PREFACE. ix 



herrings, pilchards, cod, and falmon ! 

 Though thefe fifli are delicious eating 

 frefh, they are fo abundant, when they 

 come on certain coafts, that the greateft 

 part would be loft, if they were not pre- 

 pared after different manners. Fifh falted, 

 pickled, dried, or fmoaked, forms a very 

 considerable branch of commerce, and is of 

 much more importance than frefh fifh for 

 the markets. 



It is true, that the eftablifhment of a 

 fifhing company in Ireland has hitherto 

 failed, notwithstanding the great bounties 

 offered by parliament. 



Thofe of France at firft failed alfo, tho' 

 the French were more folicitous in culti- 

 vating the fiming trade, than all the 

 branches, which tend to increafe their ma- 

 ritime power, When Lewis XIV. was 

 moved to admit the Dutch and Englifli 

 timing-boats into Dieppe, Dunkirk, &c. 

 with herrings, the king anfwered : No ! 

 By no means : if my people will have her- 

 rings, 'why do they not catch them, as the 

 ftnglijh and Dutch do ? Upon which the 



merchants 



