HERRINGS. 101 



but uniform in colour ; posterior extremity of 

 maxillary bone extending to a vertical line drawn 

 through the middle of the orbit ; eye, subcircular, 

 large ; colour, copper-red in the freshly- caught 

 fish ; anterior margin of the dorsal fin, nearer the 

 extremity of the snout than the insertion of the 

 caudal. The average length is somewhat about 

 ten inches. Indian name along the coast, Stole ; 

 Skadget Indian, Lo-see. 



There are three distinct herring arrivals, one 

 beginning in February and March; these fish 

 are small, and somewhat lean.* About the be- 

 ginning of April the run commences; these 

 are finer, full of spawn, and in high condition : 

 in June and July, and extending through the 

 summer, small shoals occasionally make their 

 appearance, but never as fine as the April fish. 



Toward the middle of April herring legions 

 commence arriving from seaward in real earnest ; 

 brigade follows brigade in rapid succession, until 

 every bay, harbour, inlet, estuary, and lagoon is 

 literally alive with them. Close in their rear, 

 as camp-followers hang on the skirts of an army, 

 come shoals of dogfish, salmon, and fish-eating 

 sea-birds. 



I have often seen a shoal of herrings, when 

 hotly pursued by the dogfish, dash into a little 



