FOOD OF THF COD. 179 



THE CAPELIN. 



MaJlotus Villofus — Cu vi er. 



Of this beautiful little fish, wliich inhabits the northern 

 seas only, never coming farther south than the shores of 

 Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, I am unable to offer any 

 representation to my readers, never having seen a specimen or 

 engraving. 



He is very nearly allied to the Smelts, from which he differs 

 principally in the smallness of his teeth. 



He is stated in Mr. Perley^s report on the Fisheries of the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence, to be " from four to seven inches in 

 length, the under jaw longer than the upper, the colour of the 

 back greenish, the under surface of the body silvery. They 

 usually appear about Miscou and in the Bay of Chaleurs early in 

 May ; but sometimes not until nearly the end of that month. 

 The Cod fishery does not commence until the arrival of the 

 Capelin, which continues near the shores until the end of July." 



Mr. Perley proceeds to state that, in consequence of the 

 " wanton destruction of the proper food of the Cod, — Herring 

 and Capelin, — which are taken in immense quantities, not for 

 immediate eating, or for curing, or for bait, but for manuring 

 the ground," the Cod fishery is utterly declining, the fisheries 

 going to waste, and the establishments deserted and going 

 to ruin. 



" In a representation," he adds, " made to the Canadian 

 legislature by a fisherman of Gaspe, it is stated that this fisher- 



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