MERLUCCIUS 201 



toral fifteen, ventral eight ; anal tbirtysix, and cau- 

 dal eighteen. On the whole, the hake is a well- 

 proportioned and handsome fish, fi-om one to two 

 feet long, though as an article of food, undervalued 

 in this country, notwithstanding the encomiums 

 bestowed upon it in Europe. 



It is taken in baiting other fish, particularly the 

 mackerel, which the hake pursues from one point 

 of compass to another, followed by a variety of 

 smaller fry in its track, that feed on the mangled 

 remains of the mackerel, which are floating in the 

 train. 



Hake are not taken in any quantity in Massachu- 

 setts, though exceedingly common. The coast 

 of France is the most distinguished hake fishery 

 in the known world. A writer of that country re- 

 marks, that since the great naval engagements be- 

 tween the English and French fleets, in 1759, 

 the hake, which before visited the sea, on the 

 shores of Bellisle, now remain through the whole 

 year ; and he supposes they were first attracted to 

 the present haking-ground, by the multitude of 

 dead bodies which were sunk there after that 

 awfully bloody action. 



When very hungry, the hake exhibits consid- 

 erable voracity, and does not hesitate to seize a 

 crab, which, in self-defence, sometimes fixes its 

 shears in the retractile lips of the enemy, who 



