442 



THE WHITE, OB COMMON MULLET. 



rippling in the water, and also perceive the water at a distance to have 

 a peculiarly blue appearance, they know that a shoal of Mullet ia 

 there. The general mode in which tliese fish are caught, is by seine 

 nets. In some parts of the continent, the fisherman endeavor, by 

 making violent noises, to drive the fish into their nets ; but they are 

 80 cunain >•, that, when surrounded by the net, the whole shoal will 



FISHER.MEH OTT ST. ABB'S BEAD. 



sometimes escape ; for, if one of them spring over it, the rest, like 

 Sheep, are sure to follow their leader. 



Mullet axe in considerable esteem for the table; and are in best 

 Beas(m about the month of August. They are usually eaten boiled ; 

 and, on the continent, the most common sauce for them is oil and 

 lemon-juice. 



]SIullets were often brought alive in glass vases to table, and a bar- 

 barous pleasure was derived from witnessing the changes of colour they 

 underwent in expiring. Apicius invented a uiode of sutfocating the 

 iiuillet in a kind of pickle; and Seneca endeavored to put an end to 

 these practices, disgraceful to a people who stood first in civilization. 



