66 THE REY. R. F. WHEELER, M.A. 
If it were possible to obtain accurate statistical returns of the 
fish taken and sold in England—which it is not, and never will 
be—lI think that it would probably be found that, excluding all 
those fish which are of minor consequence, and that great host 
which are of no use as food, the order of importance would be 
as follows:— 
. Herring. 
. Cod and Ling. 
. Soles, Plaice, and flat fish generally. 
. Haddock and Mackerel. 
. Pilchards. 
. Sprats and Eels. 
. Shell Fish—Crabs, Lobsters, &c. 
bo ee 
Wo oo B oO 
I make no mention of Salmon, as that is a river fish as well 
as a sea fish, and for the present must be regarded rather as a 
luxury than otherwise; and for the same reason I omit oysters. 
They are a luxury both to poor and rich; perhaps most so to 
the poor man who stands at the street sellers stalls, illumined 
by the light of a half-penny dip stuck into the neck of a ginger 
beer bottle, and choosing from the penny piles of oysters which 
are laid out in tempting array before him, awaits—yvinegar bottle 
in hand and pepper castor close by—with eager eyes the process 
of opening, and then, having duly drenched and peppered his vic- 
tim, swallows it down with no inaudible smack. 
It may be mentioned in passing that the Whitstable Oyster 
Company received for Oysters, in 1859, no less than £62,000, 
£50,000 being for natives and £12,000 for other kinds. About 
500 million oysters are annually sold in Billinsgate, of the value 
of about half a million of money. One large London fish sales- 
man estimates the daily consumption of lobsters in Great Britain 
at 40,000; about two-thirds of these come from Norway. About 
600,000 crabs pass through the hands of the London salesmen 
yearly. Five million whelks are swallowed yearly by the Lon- 
doners; and 50 million mussels, 70 million cockles, and 300 
million periwinkles pass down the throats of the poorer Lon- 
doners year by year. 
