HAKE. 



on the Cornish coast, without much regularity in its move- 

 ments. From January to April, which is its season for 

 spawning, it keeps near the bottom, and loses the great 

 voracity by which it is characterised at other times, so that 

 multitudes of them are caught in trawls, and but few with 

 a line ; but, when Pilchards approach the shores, it follows 

 them, continuing in incalculable numbers through the winter. 

 It rarely happens that Pilchards are taken in a scan without 

 many Hakes being enclosed with them ; and thus, when the 

 net remains in the water for several days, they have an 

 opportunity of glutting themselves to their heart's desire, 

 which is to such an extent as to render them helpless, and 1 

 have seen seventeen Pilchards taken from the stomach of a 

 Hake of ordinary size. Their digestion, however, is quick, 

 so that they speedily get rid of their load ; and fishermen 

 observe that, when hooked, the Hake presently evacuates the 

 contents of the stomach to facilitate its escape ; so that when 

 hundreds are taken with a line, in the midst of prey, not one 

 will have anything in its stomach : when near the surface, 

 however, this rejection does not take place until after they are 

 dragged on board." 



The Hake may be traced nearly all round the coast of 

 Ireland ; and is so abundant in the Bay of Galway, that, 

 according to a recent writer, this bay is named in some 

 ancient maps the Bay of Hakes. On that part of the 

 Nymph Bank off the coast of Waterford, this fish is also 

 so plentiful, that one thousand have been taken by six men 

 with lines in one night. It is a voracious fish, as its sys- 

 tematic name of merlucius, Seapike, implies. It is a coarse 

 fish, not admitted to the tables of the wealthy; but large 

 quantities are annually preserved both by salting and drying, 

 part of which is exported to Spain. 



The Hake is very common on the northern shore of the 

 Mediterranean, and considerable traffic is carried on with 



