ON THE GROPER GROUNDS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13892, 1 May 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

ON THE GROPER GROUNDS.

AX AMATEUR'S YARN. ; .'The editor said lie wanted it done, so; that settled it, but 1 solemnly repeated: all the swear words in a fairly "copious .vocabulary/directly I got outside. his sanctum. He liad said to me "•'•Look here, I wish yoir. could manage to get out for a trip with one of the" "fishermen at the port and_ write 'up* a bright, chatty story about it." I implied, "All right,' 'and retired to indulge ,in :the aforementioned verbal pyrotechnics because I am not a good: sailor. Also I had a dim idea that the said fishermen started out at "upgodly hours, for .-their chase of the 'gamesome groper,' and the wily ling. I "backed up a bit when it occurred to me "that. possibly the fishermen might Hot care -to have a dead-head in the bo'at 3j and in the way, and would therefore refuse the necessary permission to Accompany them, but that loophole was elosed after- an interview with one of tfaem, who, much to my annoyance, heartily, embraced the idea of'having Bis; 'fishy calling made the subject of ajiewspaper yarn. . ' i": We, start at tlu"ee o'clock to-morrow morning," He remarked quite cheerfully;: "it's, a pretty dirty , job. so you 'Bad-liNfetter-put on old clothes.' "I'll ; be..there/' I groaned, and walked back joine, to .pack r up a bag full of tucker, chiefly haul sandwiches and something ihspiriting in a bottle. "Before going to' bed. I put .the alarm clock close to idy/ ear,, and then fell into a fitful sleep. I awoke in the dark, and ' struck' , a match— —-five minutes past tbtee!— —-the wretched alarm had not. gone off. I sprang out of bed, and stubbed.my toe severely against a chair. /After" a hurried scuffle round on hands :.and kpees'.to find 'the matches, which IT Bad dropped, 1 got a candle lighted, • tfivedinto my clothes, grabbed ; .the. tucker bag -and made for the harbour as. fast as I could , run eating a bit of Kreakfast[as I went. There was not a sign of life when I arrived and after ' waiting ' what seemed to he - an intermipable time and getting horribly cold ~ f I'determined, to make tracks for home •'again. It-was pitch dark, I lost my --hearings ■ and, stumbled - about •on the Vharf, barking : shins oyer railway, points . an«l' once narrowly ; escaping walking t oyer 'the * edge of the \wiarf. into the . water..; , • At- Mis moment-rthe fisherman —my fiihermaiL—iand his mate arrived, and - : remarking' that he was a bit late, proto load up his dinghy will gear ' * 'of . sorts, • after which we all got in and pulledioff to "his motor , fishing boat. Ota approaching the craft a penetrating ~ and', powerful odourj like unto a fish ' tliat' has : felt -the heat,- made- itself very ";manifest, and the first whiff I in- . hiled-'made' 'me gulp— —a .bad omen. A'few .moments .were taken up in stow-ing-gear ?nd. getting the engine workIngf.the moorings were cast off, and ' with' a chug-chug-chug from the exhaustj and '.the faint slap of water against.the bows, we sailed out of the , harbour into the blackness. .A chill ind fairly strong nor-west "wind was .. blowing, and shortly after passing the . eri£ .of the. breakwater extension, the i- long heave of the boat showed that we - were .on-, the broad ..breast. of the Paci- . two fishermeu had settled to enjoy their breakfast, by the - ■ HgVit- of- a -hurricane lamp. The repast : consisted of . some particularly repulsive "looting slices of fat mutton with bread, an<L though I had not had much of a breakfast myself, yet. somehow or other - I: did not feel at all like eating—l preferred to sit well to windward, to escape the "ancient and fishlike smell" ' and "admire the scenery. We steered about eastj So I judged, and we had - nofc been chug-chuging above three quarters.of an hour or so when I felt an irristible desire to gaze into the beauties of the deep, which I did and incidentally .parted, company -with, my breakfast, much to the amusement of my "fellow voyagers. ; The next hoxfr waS one of the most miserable I have ever'spent, and: .even, the beauty of the ddfrii which broke in brilliant bars and ■ rays of delicate pink and gold faded • to cheer me up. , . - Possibly about two and a half hours - "after" our start we arrived at the fishing grounds and let down, the grapnel. The tackle used for fishing were stout hand lines with two or three big hooks i attached and a heavy sinker. Each fisherman attended to two lines, while 1 had one^given, to me to fish_with, "all ' being baited with mysterious chunks of fishy stuff. I was feeling exceedingly ; pile: about the gills, and I attribirted success, of that day's_ fishing in a > large measure to the" consistency I displayed iu distributing at irregular intervals, small quantities of ground bait. I suppose I had been feebly dangling my ~line7".'in-the water.for about a quar- ' ter of'an'hour- or soj 'and- devoutly \\ ishing. that I was on terra firma once more;, when" Ttfg! A couple at vards of. mv line slipped through m> hands -with* a ierk and then, as I slackened mv hold, the coils snaked ovfer the boat's side with increasing swiftness, and I suddenly realised that I had hooked the first fish. All my sporting instincts awoke, the horrible feeling of nausea left me, and for the next ten minutes I was having a glorious .tussle with a' fish, that from the way "he' pulled, must be the father of all -the groper. I jammed my feet against the side of the boat, and -P l 't my weight on the line, which hissed in a* sdg-aag course through the water. Gradually it came in foot by foot and presently the dark, grey shape of my captive could be seen through the clear crrpen . water. - " That's a nice fish, said, the fisherman, u he'll go near twenty pounds cleaned." In another minute Mr Groper was flopping on deck, till a thump on the back of his head from a short club gave him his quietus.,. The fish were "on the bite that morning, and all three of us were hauling them up hand over fist for three "or four hours, until all of a su'd- . den- they stopped feeding and jiot another solitary fish did we get. Still, good work had been done, and a pile of groner, line, cod and a few barraconta lav in the bottom of the boat, a sight that gladdened the eyes of the fishermen. Dinner was the next item and seldom have I enioyed'a meal than that one., sitting in the sun. gloriously dirty and tired, while the black bottle. I had been thoughtful. enough to brin<* circulated round the three of us. and warmed ortr hearts. —[Didn't vou know that the Rpgnlntions of the Marine Department forbid taking Honor in fishing boats?— Ed. T.H.I " anchor 7 was the next order, and the boat's bows were turned for honr\ T steering, while the two fishermen busied themselves in cleaning the fish they liail eanihf. Very deft they twre at it n flash oF the knife. —a flick, and the fish's "inwards" plooned overboard, to be liounced unon by seagulls, who Jion>rcc' ne<»r the boats. The harbour wn« pained aV>u* lialf-p-»ct two in th» afternoon. T went •jofcnre thoroughly satis<*»"'l with an excellent day's snor*. All T cln not enw the fishermen : their life '*- a hs»rd ai"J nre^ariotii one. n" verv nv" on fine ht*+. verv unnlf»i>"nt ; n bod weather, pnd is a rnip=f ion for arimment whether ris'-s thev nn(]pn»i and the hnrd='' : ra +'iov pn<inro fullv comnoncated hv the "eenniary returns derived from their calling.