3 



tain coasts, at a certain time of the year, is of great ad* 

 vantage to mankind ; but the reason of it has been 

 little understood ; yet observation may clear it up* 

 There is a small insect, common in many seas, parti- 

 cularly on the coast of Normandy, in June, July, and 

 August. They then cover the whole surface of the 

 water as a scum ; and this is the season when the her. 

 rings come also in such prodigious quantities. The 

 fishermen destroy much of these vermin ; yet to these 

 alone their fisheries are owing. For it is evident the 

 herrings feed on these by the quantities found in all 

 their stomachs ; and doubtless, the very reason of their 

 coming is to feed upon them. Probably the case is the 

 same in all other places where the herrings come in the 

 same plenty. 



The numberless swarms of herrings, cod, and other 

 fish, that come forth yearly from their shelter, under 

 the ice adjoining to the north pole, divide themselves 

 into three bodies. One part direct their course south, 

 ward towards the British Islands, another part west- 

 ward, toward Newfoundland, and other places ia 

 North America, and the third part along the coast of 

 Norway, and then through the Sound into the Baltic. 



The water, though quite still before, curls up ia 

 waves wherever they come. They crowd together in 

 such numbers, that they may be taken up by pailfttlls. 



A large shoal of herrings reaches (according to the 

 fisherman's account) a hundred or two hundred fathoms 

 deep. They extend also to a considerable circumfe- 

 rence. Were they all to be caught, the greatest part 

 would be lost. For it would be impossible to get hands, 

 tubs, salt, and other necessaries to cure them. Se- 

 veral hundred ship-loads are sent every year from Ber- 

 gen alone to foreign parts, besides the quantities that 

 the peasants at home consume, who make them their 

 daily provision. 



The fishers on the western isles of Scotland observe, 

 that there is a large herring, double the size of a com- 

 mon one, whkh leads all that are in the bay, the 

 shoal following him wherever he goes : this leader 

 B2 



