90 THE OCEAN. 



Next in importance to the members of the above 

 valuable family is the Mackerel, the most elegantly 

 beautiful of the finny tribes that throng our shores. 

 It is in season earlier than the Herring, usually 

 appearing in spring, and the fishery is prosecuted in 

 May and June, as in the latter month it spawns. It 

 occurs in most abundance in the southern part of the 

 kingdom, the coasts of Kent and Sussex being the 

 chief stations of the fishery. The Mackerel is taken 

 principally by nets, which are so set as to arrest 

 the fish while roving about during the night ; many, 

 however, are taken by means of the hook, the fa- 

 vourite bait being a strip of flesh cut from the tail of 

 a fresh Mackerel, or, in default thereof, a bit of red 

 cloth : the fish bite most readily when the boat is 

 sailing rapidly before the wind. The value of this 

 fish depends, in a more than common degree, on its 

 freshness ; and hence it is important that no time be 

 lost in conveying it to market. Fast-sailing boats 

 are therefore kept in readiness to convey the cargoes 

 to London as soon as caught, which usually find it 

 advantageous to secure the aid of steam in ascending 

 the river, as the loss of a single tide may diminish 

 the value of the cargo one half, or even render it 

 utterly unsaleable. During the season, not less than 

 one hundred thousand are thus brought to Billings- 

 gate per week. 



The preceding species, coming in swarming shoals 

 into the shallow waters, are usually taken by nets; 

 but the Cod, another very valuable fish having dif- 

 ferent habits, is taken singly, by hook and line. It 

 does not appear that the Cod is gregarious from 





