456 Fishes. 



appears from tolerably accurate computations, no fewer 

 than one thousand six hundred and fifty boat-loads were 

 taken in Loch Torridon in one night. These would, in 

 the whole, amount to nearly twenty thousand barrels. 



This fish is prepared in different ways, in order to be 

 kept for use through the year. The white, or pickled 

 Herrings, are washed in fresh water, and left the space 

 of twelve or fifteen hours in a tub full of strong brine, 

 made of fresh water and sea-salt. When taken out, 

 they are drained, and put in rows or layers in barrels, 

 with salt. 



Eed Herrings are prepared in the same manner, with 

 this difference, that they are left in the brine double the 

 time above mentioned ; and when taken out, placed in a 

 large chimney constructed for the purpose, and contain- 

 ing about twelve thousand, where they are smoked by 

 means of a fire underneath, made of brushwood, for the 

 space of twenty-four hours. 



THE SPEAT, (Clujpea Sprattus,) 



A. WELL-KNOWN fish, between four and five inches in 

 length, the back fin very remote from the nose; the 

 lower jaw longer than the upper, and the eyes blood- 

 shot, like those of the herring, to which it is nearly 

 allied. Sprats arrive yearly in the beginning of Novem- 

 ber in the river Thames ; and generally a large dish of 

 them is presented on the table at Guildhall, on Lord 

 Mayor's Day, November 9th. They continue through 

 the winter, and depart in March. They are sold by mea- 

 sure, and yield a great deal of sustenance to poor people 

 in the winter season. It is reported that they have been 



