FISHEUIES AND THEIR PKODUCE. 39 



The western and eastern coasts of our island 

 are visited by the smelt, of which shoals, leaving 

 the sea in August, migrate up the estuaries 

 and so enter the rivers, where they sojourn 

 until the following spring ; there they deposit 

 their I'oe, during the mouths of March and 

 April, soon after which they return to the salt 

 water. Along the line of our southern coast 

 a fish called the atherine, or sand smelt, some- 

 times confounded with the true smelt, is found. 

 It is, however, inferior to the latter, w^hich does 

 not occur, or only occurs very rarely along the 

 southern coast.* The whitebait in myriads 

 visits the Thames, appearing in April, and 

 continuing to September. The sprat abounds 

 on our shores ; in winter, many tons are brought 

 to the London markets, and large quantities are 

 sold as manure in Kent, Essex, Norfolk, and 

 Suffolk. About forty bushels of sprats will 

 manure a single acre, at the price of sixpence 

 or eightpence a bushel, 



London is suppUed with vast quantities of 

 eels, by far the greater number of which are 

 brought alive from Holland. 



We have hitherto said nothing respecting 



* The true smelt has the second dorsal fin adipose, without 

 rays, while in the atherine the second dorsal fin is membra- 

 neous, and supported by numerous rays, 



