THE COMMON MACKEREL. 473 



nfar. Their stay on the coast is of some duration, and it 

 is not until September or October that they take their 

 departure for the deeps." 



Harmless as the Mackerel is in appearance, it is said 

 to be dangerous for the swimmer to get amongst a slioal. 

 In two several instances, after having swum unattended 

 far out to sea, I have been told by the lookers-on that I 

 had exposed myself to considerable risk. How far there 

 may really be danger on such occasions I know not; 

 but cases are said to be on record of individuals having 

 been beset by these voracious fish, and reduced to some- 

 thing like mincemeat. 



If we are to believe the fishermen, the Mackerel passes 

 the winter months half buried in the mud at the bottom 

 of the sea, where, indeed, they assert having speared it, 

 and that it is then quite blind ; moreover, that on its first 

 appearance on the co:ist in early spring, the thick fihii, 

 which then covers its eyes, prevents it from distinctly seeing 

 the bait. Ekstrom and others, however, treat this reputed 

 blindness of the Mackerel as a fable, and say that the reason 

 the fish does not bite equally freely in the spring as after- 

 wards, is less attributable to the film in question than to 

 want of appetite owing to excessive fatness. To the same 

 cause they partly ascribe the film itself, for this as soon as 

 the fish becomes lean — which happens soon after its arrival 

 on the coast — disappears altogether or becomes thinner ; 

 but when again the spawning season is over, and the 

 Mackerel regains flesh, the film once more thickens, and 

 by the time the fish retires to its winter quarters, is just 

 as thick as in early spring. 



The Mackerel spawns towards the end of June, but 

 little seems to be known rearai'dins? its " Lek." It is a 

 most prolific fish, as may be inferred from the immensity 

 of the shoals and the abundance of the ova, zoologists 

 having counted between 500,000 and 000,00') in a 



