INLAND FISHERIES. 9 



*'TIiey appear to have a resular migration along our coast, present- 

 ing themselves later and later in the spring, the farther they are found 

 to the north, and disappearing in the inverse order from the same 

 regions in the autumn. First noticed on the Carolina coast as early as 

 March and April, immense schools of them, bound eastward, are seen 

 off the coast of the Middle States from the middle of May to the mid- 

 dle of June,' and in October similar bodies, perhaps embracing fewer 

 individuals, pass to the southward. It is possible, however, that in 

 the autumn some schools move well out to sea, and are, therefore, less 

 likely to be observed. They leave the northern coast about the middle 

 of October, and about the middle of November appear in vast num- 

 bers off the coast of North Carolina, where, from Nag's Head, in 

 Currituck County, to Cape Lookout, there is a very extensive fishery 

 prosecuted, which furnishes blue-fish for the northern markets, It is 

 estimated that at least one hundred and fifty crews are engaged in this 

 fall fishing, which lasts generally until late in December. At this time 

 individuals may be taken weighing fifteen to eighteen pounds, although 

 their average size is about ten. 



"Their occurrence in autumn off the coast of North Carolina is 

 preceded and first indicated by the vast schools of menhaden, which 

 they follow in, several miles from the sea, and by the usual accompa- 

 niment of flocks of gulls attending them to take a share in the feast. 

 Of the particular mode of fishing in this neighborhood we shall take 

 occasion to speak hereafter. 



"According to Dr. Yarrow the blue-fish are seen in spring on the 

 North Carolina coast (the smaller ones first) in March or April, when, 

 however, they are much less in size than the specimens referred to as 

 occurring in the fall. The precise time of their appearance at most of 

 the points farther north has not yet been ascertained. Whether they 

 actually migrate from south to north, and vice versa^ or merely come 

 in from the outer seas in regular oraer, as is believed to be the case 



1 In the Chesapeake, according to Dr. Wilkins, at Hunger's Wharf, Virginia, the tayler is one of 

 the most abundant fish, as many as four thousand being caught at one lift of the pound. The aver- 

 age size is about three pounds. They come about the first of June and leave early in October, 

 2 



