FISHERIES AND THEIR PRODUCE. 37 



every night by the tide to Billingsgate, till the 

 well was emptied ; these vessels are by no 

 means so numerous as formerly. We may 

 here observe, that the Doggerbank cod is dis- 

 tinguished by a sharp nose elongated before the 

 eyes, and by the skin being of a dark brown 

 colour ; this variety prevails on our southern 

 shores. The Scotch cod has the nose round 

 and blunt, short and wide, and the skin is of a 

 yellowish ash-green. This short-nosed northern 

 variety is now less frequently to be seen in the 

 London shops than it was some years since. 

 The cod, and other white fish, are in the highest 

 perfection from October to the end of De- 

 cember. 



The pilchard fishery, a fishery of some im- 

 portance, is carried on off the coasts of Cornwall 

 and Devon, which are visited by migratory 

 shoals in August and September, and also in 

 November or December. About a thousand 

 boats are said to be engaged in this business, 

 giving employment to about 3,500 men at 

 sea, and 5,000 men and women on shore. The 

 fish are pickled in barrels, and exported to the 

 continent. The average exports amount to 

 about 30,000 hogsheads per annum. As 

 regards turbots and soles, the former are rather 

 rare on the English coast ; the iar greater number 



