is a favourite rendezvous for all bream that infest the stream in their neighbourhood; more especially if it is sandy bottom, and there are shell-fish about, such as periwinkles, whelks, &c.

Bream are in their prime from December to the end of April, and can be caught at times in great quantities, more especially in the early morning, or after dark if the tides are right. The prawn is the bait if you can get it, if not, squid, cockles, euggera, shrimps, whelks, and other shell-fish, or herring dough. You cannot try any month in the year that it is impossible to catch bream; but during the months of June and July, they are not in good order, being attacked by marine lice, which worry them greatly; the irritation causing a sort of itch, that makes them rub, and scratch, and work, and "run" till they become as thin as possible. The fishermen soon detects the presence of these lice, as they work gray patches or stripes on the backs or sides of the fish; and are sometimes found under the gills. They are something like a brown wood bug; and when seen through the microscope assume the form of horrid monsters.

The weight of bream varies very much, the average being rather under one pound. You will often hear inexperienced fishermen talking about having caught several bream "over" two pounds weight. They quite believe what they say, and they only exaggerate through ignorance; never having seen one weighed. In all probability their 2 lb. fish would, if scales, barely turn the balance at 1 lb. a very large fish, who will give some sport, either with rod or handline, to put him on the grass. When they are in season, and plentiful, they take the hook with a rush, not so when in pairs, or small parties. They approach the bait at such times, with as much caution as

placed upon the A 2 lb. bream is

a General reconnoitring the enemy's position before the battle. They look at and smell the bait, and if suited to their tastes, give a little tug, then drop it, swim round a bit, then another tug more decided than the first, and they get the flavour of the delicious prawn in their palate; then all caution is cast aside, the bait is picked up and run away with; the fisherman strikes at that interesting moment, and, if fortune favour him, adds another victim to the cravings of the stomach.

To fish successfully for bream, more particularly when they are scarce and shy, you must have gut, and a gut trace is better still to attach the gut to, instead of directly on the line; this applies in a marked sense, if you have a coarse line. For catching red-bream, off Mud Island, Peel Island, and Macleay Island are first-class spots; large hauls being caught at times, and the sample of fish got, run to the biggest size.

Jew, Flathead, Travalli, John-dowry, Squire, and

Tahwinn.

This group of fish can be caught with the same sized tackle, but there will be a great disparity in the numbers caught of one species to that of another. Jew-fish and flathead are caught readily in the Bay, and all the leading rivers; but the other four varieties are seldom caught out of the Bay, or on the shores of the Pacific; and in the spots that form their regular haunts in the waters of the southern portion of the colony. The travalli, John-dowry, and tahwinn (often called tarwhine) are only caught spasmodically; the squire on the proper fishing grounds, and in the right season can, however, be had in great numbers, and they are beyond all question one of the best eating fish in Queensland waters; not even excepting the schnapper, while many of them reach the size of small schnapper, and sport