THE SMELT. 



Observations by Mr. Pennant. 



points interspersed ; it has many teeth in the 

 lips, hut none in the tongue or jaws. It is found 

 in the fresh waters of Carolina. 



* l This fish," says Mr. Peqnant, speaking in 

 general terms of the smelt, " inhabits the seas of 

 the northern parts of Europe ; but, he believes., 

 is never found so far south as the Mediterranean; 

 the Seine is one of the French rivers which re- 

 ceive it; but whether it is found south of that 

 there is no authority to decide. If the observa- 

 tions of navigators, (who have generally too much 

 to engage their attention, to think much of the 

 minutiae of natural history,) can be depended 

 upon, smelts are taken in the Straits of Magellan 

 measuring twenty inches in length, and eight iu 

 Circumference. 



" They are met with in the seas that wash our 

 coasts the whole year, and seldom go far from 

 (shore, except when they ascend the rivers, which 

 they do with the tide, and in proof of which it 

 is remarked, that they appear a long time before 

 they spawn, being taken in abundance in the 

 Thames and Dee in November and two succeed- 

 ing months; in other rivers not until February, 

 and in March and April they spawn, and are 

 very prolific : after which they all return to the 

 salt water, and are not seen in the rivers till the 

 next season. It has been observed, that they 

 never come into the Mersey, so long as there is 

 any show water in its current ; and that in spring 

 and the beginning of summer they will run far- 



