Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-20
FISHING FOR SEA-SNAKES.
The Fierce Conrer. the wolf or the waves
London Telegraph.l

TO dread nights exposure in an open
boat, there are few finer sports at this
time Of the year than conger-fshing of
the coasts Of Devonshire and Cornwall
and all along the edges Of the English
channel. The late Mr.. Benjamin, q. c.,
who in his youth was an ardent votary
of the piscatorial art, and had
many opportunities of practicing
it as boy off the low-lying
seaboard Of North and South Carolina,
used to say that there was no such
fun as hooking devil-fish among the
islands lying between the hsrbors OF
Charleston and Savannah. The devil
fish is, undoubtedly, more formidable
monster Of the deep than the conger eel,
but size and weight are not so impor-
tant in the eyes of Englishmen as in
those Of Americans, and the conger will
amply repay fishermen who have never
tackled such - big game" as the octo-
pus, which Victor Hugo describes so
wildly in his " Travailleurs de la Mer, y
or caught the bonita in the Gulf of
Mexico or the sword-ish in the Straits
Of Messna. There are many "old
salts " scattered along the coasts of the
Mediterranean even in these
sober and unromantic islands many
such exist to this day-who are
always ready to aver that big conger,
when hauled up from the rocky bed Of
the ocean and introduced into boat, is
in the habit of opening his gigantic
mouth, bristling with teeth, of making
a desperate onslaught upon the first
man that he spies. and of barking like
a dog. 1t has, indeed, often been as
serted that a conger three or four feet
long and weighing about twenty or
thirty pounds is a truly awkward GUS
toner TO face when he is drawn into a
boat. Alone Of fishes, he and his con-
gcners of the eel tribe have as much
power Of locomotion upon land as they
have in the water, and no sooner
do they see a human being near
them on the element to which they
are foreigners than they make up
their minds to :" go for him " without
delay. 1t is probable that the captured
conger is prompted by nervousness
rather than by ferocity when he glides
towards his enemy, and the noise which
issues from his open jaws is attributa'
BILE to the escape Of air from his swim
ming bladders, and not to his posses
sion Of barking powers, such as dogs
are endowed with. The tale that a
conger of more than usually pOrtentous
dimensions once forced all the sailors or
board Of sloop into which the fish
was hauled to take TO the rigging is
neither more nor less than fable
Of the sea.Serpent class. Fishermen
who are accustomed to pull the Shiny,
wriggling monster up from the rocks
in which he habitually resides have no
fear of his proximity, and easily acquire
the knack of disabling him by we'll
planted blow with 4 mallet or hammer,
which paralyzcs his spine. lie is, in
fact, much more alarming in appearance
than in reality, and his wide-gaplng
Jaws. armed with cutting teeth, give him
an excellent chance Of biting the
strand of rope to which is attached
the &" No. >" fish-hook with which he
has been caught. For the tackle must
indeed be strong with which a four OF
fye-ioOt conger is hauled Oh deck. His
first effort when he has swallowed the
hook is to twine the end OF his tai
round a bit of rock, and to hold OF
like grim DEATH 1t then becomes
a struggle Of physical strength between
the fish's backbone and the muscles o
his captor a struggle which is toe
often brought to an end by the snap
ping of the line to which the hook il
fastened.
There will. perhaps, be some to ex
press q doubt whether, in fishing fol
conger, (" the game is, according to tht
French proverb, worth the candle.
If night is to be spent upon the se'
in an open boat, they will declare tina
they prefer to emulate the example o
the late Colonel Peter llawker, whC
thought duck, goose, and wild
swan-shooting by night to be
sport fit for a king. d" Let those
says the enthusiastic Colonel, "whC
fancy punt-shooting by night to be suct
a dangerous occupation compare the &C
cidents that happen in it with those il
fOx-hunting, battue-shooting, or any
other open-air sport, and see in which
they most frequently occur. 1t mus
be remembered. too, that punt-shoot
ing is usually followed by poor men
who have the worst of everything IL
the way Of boats, guns, and ammunl
tion, while the others are followed BY
gentlemen who have everything Of tn
best.
- In Poole Harbor, for instance
where the channels at times are ia
more dangerous than in most othe
places, should say that there are alto
gether not less than 100 punts and ca
noes for cunning, and yet in forty years
during which have known the place
never remember but one man VIII
was drowned" 1t is necessary
however. that gunner shoul'
be young, well-fed, hardy, an
hearty, who spends the night upon tn
ses-coast Of Hampshire and take
part in the wild-fowl shooting, which
in his q" Memoirs of an ex-Mlnister,
Lord Malmsberry tells us that the lat
Lord Derby enjoyed so much. Tn
same may be said Of the cOnger-6sher
who has, into the bargain, less excii
ing sport before him when ne takes t
his boat just as the shades Of eyenin
are falling.
In hard winters the Hampshire coas
is irequented by hoopers, or vii
swans, by brent geese, pochards
widgeon, teal, and ducks Of all kinds
To float toward a group OF these fes
thered immigrants from Holland an
the Zuyder Zee during a moonligt
night is enough to compensate an arder
and robust sportsman for any amour
of exposure to spray, damp, and cold
The wild birds are most easily AZ
preached in very hard weather, whic
| seems 10 freeze their caution and yigi
lance out Of them. For the conger, o
the other hand, warm night is the mos
favorable season, and the sport come
to termination as soon as the frosts q