1-iO SCOMBERID.E. 



one female. I have observed, by the Mackerel sent to the 

 London market from the shallow shores of Worthing and its 

 vicinity, that these fish mature and deposit their roe earlier 

 on that flat sandy shore than those caught in the deep water 

 off Brighton. The young Mackerel, which are called 

 Shiners, are from four to six inches long by the end of Au- 

 gust. They are half-grown by November ; when they retire, 

 says Mr. Couch, " to deep water, and are seen no more that 

 winter : but the adult fishes never wholly quit the Cornish 

 coast ; and it is common to see some taken with lines in every 

 month of the year." Their principal food is probably the 

 fry of other fish ; and at Hastings the Mackerel follow to- 

 wards the shore a small species of Clupea, which is there 

 called in consequence the Mackerel mint. I have been un- 

 able hitherto to obtain any specimens of this small fish ; but, 

 from various descriptions, I think it is probably the young of 

 the Sprat. It is described as being about one inch long in 

 July. 



The Mackerel as feeders are voracious, and their growth is 

 rapid. The ordinary length varies from fourteen to sixteen 

 inches, and their weight is about t\vo pounds each : but they 

 are said to attain the length of twenty inches, with a propor- 

 tionate increase in weight. The largest fish are not, however, 

 considered the best for the ttible. 



As an article of food, they are in great request ; and those 

 taken in the months of May and June are generally consi- 

 dered to be superior in flavour to those taken either earlier 

 in spring or in autumn. To be eaten in perfection, this fish 

 should be very fresh : as it soon becomes unfit for food, some 

 facilities in the way of sale have been afforded to the dealers 

 in a commodity so perishable. Mackerel were first allowed 

 to be cried through the streets of London on a Sunday in 

 1698, and the practice prevails to the present time. 



At our various fishing-towns on the coast, the Mackerel 



