6 THE HERRING FISHERIES. 



and that they made periodical visits to the south (led by an 

 advanced guard of one or two fishes !) for the purpose of 

 spawning. Little was wanting to complete this dramatic 

 story. We knew that the herrings usually lived in the 

 North ; we knew that they sometimes came to the south ; 

 we knew that they divided off the north of Scotland, one 

 corps going to the right and the other to the left, all that 

 was wanted were the herrings themselves. There is not, 

 however, a shadow of a doubt about our previous belief 

 being a huge mistake. The herring inhabits the deep water 

 round our coasts all the year round, and comes periodically 

 towards the shore to propagate its kind. The chief argu- 

 ment that has been set up in favour of this statement is, 

 that year after year, and at the same time of the year, we 

 always find the same kind of herring in the same place. It 

 is therefore a very reasonable assumption that they are in 

 the neighbourhood all the year round. Besides, herrings 

 caught in the extreme north of Scotland are inferior and 

 lean compared to those caught at the same time farther 

 south, which should not be the condition of herrings that 

 are just about to spawn. Whether there are any who still 

 believe in the migration of the herrings from the Polar 

 regions and we would remind them that they must also 

 believe in the advanced guard story, too matters little ; it 

 is enough that a very large number of persons have long 

 since abandoned it and accepted the other theory. 



The next point on which we would willingly have more 

 information is what period elapses between the time of 

 depositing the spawn and the appearance of the young fish ? 



This is a matter very difficult to ascertain, chiefly from 

 the difficulty experienced in observing the operation ; but 

 we may take it that the eggs are converted into fish in a 

 fortnight or three weeks. In about nine weeks' time the 



