740 



II ERRING. 



upon the floats by which the drift-rope that supports 

 the net is buoyed up. When a loss of this kind does 

 occur it is peculiarly serious, as being the loss of the 

 season as well as the property ; and as the prevention 

 of such losses, especially on the coasts of the High- 

 lands, where the autumnal winds are very inconstant, 

 requires a great deal of experimental knowledge o! 

 the weather, and intimate acquaintance with the 

 various motions of the sea, the fishery cannot be con- 

 ducted by adventurers, or indeed by any one who has 

 not been bred to it on the spot ; and if half the sum 

 which has been given in bounties had been expended 

 in training men for the task, there is no doubt that 

 great advantage would have thence arisen. 



In order to show the advantages of this fishery, we 

 shall give an abstract of the returns of the whole 

 produce of the fishery for 1815, and the four years 

 following. " By the report of 1815, it appears that the 

 quantity guttcdandcuredwasl05,372;i barrels. By that 

 of 1816, it amounted to 135,981 barrels, being an in- 

 crease in one year's fishery of 30.608J barrels. The 

 quantity cured ungutted, in the former period, was 

 54,767 barrels ; in the latter 26,670 barrels, being 

 a decrease of 28,096 barrels. The total quantity 

 brought under the view of the officers in 1815 was 

 160,139^ barrels. In 1816 it was 1 62,65 1J barrels, 

 being an increase on the whole of 2,5 12^ barrels. 

 The quantity branded for bounty in 1815 w'as 83,376 

 barrels. In 1816 : was 116,436, being an increase 

 of 33,060 barrels. The exports on the whole in 1815 

 exceeded those of 1816 ; but the gutted herrings ex- 

 ported in the latter year exceeded those of the former 

 by 12,606 barrels. In the year 1817 the total quan- 

 tity caught was 192,34% barrels, being an increase 

 of 29,691^ barrels. In the same year the quantity 

 branded for bounty was 140,018^ barrels, being 

 an increase of 23,582^ barrels. The quantity ex- 

 ported in 1817 was 13~8,628, being an increase of 

 30,940 barrels. In the year 1S18 the total quantity 

 caught was 227,691 barrels, whereof 204,270| were 

 cured gutted, and 23,420f ungutted ; being an in- 

 crease in the total quantity of 35,347^ barrels, and of 

 48,494 in the quantity gutted ; w Tiile there was a 

 decrease in the quantity cured ungutted of 13,I46J 

 barrels. In this year the quantity found entitled to 

 bounty was 183,089^ barrels, being an increase of 

 43,071 barrels. In the same year the total quantity 

 exported was 162,339i barrels, whereof 148,147^ 

 were gutted, and 14, 192" ungutted ; being an increase 

 in the total quantity of 23,711 barrels, and of 32,667 

 in the quantity gutted ; while there was a decrease in 

 the quantity ungutted of 8956 barrels." The vast 

 numbers in which these fishes are taken, and the rea- 

 diness with which they find a market, more especially 

 in the warmer countries, point out how very important 

 they are to this country, and how worthy their his- 

 tory is of being studied with the utmost attention. 



It may seem hardly necessary to give a description 

 of a fish so well known as the herring ; but we shall 

 quote Mr. Yarrell's description, with a view both to 

 snow how a fish ought to be described, and how 

 admirably this excellent naturalist has described this 

 one, and indeed all others ; and the specimen w ill no 

 doubt induce such, as are fond of the study of fishes, 

 a study which deserves far more attention than it 

 generally meets with, to take Mr. Yarrell as their 

 guide to the whole finny tribes of the British waters. 

 " The length of the head," says Mr. Yarrell, " com- 

 pared to the length of the body alone, without the 



head or caudal rays, is as one to four ; the depth of 

 the body, compared to the whole length of the fish, as 

 one to five ; the commencement of the dorsal tin half 

 way between the point of the upper jaw and the end 

 of the fleshy portion of the tail ; the longest ray 

 nearly as long as the base of the fin ; the pectoral fin 

 rather large compared to the size of the other fins. 

 The ventral fin arises considerably behind the line of 

 the commencement of the dorsal fin this fin is small, 

 with elongated axillary scales, its origin half way 

 between the point of the lower and the end of the 

 short central caudal rays ; the anal fin begins half 

 way between the origin of the central and the end of 

 the fleshy portion of the tail, and extends over half 

 the distance between its origin and the end of the 

 fleshy portion, thus occupying the third quarter divi- 

 sion of the distance between the origin of the ventral 

 fin and the end of the fleshy portion of the tail ; the 

 rays very short ; the tail considerably forked ; the 

 outer rays as long again as those of the middle ; the 

 fin rays in number are, dorsal fin seventeen rays, 

 pectoral fin fifteen, ventral nine, anal fourteen, caudal 

 twenty, spine consisting of fifty-six vertebrae, but the 

 rays vary in some specimens to nineteen dorsal, seven- 

 teen pectoral, nine ventral, sixteen anal, and eighteen 

 caudal. The lower jaw is by much the longer, with 

 five or six small teeth extending in a line backwards 

 on each side from the anterior point ; four rows of 

 small teeth on the central upper surface of the 

 tongue ; a few small teeth on the central portion of 

 the upper jaw, and the inferior edges below the gape 

 finely serrated ; the eye large ; its diameter, com- 

 pared to the length of the head, as two to seven, and 

 placed at the distance of its own breadth from the end 

 of the nose ; the dorsal and abdominal lines of the 

 body slightly convex ; the belly carinated, but not 

 serrated ; the scales moderate in size, oval, and 

 thin. The upper part of the fish a fine blue, with 

 green and other reflections when viewed in different 

 lights ; the lower part of the side and belly silvery 

 white ; cheeks and gill-covers silvery, exhibiting the 

 appearance of extravasation when the fish has been 

 dad twenty-four hours ; dorsal and caudal fins dusky ; 

 the. fins on the lower parts of the body almost white." 

 LEACH'S HSRIUNG (C. Leachii). We are indebted 

 to Mr. Yarrell for the first distinct account of this 

 variety, though it had been previously noticed by 

 others that there were some differences in herrings. 

 This species differs from the common one in the 

 hape being much deeper in proportion to the length, 

 and more curved in the line both of the back and the 

 belly. The eye is also much larger, and the scales 

 mailer; the dorsal fin also is not placed quite so far 

 behind the centre of gravity, so that when this fish is 

 tried by the usual test of distinguishing a sprat from 

 a herring, by the drooping of the herring's head when 

 field by the dorsal fin, this one does not droop so 

 much as the other. This species is met with on 

 various parts of the British coasts ; but, so far as is 

 decided, not in such numbers in any one locality as 

 he common herring. It may be, however, that this 

 s the fish which is sometimes taken in good condition 

 and full of roe in the middle of winter ; and if so, 

 here is a chance that, if proper attention were paid to 

 this fishery, the herring might be obtained fresli for 

 at least six months of the year ; for this one comes in 

 season as soon as the common herring goes out. The 

 icrring fisheries in the western and eastern seas of 

 he north part of the island alternate with each other, 



