KRUUSE FISHERIES OX WEST COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA. 517 



I would like to give you a description of those species of fish which 

 are most common on this coast ; but as this will be somewhat difficult, 

 I will endeavor to describe those fish which have some similarity to ours. 

 The specimens which I had collected and preserved in spirits of win© 

 were unfortunately spoiled from some cause or other, and the only kind 

 of fish of which I can this time send you a few specimens are herrings, 

 which put up in brine seem to have kept very well. I shall, therefore, 

 begin my account with the herring. 



As to size and looks the It erring of the South Pacific does not differ 

 much from that found in the northern seas, but it is undoubtedly of a 

 much inferior quality. It is found along the coast and close to the land 

 all the year round, but even at a distance of fifty miles from the coast 

 the sea is full of them, whilst farther out they are not so frequent. On 

 calm, warm days dense schools of them rise to the surface and hold 

 their heads above the water, often covering the surface of the sea for 

 hundreds of fathoms.* This is the time for the seals to gorge them- 

 selves, and they certainly do not neglect their opportunity. As many 

 herrings as you want can then be caught with nets and seines ; but as they 

 are hardly ever used as food it seems perfectly useless to catch them. 

 During the night their dense schools may be seen farther out at sea, 

 and the rapidly moving phosphorescent light produced as they fly from 

 porpoises and other enemies presents a beautiful spectacle. 



But very few of these herrings are ever used as an article of food, as 

 there is such an abundance of better fish ; the only use which is made 

 of them is to serve as bait for other fish. They can be salted, and their 

 flavor is then better than when fresh, but the climate is not favorable 

 to salting. Smoked they form a very good article of food. 



The mackerel is also found in large quantities, but its quality is in- 

 ferior to our northern mackerel. In size and shape these mackerel 

 resemble ours, but the color, which is so beautiful in ours, is very faint. 

 They are not as fat, and their flavor is not near as agreeable, having a 

 sort of bitter taste, produced, as some think, by the coppery nature of 

 the bottom. It is but rarely eaten, and therefore does not form an ob- 

 ject of fishing. The horse-mackerel also occurs here, but it is absolutely 

 worthless. 



The codfish is not near as common as the above-mentioned species, but 

 of all the Peruvian fish it resembles our northern fish most, and is con- 

 sidered the best and most valuable fish on this coast. In looks and 

 size it differs considerably from our northern codfish, and rarely weighs 

 more than 8 to 10 pounds. It is fat, has a good flavor, and fetches a 

 good price, both fresh and salted (about 13 cents per pound salted). It 

 lives in deep water where there is a rocky bottom, and is caught exclu- 

 sively with hook and line. It is really the finest fish found on this coast. 



Flounders are also found, but not in any considerable number. They 



* The same phenomenon I observed in the North Sea during the summer of 1840 f 

 though probably not on such an extensive scale. — H. V. Fiedler, 



