The Pilchard. 457 



taken yearly about Easter-time in a lake in Cheshire, 

 called Kostern Mere, and in the river Mersey, in which 

 the sea ebbs and flows seven or eight miles below the 

 lake. 



The Sardine (Clupea Sardina) is caught on the southern 

 shores of France, where it is held in great repute ; and 

 from its abounding in the neighbourhood of the island 

 of Sardinia, it is called the Sardine. It is sent here 

 pickled in the same way as herrings, and packed in 

 barrels. 



THE PILCHARD. (Clupea PikJiardus.) 



THE chief difference between this fish and the herring 

 is, that the body of the Pilchard is more round and 

 thick ; the nose shorter in proportion, turning up ; and 

 the under jaw shorter. The back is more elevated, and 

 the belly not so sharp. The scales adhere very closely, 

 whilst those of the herring easily drop off. It is also, in 

 general, of considerably smaller size. 



About the middle of July, Pilchards appear in vast 

 shoals off the coast of Cornwall. These shoals remain 

 till the latter end of October, when it is probable they 

 retire to some undisturbed deep, at a little distance, for 

 the winter. 



The Pilchard fishery is an important branch of com- 

 merce. From a statement of the number of hogsheads 

 exported each year, for ten years, from 1747 to 1756 in- 

 clusive, from the four ports of Fowy, Falmouth, Pen- 

 zance, and St. Ives, it appears that Fowy exported 

 yearly one thousand seven hundred and thirty -two hogs- 

 heads; Falmouth, fourteen thousand six hundred and 

 thirty-one ; Penzance and Mount's Bay, twelve thousand 

 one hundred and forty-nine ; St. Ives, one thousand two 

 hundred and eighty-two : in all, twenty-nine thousand 

 seven hundred and ninety -four hogsheads. Every hogs- 

 head, for ten years last past, together with the bounty 

 allowed for exportation, and the oil made out of it, has 

 amounted, one year with another, at an average, to the 

 price of one pound thirteen shillings and three pence ; 

 so that the cash paid for Pilchards exported has, at a 



