THE SH0EP:S of BRITAIN. 



79 





\^i' 



JIACKEKEL-BOAT OFF HASTINGS. 



marine worms, Crustacea, and shelled mollusca. It 

 is a voracious fish. Mr. Couch records having taken 

 thirty-five crabs, none of them less than a half-crown 

 piece, from the stomach of a single Cod : his greedi- 

 ness is often his own destruction and the fisherman's 

 advantage, for it induces him readily to seii^e the bait. 

 It is most abundant on the north and west coasts 

 of Scotland, but is taken in considerable plenty all 

 round the coasts of our island. In some of the 

 Hebrides there are large pools for the presentation of 

 sea-fishes, hollowed out of the solid rock, and com- 

 municating with the sea by narrow clefts at high tide. 

 Great numbers of Cod-fishes are kept in these vivaria, 

 and are fed with various garl.iage, or the bodies of 

 other fishes. Tlie stock is replenished by casting in 



