SPINOUS FISHES. 



653 



tempestuous. Thfir passage begins usually 

 about the end of January, and continues till 

 towards t-he end of May, when they are taken 

 in the river Arno by millions, and so small 

 th-tt-a thousand of them goes to a pound. 

 There is nothing more certain than that they 

 descend in our own rivers after floods, in 

 great abundance, and are thus caught in nets, 

 to very great advantage. They are possessed 

 also of a power of climbing over any obstacle ; 

 for, by applying their glutinous' and slimy 

 bodies to the surface of the object they desire 

 to surmount, they can thus creep up locks, 

 weirs, and every thing that Would prevent 

 their ascending the current of the stream. 



But the length of the voyage performed by 

 these fishes, is sport, if compared to what is 

 annually under-taken by some tribes, that 

 constantly reside in the ocean. These are 

 known to take a course of three or four thou- 

 sand miles in .a season, serving for prey to 

 whales, sharks, and the numerous flocks of 

 water-fowl, that regularly wait to intercept 

 their progress. These may be called fish of 

 passage, and bear a strong an >logy to birds of 

 passage, both from their social disposition, and 

 the immensity of their numbers. Of this 

 kind are the cod, the haddock, the whiting, 

 the mackarel, the tunny, the herring, and the 

 pilchard. Other fish live in our vicinity, and 

 reside on our coasts all the year round ; or 

 keep in the depths of the ocean, and are but 

 seldom seen : but these, at stated seasons, 

 visit their accustomed haunts with regular 

 certainty, generally returning the same week 

 in the succeeding year, and often the same 

 day. 



The stated returns, and the regular progress 

 of these fish of passage, is one of the most ex- 

 traordinary circumstances in all the history of 

 nature. What it is that impels them to such 

 distant voyages ; what directs their passage ; 

 and what supports them by the way ; and 

 what sometimes prompts them to quit, for 

 several seasons, one shore for another, and 

 then return to their accustomed harbour : are 

 questions that curiosity may ask, but philoso- 

 phy can hardly resolve. We must dismiss 

 inquiry, satisfied with the certainty of the 

 facts. 



The cod seems to be the foremost of this 

 wandering tribe, and is only found in our 

 northern part of the world. This animal's 



chief place of resort is on the banks of New- 

 foundland, and the other sand-banks that lie 

 off Cape Breton. That extensive flat, seems 

 to be no other than the broad top of a sea- 

 mountain, extending for above five hundred 

 miles long, and surrounded with a deeper 

 sea. Hither the cod annually repair in num- 

 bers beyond the power of calculation, to feed 

 on the quantity of worms that are to be found 

 there in the sandy bottom. Here they are 

 taken in such quantities, that they supply all 

 Europe with a considerable share of provision. 

 The English have stages erected all along the 

 shore for salting and drying them ; and the 

 fishermen, who take them with the hook and 

 line, which is their method, draw them in as 

 fast as they can throw out. This immense 

 capture, however, makes but a very small 

 diminution, when compared to their numbers; 

 and when their provision there is exhausted, 

 or the season for propagation returns, they go 

 off to the polar seas, where they deposite their 

 roes in full security. From thence want of 

 food forces them, as soon as the first more 

 southern seas are open, to repair southward 

 for subsistence. Nor is this fish an unfrequent 

 visitant upon our own shores : but the returns 

 are not so regular, nor does the capture bear 

 any proportion to that at Newfoundland. 



The haddock, the whiting, and the macka- 

 rel, are thought by some to be driven upon 

 our coast rather by their fears than their ap- 

 petites ; and it is to the pursuit of the larger 

 fishes we owe their welcome visits. It is 

 much more probable, that they come for that 

 food which is found in more plenty near the 

 shore than farther out at sea. One thing is 

 remarkable, that their migrations seem to be 

 regularly conducted. The grand shoal of 

 haddocks that comes periodically on the 

 Yorkshire coasts, appeared there in a body 

 on the tenth of December, 1766; and exactly 

 on the same day in the following year. This 

 shoal extended from the shore near three 

 miles in breadth, and in length for more than 

 forty. The limits of a shoal are precisely 

 known; for if the fishermen put down their 

 lines at the distance of more than three miles 

 from shore, they catch nothing but dog-fish : 

 a proof (hat the haddock is not there. 



But of all migrating fish, the herring and 

 the pilchard take the most adventurous voy- 

 ages. Herrings are found in the greatest 



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