of Whitebait and Shad. 255 



The reason given by the fishermen wliy these j'oung fishes are 

 not caught in greater quantities, is, that immediately on their 

 acquiring sufficient power of motion, they take the middle of 

 the stream, and make for sea; and as no nets capable of stop- 

 ping them are used in that part of the river, they escape until 

 their return the next year as adult Shad. 



When the preceding winter has been mild, the Whitebait 

 make their appearance early in spring. In the present year, 

 I first observed them in a fishrqonger's shop at the west-end 

 of the town, on Saturday the 29th of March. Knowing the 

 habits of the Shads, and that they did not make their appear- 

 ance in the Thames till May, it was this early exhibition of 

 Whitebait which induced me to take up, and persevere in, an 

 investigation, which I have pursued to the present time. I am 

 aware it may be urged, that the periodical visits of fishes as 

 well as other animals are influenced and varied by the tem- 

 perature of particular seasons and the condition of the animal, 

 but as all the comparative observations I shall make on this 

 subject will be confined to the fish of the same river, and du- 

 ring the same season, this objection will not be valid. White- 

 bait continued to be procured in the month of April ; more 

 abundantly throughout May as the weather became warmer ; 

 and with the exception of occasional interruptions to the fish- 

 ing, from the activity of the Water Bailiff and his deputies, 

 the taverns at Greenwich and Blackwall, as well as several 

 fishmongers in London, have continued to receive a supply up 

 to the present time. The same arrangement that produced me 

 the Shads, produced me also constant supplies of small quan- 

 tities of Whitebait for weekly examination, and the additional 

 fee which I had promised the fishermen for every young Shad 

 that was preserved for me, produced me, as I have reason to 

 believe, every young fish of that species, as well as any por- 

 tion I pleased of other fishes, neither Whitebait nor Shads, 

 which the parties I engaged with caught in the pursuit of their 

 avocation. The number of young Shads however did not ex- 

 ceed a score, nor did I obtain one till the end of June, recog- 

 iiiseable instantly from the Whitebait, and both species di- 

 stinctly known to the fishermen. I may here also add, that 

 no Whitebait arc found in other rivers frequented by the Shad; 

 not a single example of Whitebait is ever taken between Put- 

 ney and Hammersmith, where the Shads deposit their spawn ; 

 and although Shads abound in the Severn, which aflbrds this 

 fish in higher perfection than any other river, particularly near 

 Gloucester where immense quantities are taken, the Whitebait 

 are unknown ; nor do I ever remember to have seen a notice 

 of the a|)pearance of this fish in any other river in England 

 except the Thames. 



But 



