226 GENERAL ACCOUNT OF NEW ZEALAND CHAP, x 



of North America, make up the whole list. Of these last, 

 however, which are most justly accounted the curse of any 

 country where they abound, we never met with any great 

 abundance; a few indeed there were in almost every place 

 we went into, but never enough to make any occupations 

 ashore troublesome, or to give occasion for using shades for 

 the face, which we had brought out to protect us from such 

 insects. 



For this scarcity of animals on the land the sea, how- 

 ever, makes abundant recompense ; every creek and corner 

 produces abundance of fish, not only wholesome, but at least 

 as well-tasted as our fish in Europe. The ship seldom 

 anchored in, or indeed passed over (in light winds), any 

 place whose bottom was such as fish generally resort to, 

 without our catching as many with hooks and line as the 

 people could eat. This was especially the case to the south- 

 ward, where, when we lay at anchor, the boats could take 

 any quantity near the rocks ; besides which the seine 

 seldom failed of success, insomuch that on the two occasions 

 when we anchored to the southward of Cook's Straits, every 

 mess in the ship that had prudence enough salted as much 

 fish as lasted them many weeks after they went to sea. 



For the sorts, there are mackerel of several kinds, one 

 precisely the same as our English, and another much like 

 our horse-mackerel, besides several more. These come in 

 immense shoals and are taken in large seines by the natives, 

 from whom we bought them at very easy rates. Besides 

 these there were many species which, though they did not 

 at all resemble any fish that I at least have before seen, our 

 seamen contrived to give names to, so that hake, bream, 

 cole-fish, etc., were appellations familiar with us, and I must 

 say that those which bear these names in England need not 

 be ashamed of their namesakes in this country. But above 

 all the luxuries we met with, the lobsters, or sea-crawfish, 

 must not be forgotten. They are possibly the same as are 

 mentioned in Lord Anson's voyage as being found at the 

 island of Juan Fernandez, and differ from ours in England 

 in having many more prickles on their backs and being red 



