358 LETTER LVI. 



Jhat of ingenious cpnjecture. Of the real history of 

 fish but. little is yet known; and man has not the 

 means of accurately observing the manner and habits 

 of animals which pass their lives in the immense 

 abyss of the waters. Some tribes, however, are 

 known to spend part of their time in the rivers, and 

 part in the ocean, We have already mentioned thig 

 circumstance in speaking of the sturgeon, but that is 

 not the only fish of this migrating character. The 

 salmon, the shad, the smelt, and the flounder, annually 

 forsake the ocean, and ascend the rivers to deposit 

 their, spawn. This, indeed, seems the important bu- 

 siness of their lives; and there is no danger which 

 they will not encounter, to find a proper place for 

 the deposition of their future offspring. The salmon 

 is, upon these occasions, known to ascend rivers to 

 the distance of five hundred miles from their mouths, 

 .and not only to brave- the dangers arising from vari- 

 ous enemies, but also to spring up cataracts of an amaz- 

 ing height. The length of the voyages taken by 

 these fishes is short in comparison of the annual mi- 

 grations of some tribes, of which the residence is con- 

 tinually in the ocean. Of this kind are the cod, the had- 

 dock, the mackarel, the herring, the pilchard, and a 

 variety of others. The fecundity of these creatures 

 exceeds our conception, and would in a short time 

 outstrip all calculation. A herring, if suffered to mul- 

 tiply unmolested, and its offspring to remain undi- 

 minished during the space of twenty years, would 

 shew a progeny many times greater in bulk than the. 

 whole earth. 'This extraordinary and incalculable 

 fecundity, as already observed, in our general re- 

 mark on fishes, is the basis of support to the nume- 

 rous inhabitants of the ocean, and exhibits in the 

 clearest light, and the most striking point of view, 

 the all-Wise and comprehensive plan of the great 

 Creator. Although spinous fishes in general produce 

 by spawn, yet there are some, as the eel and the 

 blenny, that bring forth their young alive. In re- 

 gard to the growth of fishes, it appears that they are 



