3*4 



S M E L T. Class IV. 



Magellan*, and of a mod furprifing fize, fome 

 meafuring twenty inches in length, and eight in cir- 

 cumference. 



They inhabit the feas that warn thefe iflands the 

 whole year, and never go very remote from more, 

 except when they afcend the rivers. It is remark- 

 ed in certain rivers that they appear a long time 

 before they fpawn, being taken in great abundance 

 in Nov ember ) December, and January, in the Thames 

 and Bee, but in others not till February, and in 

 March and April they fpawn ; after which f they all 

 return to the fair water, and are not feen in the 

 rivers till the next feafon. It has been obferved, 

 that they never come into .the Merfey as long as 

 there is any ihow water in the river. 



Thefe fifh vary greatly in lize, but the largeft 

 we ever heard of was thirteen inches long, and 

 weighed half a pound. 



They have a very particular fcent, ,from whence 

 is derived one of their Englijh names Smelt, i. e. 

 fmell it. That of Sparling, which is ufed in Wales 

 and the north of England, is taken from the French 

 Eperlan. There is a wonderful difagreement in the 

 opinion of people in refpecl to the fcent of this 

 filh; fome alfert it flavors of the violet-, the Ger* 



* Narborough's Voy* 123. 



f In the river Conway, near Llanrivft, and in the Merfey 

 they never continue above three or four weeks. 



mans 



