Page:The aquarium - an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea.djvu/92

Rh dredge the deep sea under" in Weymouth Bay, as one who knows what is worth getting, and where to get it.

Well, here we are in the bight, just off the mouth of Preston Valley, the only bit of pretty scenery any where near. This however is a little gem; a verdant dell opening to the sea, through which a streamlet runs, with the sides and bottom covered with woods, a rare feature in this neighbourhood. We are over the zostera; the beds of dark-green grass are waving in the heave of the swell, and we can make out the long and narrow blades by closlyclosely [sic] looking down beneath the shadow of the boat. Here then is the place for the keer-drag. Down it goes, and sinks into the long grass, while we slowly drag it for a couple of hundred yards or so.

When disposed to try our luck we hauled on the rope, till we brought the mouth of the drag to the top of the water; a turn or hitch was then taken round a belaying pin with the two side-lines of the bridle, and the point of the net only was then hauled on board, put into a pan of water, and untied. Here was congregated the chief part of the prey taken, and hence the need of having the meshes so small in this part. Out swam in a moment a good many little fishes that haunt the grass-bed; as Pipe-fishes (Syngnathus) of several species, Gobies (Gobius unipunctatus, G. Ruthersparri, &c.) and bright-hued Conners (Labrus and Crenilabrus). With these were two or three active and charming Cuttles (Sepiola); and clinging to the meshes of the net in various parts, were several species of Nudibranch Mollusca,