north of Iceland, and the shoals never reach so far south as the Straits of Gibraltar.

Previous to the discovery of Newfoundland, the principal fisheries for Cod were in the seas off Iceland, and off the western islands of Scotland. To the former of these the English resorted near four centuries, and had no fewer than one hundred and fifty vessels employed in the Iceland fishery in the reign of James I. The hook and line are the only implements which are used in taking this fish, and they are caught in from sixteen to sixty fathoms water. Fifteen thousand British seamen are employed in this fishery. An expert hand will sometimes catch four hundred in a day.

The Cod is one of the most prolific of fish. In the roe of only a middling sized Cod fish Leuwenhoek observed more than nine millions of eggs. They begin to spawn in January in the European seas. Their principal food consists of the smaller species of fish, worms, shell fish, and crabs, and their stomachs are capable of dissolving the greatest part of the shells that they swallow. They grow to a great size. The largest that ever was seen was taken at Scarborough, in 1775. It weighed seventy-eight pounds, and was five feet eight inches in length.

THE WHITING.

THE name of this fish arises from the silvery hue that pervades the whole body, which is long, and covered with small, round, thin, silvery scales. The head

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ends in a point; the eyes, near which are the nostrils, are round, with a large black pupil, and silvery iris. The upper jaw is armed with several rows of teeth, of which those in front are the longest; the lower jaw has but one row. The back is of an olive colour, and arched, as is the belly. The sides are somewhat compressed, and the anus is nearer the head than the tail. The lateral line has a straight direction. The fins are white, except the pectorals and tail, which are blackish.

This fish is found in the Baltic and North Seas, though not numerous in the former; but they are plentiful on the coasts of Holland, France, and England, where they are reckoned the most delicate and wholesome species of the genus. Their flesh is so easily digestible, that it is prescribed to persons the powers of whose stomachs are impaired. They attain the length of a foot, sometimes one and a half, rarely two; but on the Doggerbank they are caught of the weight of from four to eight pounds. They live at the bottom of the sea, feeding on little crabs, worms, and young fry, particularly of sprats and herrings; which therefore are the usual baits. They are caught usually with a ground-line, sixty-four fathoms long, with from a hundred to two hundred hooks. One vessel throws out about twenty of these lines, armed with four thousand hooks, and they need only lie about two or three hours. The greatest fishery for Whitings is carried on by the French from December to February; by the English and Dutch in the spring. They appear in such quantities on our coasts, as to form shoals of three miles long and a mile and a half wide; and, as they are caught in too great numbers to be eaten fresh, they salt them, by which however they lose the delicacy of their taste, and are then called buckthorn; they are often used in this state as ships' stores. they eagerly pursue the herrings, they are often taken in the same nets; and are in greatest perfection at

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this time, because they are fattened by feeding on the young herrings. In October the roes and ovaries begin to swell; and they continue spawning from the end of December till the beginning of February; and about that time they become soft, lean, and insipid to the taste. They are pursued by all the rapacious tribes that inhabit the sea; yet they multiply fast.

THE Pike is to be found in most of the lakes of Europe and the north of Asia, and also in many of the larger rivers of Lapland, Siberia, and the adjacent countries. In the northern regions it grows to a very considerable size; four or five feet in length not being an uncommon size, and some having been taken of the length of eight feet or more.

The head of the Pike is very flat, the eyes are small and of a gold tinge; the upper jaw is broad and shorter than the lower, which turns up a little at the end, and is marked with minute punctures; the teeth are very sharp, disposed. not only in the point of the upper jaw, but in both sides of the lower, in the roof of the mouth, and it has often three rows upon the tongue, and even down to the orifice of the stomach; the gape of the jaws is wide, although loosely

connected; they have on each side an additional bone like the jaw of a viper, which renders them capable of greater distention when the prey is swallowed; the body is long, the back broad and almost square when in its best state; the belly is always white. When in high season their colours are very fine, being green, spotted with bright yellow, and the gills are of a most vivid red; out of season the green assumes a gray appearance, and the yellow spots turn pale. The dorsal fin is placed low on the back.

The Pike has been poetically styled the wolf of fishes, and tyrant of the watery plain; and, in fact, in proportion to his strength and celerity, he is the most active and voracious of the fresh water fish. He will attack every fish less than himself, and is sometimes seen choked by attempting to swallow such as are too large a morsel. It is immaterial of what species the animal it pursues appears to be, whether of another or its own; all are indiscriminately devoured; so that every fish owes its safety to its minuteness, its celerity, or its courage: nor does the Pike confine itself to feed on fish and frogs, it will draw down the water rats and the young ducks as they are swimming about, and even attack the legs of persons who are bathing. "I have been assured (says Walton) by my friend Mr. Seagrave, who keeps tame otters, that he has known a Pike, in extreme hunger, fight with one of his otters for a carp that the otter had caught, and was then bringing out of the water."

These fish afford the angler good sport, being bold biters. For trolling, the rod should be twelve or fourteen feet long. The best baits are gudgeons or dace of a middling size; the bait should never be thrown too far. Pike are to be allured by a large bait, but a small one is more certain to take them. They spawn in March and April.

THE GAR-FISH.

THOUGH differing in shape, this fish, which is also called the Sea Needle, belongs to the pike tribe. It is a sea fish, and is vulgarly supposed to precede and pilot the phalanxes of mackerel through the regions of the deep. It grows from the length of eighteen inches to eight feet. The snout is long and projecting, and the under jaw extends further than the upper, and both jaws are armed with numbers of short and slender teeth. The back is a fine green, beneath which appears a rich changeable blue and purple; the sides and belly are of a fine silvery hue. It resembles the mackerel in taste; but many people have a prejudice against it, because the bone becomes of a fine grass green when boiled.

THE PERCH.

THIS fish seldom grows to any great size; the largest of which we have any account is said to have weighed nine pounds. The body is deep, the scales rough, the back arched, and the side lines placed near the back.