GREA T BRITAIN. 87 



secured by 69 boats. By the end of April the milt and 

 roe were matured. The average weight of these fish was 

 about 2 Ib. each. By April the Cornish mackerel began to 

 improve very much in taste, and large quantities were taken 

 on the south coast at Mevagissey. In May the Dover 

 boats brought into Ventnor 'the first of the season ; in 

 July, 1882, they appeared off Poole. 



As a general rule, the first mackerel off the Hampshire 

 and Sussex coast are taken in March, or even in February ; 

 while off Norfolk their greatest fisheries are in May and 

 June, at which period they also arrive off the Isle of Man. 

 In the Orkneys they are generally present during the last 

 week in July, and in the Moray Firth they 'come in immense 

 shoals in August. 



But in mentioning these fish I must remark that we 

 have two distinct sizes, each of which seems to a great 

 extent to keep by itself ; the larger ones, as from I Ib. to 

 2-1- Ib., keeping further out to sea, while the smaller ones 

 come more inshore. The first are absent, as a rule, during 

 the winter, while some at least of the smaller or yearling 

 ones remain during the winter months. 



As already observed, mackerel may arrive long prior to 

 their usual period. At Mevagissey, in 1818, 15,000 were 

 taken between February 1st and I2th ; in the same month, 

 in 1842, two boats brought into Plymouth 18,000 ; and in 

 1843, in the first week in February, from 20,000 to 30,000 

 were captured each night. 



The period at which the arrival of these fish may be 

 anticipated at any particular locality may be somewhat 

 accurately computed by ascertaining at what date they 

 normally appear off certain points, and how long an inter- 

 val generally occurs between their arrival at one place and 

 their subsequent appearance at a more distant locality. 



