110 FISH HARVESTING. 
or catch them myself; so it happened, some of 
these fish were first brought me by Indians. 
Cutting one down the side (the plan I usually 
adopt to skin a fish, keeping the opposite side 
untouched), to my intense surprise, out tumbled 
a lot of little fish! My wildest dreams had never 
led me to suppose a fish I then thought was a 
bream, or one of the perch family, could be vivi- 
parous. I at once most hastily arrived at the 
conclusion that the greedy gourmand had eaten 
them. Dropping my knife, I sat in a most be- 
wildered state looking at the fish. 
The first ray of light that shone in to illumine 
my mystification seemed to spring from the fact, 
that each little fish was the model, counterpart, 
and facsimile of the larger, and in shape, size, 
and colour were exactly alike: from the position 
too they occupied in the abdomen of the larger 
fish, I was led at once to see the error of my 
first assumption, that they had been swallowed. 
Carefully dissecting back the walls of the abdo- 
men, I discovered a delicate membranous bag or 
sac having an attachment to the upper or dorsal 
region, and doubled upon itself into numerous 
folds or plaits, and between each of these folds 
was neatly packed away a little fish; the bag was 
of a bluish-white colour, and contained fourteen 
