312 



HISTORY OF FISHES. 



The pilchard, vvhicli is a fish differing little 

 from the herring, makes the coast of Cornwall 

 its place of principal resort. Their arrival on 

 that coast is soon proclaimed by their atten- 



farther than Mr Pennant, who notices the caprice 

 which the herrings exercise with regard to their haunts. 

 The promulgation of these and similar erroneous notions 

 is productive of mischief in various ways. The belief 

 that a particular part of the coast was invariably haunted 

 by the herrings, excited hopes of commercial prosperity 

 from the fishery, and led to the formation of establish- 

 ments which it was afterwards found necessary to 

 abandon, owing to the laws which direct the arrival of 

 the fish being so completely fluctuating. Factitious 

 views of the designs of Providence have been taken, 

 which, being founded on error, were liable to be sud- 

 denly overthrown ; whereas, within the bounds of ascer- 

 tained facts, there are to be found abundant manifesta- 

 tions of beneficent design, the evidence of which rests 

 upon a more secure foundation. The very uncertainty 

 which characterizes the herrings in the choice of their 

 haunts is attended with advantage, as it occasions atten- 

 tion to be directed to agriculture and to other means of 

 subsistence than that which the ocean supplies, and 

 thus the chances of scarcity are lessened. 



So far from the arctic seas being the great resort to 

 which the herrings retire for the winter after having 

 deposited their spawn, it is nearly certain that they are 

 not in the habit of leaving the seas on the shores of 

 which they periodically appear. They leave the shore 

 for the deep sea, and the return of warm weather again 

 brings them around the coasts. The herring, it may 

 also be stated, is nearly unknown within the polar seas, 

 and has scarcely been observed by the navigators of 

 those regions ; nor are they taken by the Greenlanders. 

 A small variety of the herring is sometimes found, and 

 is noticed by Sir John Franklin. The young are found 

 at the mouth of the Thames, and on the coasts of Essex 

 and Kent during the winter. The Dutch at one period 

 carried on the fishery in the deep sea at all seasons. 

 On the western coast of Scotland the fishery has some- 

 times terminated before that on the eastern coast has 

 commenced. It has sometimes commenced earlier in a 

 southern part of the coast than further north, and on 

 the western coast of the county Cork before any other 

 part of the united kingdom. These facts are all ad- 

 verse to the accounts which have been given of a grand 

 movement in military order from the Arctic seas. On 

 the east coast of Scotland the herrings often spawn at 

 a different period from those which resort to the western 

 coast, and at the same time their condition is quite dissi- 

 milar. Mr Jesse, in his " Gleanings in Natural History," 

 states that the herrings of Cardigan bay are much supe- 

 rior to those taken at Swansea. Dr John Macculloch 

 is of opinion that this may arise from their obtaining more 

 abundant or different food. He states that in Scotland 

 no migration takes place even between the two coasts, 

 and that when the herrings first appear on the western 

 coast it is not in shoals; and instead of being taken by 

 the net, they are taken by the line. Sir Humphry 

 Davy has remarked as follows in his " Salmonia:" " It 

 has always appeared to mo, that the two great sources 

 of change of places of animals, was the providing of 

 food for themselves, and resting-places and food for 

 their young. The great supposed migrations of her- 

 rings fion the poles to the temperate zone, have ap- 

 peared to me to he only the approach of successive shoals 

 from deep to shallow water, for the purpose of spawn- 

 ing." The presumption, therefore, is that the herring is 

 a permanent inhabitant of our seas, and that there are 

 different varieties of the species. Mr Yarrell says : 

 " There are three species of herrings said to visit the 

 Baltic, and three seasons of roe and spawning. The 

 btrornling, or small spring herring, spawns when the 



dants the birds and the larger fishes ; and the 

 whole country prepare to take the advantage 

 of this treasure, providentially thrown before 

 them. The natives sometimes enclose a bay 



ice begins to melt ; then a large summer herring ; and 

 lastly, towards the middle of September, the autumn 

 herring makes its appearance and deposits its spawn.'' 

 The same naturalist has discovered what he believes to 

 be a second species of British herring: it is found heavy 

 with roe at the end of January, which it does not de- 

 posit till the middle of February. The flavour is milder 

 than that of the common herring, but it is not so large, 

 its length being seven inches, and its depth two. 



The frequent changes of their haunts by herrings have 

 been a fruitful source of speculation, though this fact is 

 adverse to the accounts which give to their migration all 

 the regularity which would seem to belong to so well 

 organized an army. At one time they frequent a parti- 

 cular part of the coast for several years, and they after, 

 wards suddenly abandon it. The change is doubtless 

 occasioned by circumstances which it is their nature to 

 obey. In the time of Charles I. the Long island, one 

 of the western islands of Scotland, was a favourite resort 

 of the herring, and buildings were erected for the pur- 

 pose of establishing a fishery, but it w r as abandoned in 

 consequence of the fish ceasing to frequent that part of 

 the coast. Dr Macculloch, in his work on the " High- 

 lands and Western isles of Scotland," has introduced 

 some remarks which are too apt to be omitted in this 

 place. " As vulgar philosophy (he says) is never satis- 

 fied unless it can find a cause for everything, this dis- 

 appearance of the herring has been attributed to the 

 manufacture of kelp. But kelp was not introduced for 

 very many years after the herrings had left the Long 

 island, as well as many other coasts which they had 

 frequented. It is also a popular belief that naval 

 engagements, or even the firing of guns, cause them to 

 change their haunts. Thus their desertion of Sweden 

 was attributed to the battle of Copenhagen; and now, 

 when guns are at peace, the steam-boats are the ' suffi- 

 cient reason.' The one reason is as valid as the other. 

 It is a chance if there has been a gun fired in the west- 

 ern islands since the days of Cromwell, and they have 

 shifted their quarters within that period many a time. 

 They have long left loch Hourn, and loch Torridon, 

 where steam-boats never yet smoked; and since the 

 steam-boat has chosen to go to Inverary, they have also 

 thought fit to prefer loch Fyne to all the western bays. 

 But theories like this have at least the merit of antiquity. 

 Long before the days of gunpowder, the ancient high- 

 landers thought that the fish deserted those coasts where 

 blood had been shed ; so that the gun hypothesis is only 

 an old one revived, with the necessary modifications." 



Assuming that the herring approaches our shores from 

 the deep surrounding seas, and does not migrate from the 

 polar seas alone, there are three different circumstances 

 which may occasion its movements : 1. For the pur- 

 pose of spawning. 2. In pursuit of food. 3. To escape 

 from enemies which prey upon them. 



The herring spawns towards the end of October or the 

 beginning of November; and for the purpose of vivifica- 

 tion, it is necessary that it should be deposited in shallow 

 water, where it may receive the heat of the sun. This 

 instinctive movement is felt in the middle of July, and 

 they are thus brought within the reach of man when they 

 are in the highest perfection. They are worthless as 

 food after having deposited their spawn, and the fishing 

 season of course terminates. Mr Yarrell is of opinion, 

 from repeated examinations, that the herringsile, or young 

 herrings, do not mature any roe during their first year ; 

 and hence they are not impelled to retire to the deep sea, 

 but haunt the coasts. The weight of spawn in the her. 

 ring is 480 grains, and the number of eggs between 3000 

 and 4000. This spawn has been thrown ashore in Ork- 



