120 THE KING OF THE HERRINGS 



XXVIII 



On 23rd May 1908 there turned up on the rocks 

 The King of near Dunbar a fine specimen of the oarfish, 

 the Herrings O r King of the Herrings (Regalecus glesne), 

 one of the handsomest, rarest, and most mysterious 

 of British fishes. We claim the creature as British 

 because it is sometimes, at long intervals, cast up on 

 our coasts, but in truth its range appears to be world- 

 wide, for it is known to inhabit the Atlantic, the Indian 

 Ocean, the South Pacific, and the Mediterranean. 

 Specimens from these widely separated seas have been 

 classed by some icthyologists as distinct species, but 

 the recent tendency is to regard them as belonging 

 only to one. The question is a peculiarly elusive one, 

 owing to the impossibility hitherto experienced in 

 obtaining a perfect specimen. The King of the Her- 

 rings holds his court in the abysmal depths of ocean, 

 and probably never approaches the land except when 

 suffering from disease or injury. His portrait does not 

 appear among Von Wright's splendid coloured plates 

 in Professor Smith's Scandinavian Fislues, for the 

 artist had nothing but museum specimens to work 

 from, and the brilliant metallic skin of this fish, com- 

 pared by those who have seen it fresh to ' bright tinfoil 

 or white Dutch metal,' turns black soon after death. 

 In the work referred to (vol i. p. 323) there is a large 

 drawing in black and white, partly schematic that is, 

 designed from perfect parts of different specimens 

 which brings vividly to mind the drawings which 

 various witnesses have made from time to time of 



