194 NATURAL HISTORY [JVste. 



go out in March, yet in May, when another fishing of them 

 begins, under the name of kuths, thej" are fifteen ; still they 

 are tolerable for eating, either fresh, as our Orkney folks eat 

 them, roasted with the liver, or dry. A few of the same shoal 

 are caught next year, when they are called Harbines, or two 

 year old kuths, but they are now large and coarse, and 

 not much sought after. After this they grow to a vast bulk, 

 and are then called Seths ; but very few of these are found 

 here, not perhaps one in a season : they retire farther to sea, 

 and are got in some quantities on the coast of Shetland. 



In the winter-time, while the fry of this fish is in the har- 

 bours, it is common to see five or six hundred people, of all 

 ages, a-fishing them, with small angling rods of about six feet 

 long, and aline a little longer; but with this simple apparatus 

 they kill vast numbers, none going away without as many 

 as he inclines. The whole harbour is covered with boats, and 

 the piers with men, and all are supplied ; for from the surface 

 to the bottom of the water it is crowded. 



It is very certain these fish are of vast service to Orkney, 

 as things are ; because children of a few yer^rs old, that can be 

 of no other service, and old age that is past it, can all wield 

 the silluck rod, and in a few hours kill as many as serve a mode- 

 rate family for a day, and sell some, which is commonly done 

 from thirty to sixty or more for a halfpenny. Yet, I say, 

 though in our present circumstances these small fish are the most 

 valuable Ave have, yet I know not if this is the case all things 

 considered ; for, in the first place, they encourage laziness in 

 our fishermen, who, when they are to be found, never trouble 



