166 OUR HERITAGE THE SEA 



of food for others, they themselves eat not, for who- 

 ever saw a herring with any food in its entrails ? 

 Therefore they bring us the hidden riches of the 

 ocean, and distribute that wealth in most lavish 

 fashion, retiring again those that survive, lean and 

 starving when their mission is accomplished, to the 

 feeding-grounds whence they came, and whose locality 

 is known to no man. 



In the same mysterious fashion come the mackerel, 

 but far less regularly, and certainly with much more 

 independent movements. Nor do they fast upon their 

 visit, for the mackerel is among the most ravenous of 

 fish among all the finny hosts noted for their insati- 

 able appetites. And while his legions are also in 

 number like the sands of the sea, they are as far 

 inferior in quantity to those of the herring as is his 

 flavour to that of the commonest of fish. There is 

 really no comparison between them in point of value, 

 but still they do furnish an enormous supply of cheap 

 food, and as such are highly esteemed. And if only 

 it were possible to increase the means of distribution 

 of these two fish among our poorer population, there 

 would be far less hunger than there is, for the enor- 

 mous supply would enable them to be sold in the 

 remotest inland village at a less cost than that of 

 any other form of food, while the fishermen would 

 not need to sell them to the distributor at any less 

 price than he now receives. At present, the difference 

 between the price received by the fishermen and that 

 paid by the consumer is anywhere between 1000 and 

 2000 per cent., which goes a great way towards 

 neutralizing the benefit conferred upon our people 

 by the benevolent sea. This enormous increase in 



