348 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



shade, either brown, or greyish sand colour, and 

 in some instances this general hue is broken by 

 blotches, light or dark, blackish or reddish, which 

 not only present a resemblance to under-shades 

 caused by inequalities of the ground, but to the 

 different tints that occur upon it. Flat fish too 

 seem to be endowed with the power of altering 

 their colour, so as to correspond with the prevail- 

 ing tints of the ground, and even when the sand 

 is of a very light colour, they so nearly resemble 

 it, that even in very clear and shallow water, a 

 flat fish may be immediately under the observer's 

 eye without being perceived. But that this is one 

 among many similar instances of design in the 

 Author of Nature, by which an express provision 

 is made for the safety of the creatures endowed 

 with the faculty and with the general and perma- 

 nent resemblance in question cannot be disputed. 

 The Clupeidce, which comprehend the herring, 

 the pilchard, and several other species, is a family 

 of fishes of the highest importance, and in several 

 respects of great interest. Familiar as we are 

 with the herring, we are by no means fully ac- 

 quainted with its natural history. On this subject 

 some of the statements that have been made 

 appear from recent observation to have been 

 purely imaginary. The herring has been described 

 as having its permanent abode within the arctic 

 circle, from which it migrates southwards towards 

 the British Islands in a shoal of countless myriads, 

 at certain periods of the year, and when the 

 shoal reaches the Shetland Isles, it separates into 



