322 FISHING IN AMERICAN WATEES. 



of Cornwall although never entirely absent from it much before March. 

 A little later they visit the coast of Devonshire, appearing to approach the 

 land as the season advances. At Lowestoft and Yarmouth the fishing season 

 is still later, and is at its height during the months of May and June, whilst 

 in the Frith of Forth June and July are the months when they usually ap- 

 pear. In the Orkneys few fish are taken until the last week in July or the 

 first in August. 



"The mackerel family have an extended range, and are found most abun- 

 dant in warmer climes than the British Isles. The Sea of Marmora and the 

 Bosphorus at times literally swarm with them. It is extremely picturesque 

 and exciting to see the light and graceful ' caiques' dancing like bubbles 

 over the clear blue sea, as, propelled by their lusty crews, they shoot here and 

 there amongst the circling nets. Meantime the cunning old cormorants, un- 

 dismayed by the bustle and splashing water, ply their occupation most dili- 

 gently. As they grow audacious from long-continued impunity, they make a 

 sudden raid over the corks into the thick of the struggling, fluttering fry. 

 The fishermen shout, and by dint of admonitory pokes, liberally administered 

 with the oar-blades, the greedy, long-necked throng are ignominiously ex- 

 pelled, and retire beyond the nets, gobbling down at leisure their ill-gotten 

 plunder. Some idea of the abundance of fish to be found in this part of the 

 world, and of the immunity from persecution enjoyed by these birds, may be 

 formed by watching the countless thousands of them which at times pass, in 

 apparently endless lines, between the Sea of Marmora and the Black Sea. I 

 have watched them for hours without seeing any apparent diminution in their 

 passing hosts. Vast numbers of mackerel also frequent the coasts of the isl- 

 and of St. Helena, where immense quantities can be captured. I have taken 

 them with the hook and line until literally tired of hauling up and unhook- 

 ing, baiting with a little strip of salt pork-rind, and throwing biscuit-dust 

 overboard as an attraction. These fish, although of excellent flavor, are 

 rarely more than seven or eight inches long, and are much like the shiners, 

 or young mackerel, found abundantly on the English coast during the sum- 

 mer months; while in British waters, from fourteen to sixteen inches in 

 length, and two pounds in weight, is not an unusual size. 



"Much importance appears in past times to have been attached to the 

 sale of mackerel in London, as we find that a law was passed in the year 

 1698 legalizing their being vended by a 'cry' on Sunday, which custom, as 

 we know, still continues. 



" There are several modes by which the capture of the mackerel is effected. 

 Seines, or long nets furnished with corks at the top and leads at the bottom, 

 are dexterously carried by fast boats round the advancing shoal of fish, which 

 is inclosed as within a 'pound.' The ends of the net are now secured, and 

 the fish either taken from within the inclosure with a smaller net, or drawn 

 to the surface in the ' bunts' or bags formed in the larger seines, when the 

 leaping, struggling fish are dipped up literally by basketfuls (by men stationed 

 on the gunwale of the boat for the purpose) and thrown into a compartment 

 provided for their reception. Great numbers are at times taken in ground 

 seines or nets, which, although somewhat like those above described, are 

 smaller, and so arranged as to be dragged to the beach with their contents. 

 ' Trammel' and ' drift' nets may be compared to curtains suspended in mid- 

 water, and are moored securely in the places selected for them by heavy 

 stones fastened to their ends. In them the heedless fish, not perceiving the 

 treacherous web, dart their heads, become hopelessly entangled, and are ulti- 

 mately strangled in the meshes. 



" Hook-fishing, too, lends its aid in thinning the rainbow throng. As a 

 matter of sport and pastime, few pursuits, I think, are more thoroughly en- 



