234 DISTRIBUTION OF THE HERRING. [CHAP. vi. 



elation at Oxford, three years ago, settled with much care and 

 very effectually the geographical part of the herring question. 

 His idea also is that the herring is a native of the coast on 

 which it is found, and that immediately after spawning the 

 full-sized herrings make at once for the deep waters of their 

 own neighbourhood, where they feed till the spawning season 

 again induces them to seek the shallow water. Mr. Mitchell 

 gives his reasons, and states that the herrings resorting to the 

 various localities have marked differences in size, shape, or 

 quality ; those of each particular coast having a distinct and 

 specific character which cannot be mistaken ; and so well de- 

 termined are those particulars that practical men, on seeing 

 the herrings, can at once pronounce the locality from whence 

 they come ; as, indeed, is the case with salmon, turbot, and 

 many other fishes and crustaceans. 



On the southern coast of Greenland the herring is a rare 

 fish ; and, according to Crantz, only a small variety is found 

 on the northern shore, nor has it been observed in any number 

 in the proper icy seas as it would undoubtedly have been 

 had it resorted thither in such innumerable quantities as was 

 imagined by the naturalists of the last century. Another 

 proof that the herring is local to the coasts of Britain lies in 

 the fact of the different varieties brought to our own markets. 

 As expert fishers know the salmon of particular rivers, so do 

 some men know the different localities of our herring from 

 merely glancing at the fish. A Lochfyne fish differs in 

 appearance from a herring taken off the coast of Caithness, 

 while the latter again differs from those taken by the Dunbar 

 boats off the Isle of May. Experienced fishmongers know the 

 different localities of the same kinds of fish as easily as a far- 

 mer will separate a Cheviot sheep from a Southdown. Thus 

 they can at once distinguish a Severn salmon from one caught 

 in the Tweed or the Spey, and they can tell at a glance a 

 Lochfyne matie from a Firth of Forth one. 



