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fins of the belly, the broad muscular back preponderates by its own gravity, and turns the belly uppermost, as lighter, from its being a Cavity, and because it contains the swimming bladders, which contribute to render it buoyant. Some people (continues Mr. W.) have adopted a notion that Gold and Silver fish need no Aliment. True it is, that they will subsist a long time without any apparent food, but what they can collect from Water frequently changed; yet they must draw some support from Animalcules and other nourishment supplied by the Water; because though they seem to eat nothing, yet the consequences of eating often drop from them. That they are best pleased with such jejune diet may easily be confuted, since they will seize crumbs tossed to them readily, if not with greediness; but bread should be sparingly given, lest, turning sour, it corrupt the water. They will also feed on the water plant called Ducksmeat, and on small fry. It has been said, that the Eyes of fishes are immovable, but these apparently turn them forward or backward in their sockets, as their occasions require. They take little notice of a lighted Candle, though applied close to their heads, but flounce and seem much frightened by a sudden stroke of the hand, against the support whereon the Bowl is placed; especially when they have been motionless, and are perhaps asleep; but their Eyes being always open, (as fishes have no Eyelids,) it is not easy to discern when they are sleeping or not."

From the foregoing observations, it would appear, that fish of the same species are capable of living in

very different Quarters of the Globe, and of enduring various degrees of heat and cold; a circumstance which opens a vast field for the enterprize and ingenuity of Man, in transplanting, and rendering them subservient to the purposes of domestication; to calculate the additional quantity of human sustenance that might by this Operation be procured, is not here to be ascertained, and will probably reward the Art and Industry of future generations of Men.

Fish, like land animals, are either solitary or gregarious; of the former kind, when the Trout, Sal mon, Pike, &c. migrate, they are perhaps in quest of a proper place to deposit their spawn; of the fresh water fishes that herd together, little is known respecting their migrations. It is probable, that the Perch and Minnow are stationary, and that to drop their spawn, they retire only to the margin of the River. Of the Sea fishes, the Cod, Ling, Haddock, Herring, Pilchard, Sprat, and Sparling, or Smelt, are the most remarkable for assembling in immense Shoals; and, although it is not within the direct scope of this Compilation to mention Sea fish, yet to note some of the peculiar habits of the gregarious Sea fishes, from which Man derives so valuable a treasure, considered both as food and an Article of commerce, may be excusable.

The Cod is the foremost of these wandering tribes, and is chiefly found in the Northern parts of the world; it affects cold Climates, and seems confined between the latitudes 66 and 50; there are, nevertheless, certain Species found near the Canary

VOL. II.

E

Islands, and which, according to the report of the unfortunate Captain GLASS, are better tasted than those of Newfoundland; upon the Banks of which, and the other sand banks that lie off the coast of Cape Breton, the Cod makes its great rendezvous. These situations they prefer for the quantity of Worms produced in the sandy bottoms, which is a tempting food; but another cause of their attachment to these spots is, their vicinity to the Polar seas, where they return to spawn; there they deposit their Roes in full Security, but so soon as the first opening admits their getting to the more Southern Seas, want of food forces them to repair thither.

The greater fisheries of Cod were on the coast of Iceland, and of our Western Isles, before the discovery of Newfoundland. That discovery took place by CABOT, about the year 1500; and, although the English began settling there twenty years afterwards, the fishery did not flourish until 1577, when England had the least share of it. Mr. ANDERSON, in his History of Commerce, says, the French began to Fish there in 1536; and it is somewhere asserted, that their first pretence for fishing for Cod in these Seas was only to supply an English Convent with that article. Notwithstanding this intrusion, about 1625, Devonshire alone employed one hundred and fifty Ships and eight thousand persons at Newfoundland for six months in the year, and the value of the Fish and Oil was then computed at three hundred eighty-six thousand four hundred pounds. The increase of Shipping that resorts to these fertile

Banks is now astonishing, supplying all Europe with a considerable share of provision; our own Country yet enjoys the largest share, a pre-eminence that brings wealth to Individuals, and strength to the State. All this immense fishery is carried on by the hook and line only; the bait is Herring, a small fish named a Capelin, a shell-fish termed Clams, and bits of Sea Fowl; and with these are caught fish sufficient to find employ for near fifteen thousand British seamen, and to afford subsistence at home to a much more numerous body of people, who are engaged in the various manufactures which so vast a Fishery demands.

The Fishermen take the Cod from the depth of fifteen to sixty fathoms, according to the inequality of the Bank, which is represented as a Mountain under water, above five hundred Miles long, and near three hundred broad, and that the approach to it is known by the great swell of the Sea, and the thick mists that impend over it.

In our Seas, the Cod fish begin to spawn in January, and leave their Eggs on rough ground, among rocks. They recover quicker after spawning, than any other fish. When out of Season, they are thin tailed, and have a kind of Lice, which chiefly fix themselves on the insides of their mouths. The middle-sized fish are most esteemed, and are chosen by their plumpness and roundness, especially near the tail, by the depth of the pit behind the head, and by the regular undulated appearance of the sides, as if they were ribbed. The glutinous parts about the Head lose their delicate flavour after it has been twenty-four

hours out of water, even in winter; in which these and other fish of this Species, are in highest Season.

Fishermen are well acquainted with the use of the Air-bladder or Sound of the Cod, and are very dexterous in perforating this part of a live fish with a Needle, in order to disengage the inclosed air; for without this operation, it could not be kept under water in the Well-boats, and brought fresh to Market. The Sound of the Cod, salted, is a delicacy often brought from Newfoundland, and Isinglass is also made of this part, by the Iceland fishermen.

The largest Cod ever taken on our coasts was at Scarborough, in 1755, and weighed seventy-eight pounds; the length was five feet eight inches; and the girth, round the shoulders, five feet. It was sold for one shilling. The general weight of these fish in the Yorkshire Seas, is from fourteen to forty pounds.

The Haddock, one of the commonest fish in the London markets, begins to be in Roe the middle of November, and so continues until the end of January: from that time until May they are thin tailed, and much out of Season. The grand shoal of Haddocks comes periodically on the Yorkshire coasts. It is remarkable that they appeared in 1766 on the tenth of December, and exactly on the same day in 1767. The Shoals extended from the Shore near three miles in breadth, and in length from Flamborough Head to Tinmouth Castle, and perhaps much farther, Northwards. The following fact will give an idea of their numbers. Three fishermen, within the distance of a mile from Scarborough harbour, frequently loaded

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