178 THE HERRING. 



obliged to make a second division. The one takes to 

 the western side, and is scarce perceived, being soon 

 lost in the immensity of the Atlantic ; but the other, 

 which passes into the Irish Sea, rejoices and feeds the 

 inhabitants of most of the coasts that border on it." 



This is so minute as to convey the idea that, to be 

 accurate, the writer of it must have been amphibious, 

 and that he spent his days either subaqueously or her- 

 ring-hunting by means of the water-telescope a valu- 

 able instrument used along the coasts of Norway, and 

 deserving the attention of British fishermen. The fact, 

 however, is, that Pennant derives his notions of the 

 pole - haunting herring from Bonnet, whose ' Contem- 

 plation de la Nature ' first appeared in 1764, and was 

 speedily translated into most of the languages of Eu- 

 rope. As Pennant in 1765 visited France, Switzerland, 

 Holland, and part of Germany, and was intimate with 

 Buffon, Haller, and the Gesners, we think it more than 

 probable that at Geneva he made the acquaintance of 

 the ingenious inquirer Bonnet, or at least was familiar 

 with his writings. In the work of Bonnet we trace the 

 origin of the for-long-generally-received belief regard- 

 ing the migration of the herring. Our translation of a 

 portion of it makes this apparent. 



" Herrings migrate in great shoals from the north 

 pole to the coasts of England and Holland. These 

 migrations appear to be caused by the whales and other 

 large fish of the arctic seas, which pursue the herrings. 

 These sea-monsters swallow at once whole tons of them. 

 They often pursue their prey as far as the coasts of 

 England and Holland. The herrings seem to be a 

 manna prepared by Providence for nourishing a great 

 number of fish and sea-birds. In order that the species 

 may be preserved, they must have the power of with- 

 drawing from the pursuit of their enemies. 



" The herrings arrive on the coasts of England and 

 Scotland about the beginning of June. These numer- 

 ous legions then separate in several divisions ; some 



