HADDOCK. 265 



been counted in a cod of only a middling size. In our 

 seas they begin to spawn in January ; and deposit their 

 eggs in rough ground, among rocks and shelves. The 

 general weight of such as these parts supply, Is from 

 fourteen to forty pounds; though occasionally they are 

 found much larger. A cod was caught at Scarborough, 

 in 1755, which measured five feet eight inches, and the 

 girth round the shoulders was five feet ; it weighed seventy- 

 eight pounds : this fish was sold at the very low price of 

 a shilling. 



THE HADDOCK. 



This fish affords delicate eating during some of the 

 winter months, and is much esteemed for the table. The 

 weight is, in general, about two or three pounds, but some 

 have been found occasionally upwards of twelve. The 

 body is long and slender ; the head slopes down to the 

 nose ; the space between the head part of the dorsal fin is 

 ridged ; the chin is furnished with a small beard ; and on 

 each side of the gills is a large black spot, which super- 

 stition has long attributed to the impression of St. Peter's 

 finger and thumb, when he took the tribute-money from 

 the mouth of a fish. The upper part of the body is dusky 

 or brown ; the belly and the lower part of the sides arc 

 silvery, and the tail is bifid. 



Vast shoals of haddocks arrive periodically on the York- 

 shire coast; and are so regular in their annual returns, 

 that for some years successively they have been observed 

 to appear exactly on the same day of the month. These 

 shoals frequently extend three miles in breadth ; and in 

 length comprehend all the space from Flamborough-head 

 to Tinmouth-castle, and perhaps farther. They are inces- 

 santly harassed by the dog-fish, whose pursuit confines 

 them, like a barrier, within certain limits. 



According to the fishermen, haddocks sink to the bottom 

 of the sea during stormy weather, where they shelter them- 

 selves in the sand and ooze till the tempests have subsided ; 

 f ter which, when taken, they have commonly mud on their 



K 



