Fish, like land animals, are either solitary or gregarious; of the former kind, when the Trout, Salmon, 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, Hadock, Herring, Pilchard, Sprat, and Sparling or Smelt, are the most remarkable for assembling in immense shoals; and, altho' 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 a 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 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 more Southern seas are open, 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, altho' 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 Clums, 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 Hadock, 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 Hadocks 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. These 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 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 Hadocks 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, Hadocks 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 Hadock 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 Hadocks.

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 vast 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 Cachalot, 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 conception. 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 vast 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 Porpesse, 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 Europe, 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 extent, 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.