taken with pots, as they are called, made of wicker-work, in which they put the bait, and sink them in eight or ten fathom water. As the quantity caught off the Isle of Wight is limited, the London markets are supplied from Norway and the Orkneys.

The crab is much of the same nature as the lobster, and may be caught in the same manner. They often lie in creeks, and in the ponds formed by hollow places in the sand, where the salt water remains after the tide has ebbed, and there they may be angled for with a piece of liver or the inside of a fowl tied to a bit of string, and laid in their haunts. The moment a crab sees it he will seize it with his claws, and will not quit his hold until he is drawn up to the surface of the water, when a landing net quickly applied will secure your prize.

Cray-fish are to be found in almost every brook and rivulet in England. The usual manner of taking them is by groping for them with the hands, for they shelter themselves in small holes on the banks of the streams: others will take a certain number of small sticks and split them at one end, so that they may put a bait in the cleft part; these they stick in the mud at the side of a brook, and at a distance of about eight or ten feet from each other. After some time they examine them, and if they perceive any eray-fish sticking to them they slide a basket made with rushes and a long handle under them, and so take them safely from the water in the same manner as crabs, for they will not suffer themselves to be drawn higher than the surface.

Prawns and shrimps may be taken with a net; and the fisherman will do well to provide himself with a pair of Peal's waterproof boots, which will keep him thoroughly dry for any number of hours. These boots

may be had in Duke-street, Grosvenor-square, London. While upon this subject we cannot refrain from giving a practical joke which we heard played at Cowes. It was a regular pouring wet day, and a drenched tar asked one of the watermen to lend him his tarpauling coat. "I can't do that," said the latter; but if you'll stand two-pence I'll buy you that which shall keep you dry all day." "Done!" said Jack, handing out his coppers. "Here, missus," responded the wag; "give Jack two of those red-herrings. If they won't keep him dry all day I don't know what will." We hope this jest has not appeared in the "Works of Joe Miller," " Punch," or the "Man in the Moon," as we looked upon it as a downright genuine article, " neat as imported.”

Oyster-dredging has charms for some; and if we are allowed knives, vinegar, pepper, bread and butter, and London porter, we own the amusement of devouring our prey would be most agreeable to our palates. The dredging or drudgery (as the case may be) we would leave to others.

Fishing for whitings in a boat is diverting enough, because they bite very freely and require no very nice tackle to catch them. A paternoster line, with half-a-dozen hooks, eighteen inches distant from each other, baited with small smelts, muscles, the hairy, lob, or marsh worm will answer the purpose as well as the most expensive tackle. The line may be made fast to the boat, so that the only trouble is drawing up your fish and putting on fresh baits. You may know where to cast anchor by the seagulls, for they invariably hover over the place where the whitings lie; and if they dip in the water now and then you may be sure of good sport.

We have now laid before our readers a few facts founded upon our

own experience in sea fishing, and shall conclude with an observation upon the bounty of Providence in the lavish supply of such wholesome and palatable food to all classes of the community; and what enhances the value of the gift is, that every season furnishes new delicacies; that such fish as are nutritious and agreeable to the taste are exceedingly prolific, and are within our reach, or pay us an annual visit in great multitudes; while the monsters of the watery regions are comparatively In our few in numbers, and are kept at a distance from our shores. sea-girt island, grateful ought we then to be for such a profusion of provisions and delicacies; and sincerely do we trust that our sister country -Ireland-will rouse itself from its lethargy, and devote the time of its coasting inhabitants to the profitable occupation of fishing; then should the land fail in its produce, the treasures of the deep would serve in some degree to alleviate, if not avert, that dreadful national calamity which has lately inflicted us-dearth and famine.

"HALF SPRUNG."

ENGRAVED BY S. LACEY FROM A PAINTING BY

-EBNER.

"The rage for grouse-shooting, at present so great, is not likely to change, like many other fashions. The fine air, the freedom of the scenery, and all the other agrèmens accompanying this amusement, must always make it the most fascinating kind of sport in the way of shooting which the British Isles, or, indeed, almost any country can afford. The bird, too, in beauty and game-like appearance is not to be equalled. In fact, as long as grouse and heather exist, and the nature of man is imbued with the same love for sport and manly exercise as it now is, grouse-shooting will be one of our favourite relaxations from the graver cares of life.

Although, like others, I am excessively fond of this sport, yet I care little for numbers of slain; and when following it independently and alone, am not occupied solely by the anxiety of bagging so many brace. My usual plan, when I set out, is to fix on some burn, some cool and grassy spring, or some hill-summit which commands a fine view as the extremity of my day's excursion. To this point then I walk, killing what birds come in my way, and after resting myself and dogs I return by some other route. Undoubtedly the way to kill the greatest number of grouse is to hunt one certain tract of ground closely and determinedly, searching every spot as if you were looking for a lost needle, and not leaving a yard of heather untried. This is the most killing system, as every practical grouse-shooter knows; but to me it is far less attractive than a good stretch across a range of valley and mountain, though attended with fewer shots. I am also far more pleased by seeing a brace of good dogs do their work well, and exhibiting all their fine instinct and skill, than in toiling after twice the number when hunted by a keeper, whose only plan of breaking the poor animals in is to thrash them until they are actually afraid to use half the wonderful intellect which nature has given them.

Although the twentieth of August is the day appointed for the legal execution of the blackcock, yet in most seasons the first of September would be quite soon enough for the shooting to begin, as until the comm.encement of September the young birds have seldom acquired their strength or plumage, and can be knocked down before the pointer's nose with a stick almost as easily as shot; indeed, I have frequently seen them caught in the hand. When in full vigour and plumage there is no handsomer bird than an old blackcock; and although his size makes him an easy mark, his cunning and strength are pretty good securities for his not falling too readily to the sportsman's gun. But in August even the old birds are not fit to shoot, being neither in perfect condition nor in full plumage. The blackcock is much more addicted to feeding in the corn fields than the grouse is, and takes long flights for the purpose of reaching some favourite stubble field."— St. John's Field Notes of a Naturalist.

STRAY SHOTS.

BY RAMROD.

"O, come to the west, love, with me."-SONG.

One morning in the year eighteen and no-matter-when, the result of the postman's rap-rap at my door was a letter bearing the post-mark of a town in the north of that most beautiful county-Devon. I could not immediately recognise the hand-writing of the superscription, though I thought I had seen it before; but after having turned it over and over, first examining the seal, and then the address, I did what I ought to have done at first, if I wished to satisfy my curiosity-opened it. Here I must digress for a moment to remark that every one who receives a letter, not knowing from whom it comes, invariably does as I did. Frequently have I been greatly amused by seeing people turning their epistles about, and saying at the same time" I wonder who this can be from;" a fact they might easily have arrived at by the simple process of opening the letter which created so much surmise. My epistle, I found, came from an old friend residing in the north of Devon, and whom I had not seen for many years. It began thus :

"My dear Fellow-If you have nothing better to do at this dull period of the year, and I don't believe you have, will you come and have some cock-shooting with me? if you will, I can, I think, promise you good sport, good lodging, and what is more, a bottle of the right sort. I will take no denial; come you must."

"Done," said I to myself; and at once proceeded to write to that effect; and having signed, sealed, and delivered my letter to the tender mercies of Her Majesty's Post-office, I proceeded to make my preparations for the forthcoming campaign. My first step, of course, was to look to my muskets to see they were in marching order, and to have what was amiss put to rights my next, to pay a visit to the honest