The Mighty Deep 



through centuries has thinned the multitudes 

 of some species very greatly, and in the course 

 of time they may even cease to exist. 



That the harm done thus far has not been 

 far greater must be ascribed to the enormous 

 numbers of each kind, and to the vastness of 

 those ocean -regions, where they may at any 

 time retreat beyond man's reach. For this 

 we have to be thankful. It would be an ill 

 day for us, on which the chief food-fishes should 

 fail. 



Herrings, for example. What would the 

 poorer throngs of our large cities do, without 

 that useful little cheap dish ? 



The amount of herrings caught yearly around 

 British shores almost exceeds belief. They 

 appear often in mighty shoals, swimming closely 

 packed throughout a mile or more, being de- 

 voured as they swim, to the tune of millions, 

 and being captured by fishermen in masses. 



Yet year by year the supply goes on, ap- 

 parently undiminished. 



One fisherman alone, at work near the French 

 coast, reckoned that in the course of a single 

 night he had taken over five hundred thousand 

 herrings, half which he threw back into the sea. 

 An unusual amount, of course. But what must 



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