26 SALMON-FISHERY OF SCOTLAND. 



bays and lochs as it passes. It is thought by some that, after the 

 herrings have spawned in our shore, they return to the deep, but not 

 far distant from our coasts, where they remain at the bottom till 

 next season ; but they have never been discovered in this situation, 

 and no herrings have ever been known on our shore, except what 

 proceed from the northward of the Shetland Isles, from whence 

 they pay their regular annual visit to the coasts of Scotland." 



This is confirmed by a great practical herring fisher*, who 

 remarks, 



" It is the opinion of some that the great shoals of herrings never 

 retire to any considerable distance from the coasts of Scotland : this, 

 however, is a mistaken idea, because, if this were the case, they 

 would be found in the stomachs of large fishes, such as cod and 

 ling, of which great quantities are taken on the coasts, yet none are 

 found in the stomachs of these fishes during the absence of the her- 

 rings, whereas, after their return, three or four full-sized herrings are 

 frequently found in the stomach of one of these fishes. There is, 

 therefore, every reason to believe that the herrings proceed, in the 

 state of fry, to the Northern Ocean, whence they return periodically 

 when they come to maturity. This is farther proved by the facts, 

 that the farther north the earlier the fishery commences, and that 

 when the herring shoals first approach our coast they are accom- 

 panied by whales, and by Arctic gulls, whose plumage differs from 

 that of other gulls." 



From all these facts, then, there seems little reason to doubt 

 that the herrings, which are bred on our coasts, perform, as fry, 

 a migration to the Polar Ocean, from whence they return an- 

 nually, full grown, with perfect regularity, in one immense 

 mass, formed of separate subdivisions, or tribes ; that, on reach- 

 ing our coast, this immense mass divides into two parts, one of 

 which proceeds towards the Irish Channel, and the other takes 

 its course along the east coast, both throwing detachments into 

 the various lochs and bays as they pass. Those detachments, 

 however, the above writers seem to suppose are thrown into 

 the lochs from the main body by mere chance : they have not 

 traced the operations of nature with sufficient minuteness : 

 they left the most wonderful part of this grand system unex- 

 plored : if they had considered that each herring loch has a 



* Mr John Mackenzie. 



