MISCELLANY. 



127 



make their appearance about the coast of 

 the Armorican Peninsula early in spring, 

 and succeed each other in countless shoals 

 throughout the summer months. These 

 shoals are marvellous for their size and the 

 number of fish they contain. Each one 

 takes the shape of a huge fish, bulging out 

 toward the middle and tapering toward 

 either end. The shoals vary from ten to 

 thirty yards in width and from fifty yards to 

 half a mile in length. The fish are some- 

 times so closely packed that numbers are 

 constantly being shoved out of water. They 

 are caught with nets, much in the same way 

 as herrings, only the nets are provided with 

 much smaller meshes. Although nets are 

 employed, bait is also used. This bait is 

 called rogue ; and is imported in barrels 

 from Norway. 



In catching the fish, several boats go to- 

 gether, a man standing in the bow of each 

 to give notice of the approach of a shoal. 

 Upon the cry of " Voila I " the boats make 

 for the head of the shoal, the nets are cast, 

 and bait is thrown overboard. The fish in 

 their eager pursuit after the bait get en- 

 tangled in the net, when a second net is 

 thrown out and the first one hauled in. 

 When a boat is loaded, the fish are taken 

 ashore and immediately sold. The process 

 of preserving is as follows : As soon as the 

 sardines are landed the greatest activity is 

 necessary to get them " sain et saw/*," since 

 exposure to the air depreciates their fresh- 

 ness and much handling impairs their flavor. 

 First, the fish are thoroughly washed and 

 scraped, so as to free them from every im- 

 purity. They are then sprinkled with fine 

 salt which crystallizes upon the surface and 

 is almost immediately removed. Heads and 

 gills are then taken off, a new washing 

 undergone, and the fish laid to dry in the 

 sunshine, on frames of wire or green withes. 

 After drying they are thrown into caldrons 

 of boiling olive-oil and cooked for two 

 hours, when, after a second drying, they are 

 transferred to the tables to be packed. 

 Here women only do the work. To put the 

 fish nicely in their places, to smother them 

 with boiling oil, to fit the lid of the tin box, 

 turn a jet of hot steam on the joints, and 

 toss it hermetically sealed to the inspector, 

 is but the work of a moment. Perhaps the 

 one essential element in the curing of sar- 



dines is perfect olive-oil. If it be not en- 

 tirely tasteless, it destroys what the Sar- 

 dinians call the "wama/o," the delicate, 

 volatile flavor of the fish. 



Sprats, shiners, roach, herrings, dace, and 

 carp, when young, and with their heads off, 

 have sufficient resemblance to sardines to 

 pass for the genuine article. They are put 

 up at various places on the southwestern 

 coast of Prance, and are largely exported, 

 probably comprising three-quarters of all 

 that are sold in the United States under the 

 name of sardines. When well cured, pre- 

 served in good oil, and hermetically sealed, 

 these small fry are savory and palatable, 

 but they lack the delicate volatile flavor of 

 the real fish. 



Ancient Engineering Among the Chinese. 



The most remarkable evidence of the 

 mechanical science and skill of the Chinese 

 so far back as 1,600 years ago is to be found 

 in their suspended bridges, the invention of 

 which is assigned to the Han dynasty. Ac- 

 cording to the concurrent testimony of all 

 their historical and geographical writers, 

 Sangleang, the commander of the army under 

 Baou-tsoo, the first of the Hans, undertook 

 and completed the formation of the roads 

 through the mountainous province of Shense, 

 to the west of the capital. Hitherto its lofty 

 hills and deep valleys had rendered the com- 

 munication difficult and circuitous. With a 

 body of one hundred thousand laborers he 

 cut passages over the mountains, throwing 

 the removed soil into valleys, and, where 

 this was not sufficient to raise the road to 

 the required height, he constructed bridges 

 which rested on pillars or abutments. In 

 another place he conceived and accom- 

 plished the daring project of suspending a 

 bridge from one mountain to another across a 

 deep chasm. These bridges, which were called 

 by the Chinese writers, very appropriately, 

 flying bridges, and represented to be nu- 

 merous at the present day, are sometimes so 

 high that they cannot be traversed without 

 alarm. One still existing in Shense stretches 

 four hundred feet from mountain to moun- 

 tain, over a chasm of five hundred feet. 

 Most of these flying bridges are so wide that 

 four horsemen can ride on them abreast, and 

 balustrades are placed on each side to pro- 

 tect travellers. It is by no means improba- 



