BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 413 



"The fishermen often find young halibut in considerable abundance 

 on Cashe's, Xew Ledge, and Tippinies, the hist fishing ground being 

 most noted for their occurrence. When haddock fishing, about 15 

 years ago, we often caught chicken halibut in about 40 to 43 I'atlioms 

 of water, ESE. from Chatham. On one occasion we took about GO 

 small halibut on a single set of our haddock trawls. Strangely how- 

 ever, a full-grown halibut is seldom caught in any of these localities ; 

 and it would be useless to look there for breeding fish. I have seen 

 halibut, varying from 15 to 40 pounds in weight, very numerous onGraud 

 Manan Bank, in shallow water where the tide runs hard." 



Dead Fisn along the coast of South Carolina*.— Mr. W. St. J. 

 Mazyck, writing from Waverly Mills, S. C, January 15, 18S7, incloses 

 a newspaper clipping, from which, together with his letter, the follow- 

 ing is extracted : 



For 30 miles along the upper coast of South Carolina, from Pawley's 

 Island to Little Eiver, the beach is so thickly covered with dead fish 

 that the sand can scarcely be seen. These dead fish are of the kind 

 known as menhaden, porgies, or fatbacks, most of them being about 5 

 inches long, and are valuable for fertilizing purjjoses. They were first 

 observed, it is said, on December 29, 1S8G. The people along the coast, 

 and for miles into the interior, are hauling the dead fish away and using 

 them for manure. This same phenomenon is also reported at other 

 neighboring ])oiiits along the coast, and opinions differ as to what is its 

 cause. Menhaden were noticed in Long Bay, off Pawley's Island, in 

 June last, but were not observed again during the season. 



In a letter of February S, 1SS7, inclosing a communication on rhis 

 subject from ^h\ Taylor, Mr. Mazyck adds: "As far as I can learn, 

 about 1,500 bushels of these fish have been hauled away for manure." 



Dead fish along the coast of South Carolina.— Mr. J. Mani- 

 gault Taylor, in a communication to Mr. W. St. J. Mazyck, from Waverly 

 Mills, S. C, February 5, 1887, giving an account of his observations 

 regarding dead fish thrown upon the shores of some islands on the coast 

 of South Carolina, says : 



" On December 24, 18SC, I noticed a number of small menhaden floating 

 dead in the creek that separates Pawley's Island from the mainland. 

 This was rather surprising, as they are fish that disappear at the 

 coming of cool weather. On the next day the number was largely in- 

 creased, and the whole marsh for miles was gray with them, as the re- 

 ceding tide had left them in the forks of marsh stalks. That night the 

 odor from dead fish on the beach became very unpleasant, and on the 

 2GLh, when I walked over to the beach, the sight was astonishing. The 

 tide, which was nearly low water, left the beach 75 yards wide from 

 high-water mark. This was completely covered, from 18 inches deep 

 at the top down to an average of G inches deep ; and the water was so 

 thick with dead fish for at least 75 yards out that the surf could not 



* For other notices in this Bulletin, of similar occurrences, see paj^es 1-10 and 1 )4. 



