These 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 alters the appearance of the very 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 fishery is, proceed towards the north of Ireland, where being interrupted they make a second division; that to the Western side is scarcely perceived, being soon lost in the immensity of the Atlantic; whilst the other, which passes into the Irish sea, rejoices and feeds the inhabitants of most of the coasts that border upon it.

In general, the most inhabited shores are the places where the larger animals of the deep are least fond of pursuing, and these are chosen by the Herring as an asylum from greater dangers: thus along the coasts of Norway, the German shores, and the northern ones of France,

they are punctual in their visitations, and altho' such numbers perish in their descent from the North, yet, in comparison with those that survive, the amount is trifling; and it is supposed, that of those taken by Man, the proportion is not one to a Million, nor by all its destroyers is this kind of fish visibly diminished. In this point of view the Herring's fate is similar to that of the Israelites, of whom it is observed, that not only in Egypt formerly, but in every part of the world at the present time, though crushed and oppressed to the utmost, they do but increase and multiply the more. The regularity of the Herring leaving the shore also at a stated time, would imply, that they are not in their visits under the impulse of necessity; in fact, one circumstance shews they are governed by a choice with respect to the shores they approach, and are not blindly driven from one to another what is meant is, their regularly visiting some shores for several seasons, and indeed for ages together, and then through seeming caprice forsaking them, never more to return. The first great bank for Herrings was along the coasts of Norway; prior to the year 1584, the number of European ships that resorted thither exceeded some thousands, the quantities of Herrings that were there assembled, was such, that Olaus Magnus asserts, if a spear was put into the water, it would stand perpendicularly, being prevented by the myriads of surrounding fish from falling; but ever after that period, the Norway were deserted in favour of the German shores, when the Hanse-towns drove a very great trade by the capture and sale of the Herring, but for above a century they have in a great measure forsaken them, and their largest colonies are seen in the British Channel and upon the Irish coasts; nor is it easy to assign a reason for this apparently capricious desertion; were we inclined to consider this partial migration of the Herring in a moral light, we might with awe and veneration reflect on the mighty Power, which originally impressed on this useful body of his creatures, the instinct that directs the course that blesses and enriches these Islands, which causes them at certain times to quit the vast Polar deeps, and offer themselves to our expecting fleets. That benevolent Being has never from the earliest records, been once

known to withdraw this blessing from the whole, altho' to particulars he often thinks proper to deny it: yet this partial failure (for which no natural reason is seen) should exalt a most grateful sense of his Providence, for impressing such an invariable and general propensity on these fish towards a Southward migration, where the whole is to be benefitted, and to withdraw it only where a minute part is to

suffer.

This instinct was given them, that they might remove for the sake of depositing their spawn in warmer seas, that would more assuredly mature and vivify it, than those of the frigid Zone. It is no defect of food that impels their voyages, for they arrive with us fat, and return almost universally lean. Of their polar food we know nothing; in our seas, when in a state of exhaustion, which renders the Herring totally unfit for the purposes to which Man employs them, some vestiges of small fishes are found in its stomach; but this appetite has evidently been the consequence of disease, as their Maw is never observed to contain any remnants of fish, &c. but under these circumstances, which seem to be produced in a similar manner, as the desires in Children to eat pieces of Mortar or Lime rubbish, when afflicted by disorders, occasioned by Worms in the body. It has been said that they feed on the Oniscus Marinus, a crustaceous insect, and on their own young; and Mr. Low, a Gentleman in the Orknies, is said to. have caught many thousands with a common Trout fly; those, so taken, are described as young fish, from sir to eight inches long, that were collected in a deep hole in a rivulet into which the Tide flowed, at the fall of which, he commonly began his fishing.

Herrings are in full roe the end of June, and continue in perfection until the beginning of Winter, when they drop their spawn. The young Herrings approach the shores the July and August following, and are then from half an inch to two inches long, and are called in Yorkshire Herring Sile. As very few young ones are found in our seas during winter, it is most probable they return to their parental

parental haunts beneath the Ice; a few of the old Herrings remain with us the whole year, the Scarborough fishermen never putting down their nets, without catching some.

The Herring fishery is of great antiquity; it was first engaged in by the Dutch, in 1164; its value brought on those obstinate wars between the English and them. One William Beukelen, of Biervlet, near Sluys, in Flanders, hit on the art of pickling Herrings about the year 1390, of which the Dutch are most extravagantly fond. A premium is given to the first Buss that arrives with a lading of this their Ambrosia. Each keg brings a great price, and the inhabitants shew no less joy at its arrival, than the Egyptians at the overflowing of the Nile. With us, Yarmouth, in Norfolk, has the whole Herring fishery of the coast, and has been long famous for its Herring fair, which was regulated by an Act, commonly called the Statute of Herrings, in the 31st year of EDWARD the Third. By a charter granted by HENRY the Third, the Town is bound to send to the Sheriffs of Norwich one hundred Herrings, to be made into twenty-four pies, by them to be delivered to the Lord of the Manor of East Carleton, who is, by his tenure, obliged to present them to the KING, wherever he is. In 1195, Dunwich, in Suffolk, accounted to the King, for their fee farm rent, 1207. one mark, and 24,000 Herrings; 12,000 for the Monks of Eye, and 12,000 for those of Ely. The British Herring Fishery was established the 2d of September 1750, of which the PRINCE OF WALES was chosen GOVERNOR; the Subscription, amounting to 200,000l. was closed the February following. Bounties have ever since been given by Parliament to promote this national undertaking. From the port of Yarmouth, about the year 1790, one hundred and fifty vessels were employed in the catching, and between forty and fifty in the exportation of the Herrings. 50,000 Barrels, which some magnify to 40,000 Lasts, containing 40,000,000 of Herrings, are said to be taken and cured here annually. Doctor FULLER notices the great repute of the county of Norfolk for this fish, and with his usual archness, calls a red herring a Norfolk Capon. As food, the

Herring, of all the sea fish, is affirmed by a celebrated Physician to be the most easily digested, and that Salt-herrings do not readily putrefy by long keeping, and, if eaten in small quantities, they dissolve the slime in the stomach, and stimulate the appetite.

The only fish that remains to be noticed of the gregarious Sea fish is the Pilchard, which has a general likeness to the Herring, but when comparatively described, is essentially different. The body of the Pilchard is less compressed, being thicker and rounder, the back is more elevated, the belly less sharp, the nose turns up, and as well as the under jaw, is shorter; the dorsal fin is placed exactly in the centre of gravity, so that when taken up by it, the body preserves an equilibrium; that of the Herring dips at the head. The scales of the Pilchard adhere closely, whereas those of the Herring very easily drop off; besides, the Pilchard is fatter, or more full of oil.

About the middle of July, the Pilchards in vast shoals approach the Cornish coasts; the beginning of winter they disappear, a few returning again after Christmas. Their winter retreat, and their motives for migrating, are the same with the Herring. During Summer they affect a warmer latitude, no quantities being found on any of our coasts, except those of Cornwall; namely, from Fowey harbour to the Scilly Isles, between which places, for some weeks, the shoals keep shifting.

The appearance of the Pilchard is known by the Birds and larger Fishes attendant upon them, and persons called Huers are placed on eminences, to point to the boats stationed off the land the course of the fish, by whose directions sometimes a Bay of several miles extent is enclosed with their nets, called Seines. By the first of JAMES I. c. 23, fishermen are empowered to go on the grounds of others to hue, without being liable to actions of trespass, which before occasioned frequent lawsuits. The numbers that are taken at one shooting of the nets is astonishing. Upon the fifth of October 1767, there were at one time