DWELLERS IN THE DEEP 



211 



to worry mankind any more than his prototype 

 in slaughter, the bluefish. They neither of them 

 cease from killing until there is nothing left 

 to kill. 



With the mackerels it is breed, again, that 

 saves them from extinction. A single female 

 will give forth at one spawning upward of two 

 hundred thousand eggs. With such fecundity 

 it is something of a wonder how the species is 

 kept within limits. It has, indeed, been gravely 

 estimated that were all the mackerel eggs that 

 are spawned brought to maturity the whole sea 

 in a short time would be a solid mass of im- 

 movable fish. But the mackerel has many ene- 

 mies and his ranks are slashed by almost every 

 fish in the sea. He travels, with millions of 

 his companions, in schools; and seeks by flight 

 and dodging to escape the enemy. A very beau- 

 tiful sight it is to see them wheeling with a 

 swift flash of their silver sides in the sunlight, 

 sheering off from an attacking band. But usu- 

 ally the feint avails little. The sea wolves take 

 toll and blood flows; but the mackerels, veering 

 and tacking, losing on the flanks and rear but 

 ever closing up the broken lines, keep mov- 

 ing on. 



The flying flsh is a food fish, too, but not so 

 plentiful as the herring or the mackerel. His 



The 

 mackerelt. 



Movement 

 of the 

 school. 



