and meets the others on the occidental part of Brittanny. Hence they part themselves into many other divisions, and some, entering the Mediterranean at Gibraltar, leave the rest to follow the orders of Providence in the Austral seas.

The fecundity of the Herring is astonishing. It has been calculated, that if the offspring of a single Herring could be suffered to multiply unmolested and undiminished for twenty years, they would exhibit a bulk ten times the size of the earth. But, happily, Providence has so contrived the balance of nature by giving them innumerable enemies. All the monsters of the deep find them an easy prey; and, in addition to these, the immense flocks of sea fowl that inhabit the polar regions, watch their outset, and spread devastation on all sides.

In the year 1773, the Herrings, for two months, were in such immense shoals on the Scotch coasts, that it appears, from tolerably accurate computations, no fewer than one thousand six hundred and fifty boat-loads were taken in Loch Terridon in one night. These would, in the whole, amount to nearly twenty thousand barrels.

This fish is prepared in different ways, in order to be kept for use through the year. The white, or pickled Herrings, are washed in fresh water, and left the space of twelve or fifteen hours in a tub full of strong brine, made of fresh water and sea salt. When taken out, they are drained, and put in rows or layers, in barrels, with salt.

The red Herrings are prepared in the same manner, with this difference, that they are left in the brine double the time above mentioned; and when taken out, placed in a small chimney constructed for the purpose, and containing about twelve thousand; where they are smoked by means of a fire underneath, made of brushwood, for the space of twenty-four hours.

A WELL known fish, between four or five inches in length; the back fin very remote from its nose; the lower jaw longer than the upper, the eyes bloodshot, like those of the Herring; and in shape so much like that fish, that several ichthyologists have taken the former to be the same as the latter, but not yet grown to its proper shape. But upon a nearer examination it has been ascertained that the Sprat has but fortyeight dorsal vertebræ, whereas the herring has fifty-six: a difference so essential, that neither age nor any other cause can obliterate it. They arrive yearly in the beginning of November in the river Thames; and generally a large dish of them is presented on the table at Guildhall, on Lord Mayor's Day. They continue through the winter, and depart in March. They are sold by measure, and yield a great deal of sustenance to poor people in the winter season. It is reported that they have been taken yearly about Easter time in a lake in Cheshire, called Kostern Meer, and in the river Mersey, in which the sea ebbs and flows seven or eight miles below the lake.

This fish is caught on the southern shores of France,

where it is held in great repute; and from its abounding in the neighbourhood of the island of Sardinia, it is in that country called the Sardine. It is sent here pickled in the same way as herrings, and packed in barrels.

THE PILCHARD.

THE chief difference between this fish and the herring is, that the body of the former is more round and thick; the nose shorter in proportion, turning up; and the under jaw shorter. The back is more elevated, and the belly not so sharp. The scales adhere very closely, whilst those of the herring easily drop off. It is also, in general, of considerably smaller size.

About the middle of July, the Pilchards appear in vast shoals off the coasts of Cornwall. These shoals remain till the latter end of October, when it is probable they retire to some undisturbed deep, at a little distance, for the winter.

The Pilchard fishing is an important branch of commerce. From a statement of the number of hogsheads exported each year, for ten years, from 1747 to 1756 inclusive, from the four ports of Fowy, Falmouth, Penzance, and St. Ives, it appears that Fowy exported yearly one thousand seven hundred and thirty-two hogsheads; Falmouth, fourteen thousand six hundred and thirty-one; Penzance and Mount's Bay, twelve thousand one hundred and forty-nine; St. Ives, one thousand two hundred and eighty-two; in all, twentynine thousand seven hundred and ninety four hogsheads. Every hogshead, for ten years, last past, together with the bounty allowed for exportation, and the oil made out of it, has amounted, one year with another,

at an average, to the price of one pound thirteen shillings and three-pence; so that the cash paid for Pilchards exported has, at a medium, annually amounted to the sum of forty-nine thousand five hundred and thirty-two pounds. The above was the state of the fishing several years ago; at present it is still more extensive.

THE ANCHOVY.

LIKE the herring and sprat, these fish leave the deeps of the open sea, in order to frequent the smooth and shallow places of the coasts for the purpose of spawning. The fishermen generally light a fire on the shore, for the purpose of attracting the Anchovies, when they fish for them in the night. After they are cleaned, and their heads are cut off, they are cured in a certain way, and packed in small barrels for sale and exportation. Anchovies are occasionally found both in the North Sea and in the Baltic; but it is supposed that they are in much greater number in the Mediterranean than in any other part of the world. They have sometimes, though rarely, been caught in the river Dee, on the coasts of Flintshire and Cheshire. The upper jaw of this fish is longer than the under; the back is brown; the sides and belly silvery; fins short; the dorsal fin, opposite the ventrals, transparent; the tail fin forked. Its length about three inches.

THE Turbot is a well known and much esteemed fish, for the delicate taste, firmness, and sweetness of its flesh. Juvenal, in his fourth satire, gives us a very ludicrous description of the Roman emperor Domitian assembling the senate, to decide how and with what sauce this marine monster should be eaten. This fish is sometimes two feet and a half long, and about two broad. The scales on the skin are so very small that they are hardly perceptible. The colour of the upper side of the body is a dark brown, spotted with dirty yellow; the under side a pure white, tinged on the edges with somewhat like flesh colour, or pale pink. There is a great difficulty in baiting the Turbot, as he is very fastidious in his food; nothing can allure him but herrings, or small slices of haddocks, and lampreys; and as he lies in deep water, flirting and paddling on the ooze at the bottom of the sea, no net can reach him, so that he is generally caught by hook and line. They are found chiefly on the northern coasts of England, Scotland, and Holland; but there are several other fishes, which, resembling the Turbot in shape, are much inferior to him in flavour. In