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their Coble or boat with them, twice a day, taking each time about a Ton of fish; when they put down their lines beyond three miles from shore, they caught nothing but Dog-fish, which shews how exactly these fish keep their limits. The best of these Haddocks were sold from eight-pence to a shilling per Score, and the poor had a smaller sort at a penny, and sometimes a halfpenny per Score.

Fishermen assert, that when the Sea is rough, Haddocks sink down into the Ooze and Sand at the bottom, and there shelter themselves until the Storm subsides; their reason for this Assertion is, that in boisterous weather they take none, and those that are caught immediately after a Storm have their backs covered with mud. The bulk of the Haddock is seldom known to exceed fourteen pounds; these are uncommon, and extremely coarse, the best for the Table weighing from two to three pounds. The black spot beyond the Gills is the mark which Superstition interprets to be the impression left by the finger and thumb of ST. PETER, when he took the Tribute-money out of the mouth of a fish of this Species, and which has been ever since that Miracle continued to the whole race of Haddocks.

Mr. ARBUTHNOT at Peterhead, North-Britain, has excavated many large Basins out of the Granite Rock in its neighbourhood, and which basins can be filled with Salt water at the high Tide, and emptied at the low Ebb at pleasure. These are meant as receptacles for Sea-fish, caught in great abundance by the Fishermen, to be therein fed, and · occasionally forwarded to the London Markets. As

the water is clear and unagitated in these Reservoirs, all the Movements of the fish contained in them can be easily noticed, and from these observations one singular fact has been ascertained respecting the HADDOCK, which is, the remarkable docility of the common HADDOCK, when compared with others; this little fish is so acute in its perceptions, as to be tamed almost in an instant; so that being fed for a day or two it begins to know its benefactor, flies towards him the moment he appears, and follows him, so far as the Element that it inhabits will permit, wherever he goes, nearly after the manner of a Dog.

Of all migrating fish, the Herring and the Pilchard take the most adventurous Voyages. The Herring was unknown to the Ancients, and excepting in one instance adduced by DoD, in his Natural History of this fish, of a few being once taken in the Bay of Tangier, are never found more Southerly. They are met with in large shoals on the coast of America, as low as Carolina; in Chesapeak Bay is an annual inundation, which covers the shores so as to become a nuisance. They are in the seas of Kamtschatka, and possibly reach Japan, as in Kampfer's account of the fish of that Country, he mentions some that are congenerous; but Herrings are in the greatest abundance in the highest Northern latitudes. In those inaccessible Seas, that are covered with Ice for a great part of the year, the Herring and the Pilchard find a safe retreat from all their numerous enemies; neither Man, nor their still more destructive foe, the Fin-fish, or the Ca

chalot, dares to pursue them thither. The quantity of insect food which these Seas supply is very great, and in that remote situation, defended by the icy rigour of the Climate, they live at ease and multiply almost beyond idea. From this retreat ANDERSON supposes they would never depart, but that their numbers (as Bees in their hive) compel them to leave it. This mighty Army begins to put itself in motion from the Icy sea early in the Spring; this body is distinguished by that name, for the word Herring is derived from the German, Heer, an Army, to express their number, which is so vast that were all the Men in the World to be loaded with Herrings, they could not carry the thousandth part away. No sooner, however, is their Asylum quitted, but millions of Enemies collect to thin their squadrons. The Fin-fish and Cachalot swallow barrels at a yawn; the Porpuss, the Grampus, the Shark, and the whole numerous tribe of Dog-fish, desist from making war upon each other, and make the Herring their easy prey; the unnumbered flocks of Sea fowl, that chiefly inhabit near the Pole, watch the outset of their migration and spread extensive ruin. In this exigence, the defenceless Emigrants find no other safety but by crowding closer together, and leaving to the outermost the danger of being first devoured. Thus, like frighted Sheep, (which ever run together in a body,) each finding some protection in being but one of many that are equally liable to invasion, they separate into Shoals; those to the West visit the American shores, whilst those holding to the East, pour down towards Eu

rope, endeavouring to evade their merciless pursuers by approaching the first Shore that presents itself, which is that of Iceland, in the beginning of March. Upon their arrival on that Coast, this Phalanx, notwithstanding its diminutions, is still of amazing breadth, depth, and closeness, covering an extent of Shore as large as the Island itself; the whole Water seems alive, and by their foes the Herrings are cooped up so closely, that any hollow Vessel put into it takes them out of the Water without further trouble. The power of increasing in these Animals exceeds our idea, as it would, in a very short time, outstrip all Calculation. A single Herring, it is affirmed, if suffered to multiply unmolested and undiminished for twenty years, would shew a progeny greater in Bulk than Ten such Globes as that we live upon; but happily the balance of Nature is exactly preserved, and their consumption is equal to their fecundity: upon this account we must consider the Fish and Fowl that so incessantly attack them not as plunderers, but as the benefactors of Mankind; without their Aid the Sea would soon be overcharged with the burden of its own productions, and that Element, which at present distributes health and plenty to the Shore, would but load it with Putrefaction.

Those collective Masses that come upon our Coasts begin to appear off the Shetland Isles in April and May: these are only the forerunners of the grand Shoal which comes in June, and their arrival is marked by the numbers of Birds, such as Gannets and others, which follow them as their prey; but

when the main Body approaches, its breadth and depth alter the very appearance of the Ocean. They divide into distinct Columns of five or six miles long, and three or four broad, while the Water before them ripples, as if forced out of its bed: sometimes they sink for ten or fifteen minutes, then rise again to the surface, on which, in bright weather, they reflect a variety of splendid colours, like a field bespangled with the most precious Gems; in which, or rather in a much more valuable light, should this stupendous gift of Providence be considered by the Inhabitants of the British Isles: the Fishermen are ready prepared for their reception, and by Nets made for the occasion they take sometimes above two Thousand Barrels at a single draught.

After this check from the Shetland Isles, which divide this army into two parts, one wing takes to the Eastern shores of Great Britain, and fills every Bay and Creek with its numbers; the other pushes on towards Yarmouth, the great and ancient Mart of Herrings; they then pass through the British Channel, and after that in a manner disappear. Those which take to the West, after offering themselves to the Hebrides*, where the great stationary

* In 1773 the Herrings were in such Shoals on the Scotch coast for two months, that, it appears on accurate calculation, no less than 1650 boat-loads were taken in LOCH TERRIDON, in Ross-shire, every night. These would amount to near 20,000 barrels. A barrel contains from six to sixteen hundred fish, according to their size. They once swarmed so greatly on the West side of the Isle of Skye that, after the boats were all loaded, and the country round was served, the neighbouring farmers made them up into Composts,

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