering, and try under them, as both gulls and mackerel will be in pursuit of the young herring, and consequently not far distant one from the other.

Mackerel generally come into the sea-water lochs in the West of Scotland in the month of July, and are very abundant till the middle of the month of September, when it is supposed they take their departure; but their movements are regulated by the young herrings, which they invariably follow in large shoals. When fishing for mackerel in this manner, you will frequently take gurnet and codling, especially the former, as they, like the mackerel, are also constantly in pursuit of the young herring.

I must not omit to mention that the best bait for this fishing, next to a piece of mackerel, is a piece of the belly of the gurnet; and in one respect it is the better bait, inasmuch as one piece will sometimes last for several days. It is so tough that it never tears, especially if it be kept for a day, and dried before it is used; whereas, the bait made from part of the mackerel is soon destroyed, and requires replacing by a fresh one.

The way to prepare the gurnet for a bait is to clear away all the flesh from the white skin of the belly

with a sharp knife, and then lay it on a board to dry; when it may be cut, either with a sharp knife or pair of scissors, into pieces in the shape of a small fish, about two inches in length, and a quarter in breadth. After being dried it becomes so tough, that you cannot get even the point of the hook through it without making an incision with the point of a sharp knife. I have tried white leather; which will not answer the purpose, as it soon becomes dark-coloured in the salt water; whereas the gurnet skin becomes more white by use.

When engaged in this sport, be sure to have plenty of ballast in your boat, rather too much than too little; as you are always liable to a sudden breeze in a sea-water loch, no matter how fine the day may be, and without this precaution you may be upset in a moment, with the sun shining upon you at the time.

THE DEEP-SEA TRAWL.

This net cannot be used without the aid of a large sailing-boat or yacht. When well managed, and on a good bottom, where there are plenty of flat-fish, it is most serviceable and productive. It is a long net, made in the shape of a purse, wide at one end, and becoming gradually less till it

reaches the other; it is fastened at the wide end to a strong hoop or frame of iron, rather in the shape of a semicircle. The flat part being towards the bottom, is thus dragged by a vessel in sail, to which it is fastened by strong ropes, taking turbot, soles, and all flat-fish. No net pays fishermen better than this, for the time, trouble, and expense. To those who live in the vicinity of a good sea-water loch, and who have a yacht, or can command the use of a good sailing boat of sufficient strength, no net can be more serviceable.

Before using the net, you ought to make yourself thoroughly acquainted with the nature of the loch, and ascertain where the sand banks are, and other good bottoms resorted to by flat-fish ; otherwise you may not only be defeated in your operations, but seriously damage your net, should you unadvisedly trawl on a rocky, uneven bottom; and in all these sea-water lochs there is great variety, not only as to the depth of the water, but as to the nature of the bottom. Correct information on these points can generally be obtained from some fishermen residing on the coast. If this cannot be had, the sound must be resorted to; but, as a general rule, where the shore is flat the water is shallow, and where high and mountainous, deep, the depth increasing in proportion to the altitude.

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A trawling net of this description is sometimes used for oysters (and this is called dredging), and occasionally with success; but not always, as this mode of taking them is attended with great risk to the net, although a dredging net is made of strong materials, oysters being rarely to be found in large quantities on any bottoms but those which are rugged, rocky, and uneven, where they adhere very firmly, and offer very considerable resistance; so that even the iron frame. in these localities is not invariably a sufficient protection to the net, as the latter is frequently torn, and the former bent or broken, when brought into collision with the rugged points of rocks, although your boat may be sailing at a moderate pace.

These observations apply only to the lochs in Scotland; in many of which, particularly those in the western part of it, oysters are very abundant, and of excellent quality, the larger ones being of the best flavour; but as they are frequently to be found near the shore in shallow as well as in deep water, they are in the latter places very easily secured, especially at low tide, without the trouble of dredging; so much so, that at that time I have seen large quantities taken out merely by the hand by men, women, and childrep, scarcely knee-deep. From the deeper water they are raised by a small net enclosed in an iron frame fixed to the end of a long, light pole; so