8 



comes out of the water alive. There is, in the best 

 mackerel, an iridescent, rosy tint under the gills and forepart 

 of the body, which I have seen in fish here, but which is 

 much more conspicuous when they are taken. And it is 

 this colour by which our fishermen judge their fish. They 

 say, " Red mackerel is good mackerel ; white mackerel is 

 mackerel ; green mackerel is poison." 



And in this last remark they are quite correct. When- 

 ever a green hue supersedes the rosy, the flesh of the fish 

 when eaten will, with very many people, produce most 

 unpleasant symptoms of blood poisoning ; and as these 

 green mackerel are taken amongst the others at all times of 

 the year, they give the fish a bad name, and cause people 

 to abuse the whole family, when the truth is that they 

 ought to have made a better selection. 



An average mackerel weighs i^ Ibs., which gives about 

 1, 500 fish to the ton. Large fish go to 2 Ibs. or even 2\ Ibs. 

 but they are rare, and as they do not sell for more than the 

 others, are reserved by the fishermen for presents to their 

 friends, which starts another of our West Cornwall notions 

 that " you should never eat a mackerel unless it is given to 

 you." This saying is quite understood in West Cornwall 

 now, but in process of time it will very probably get to be 

 understood there, as meaning that it is unlucky to buy 

 mackerel, and if that belief once gets about, well, we are a 

 superstitious people, and you ladies and gentlemen in 

 London will have a large addition to your supply of 

 that fish from Cornwall. 



These large mackerel are usually females, with roes ready 

 to be shed, and are known as Queen mackerel and King 

 mackerel, but I do not recollect ever seeing a large male 

 mackerel of this sort. 



Sometimes one is startled by an announcement in the 



