516 HisTOKY or 



do not make war upon others, sturgeons live in society amonj^ 

 themselves ; rather for the purposes of pleasure than from any 

 power of mutual protection. Gesner even asserts, that they are 

 delighted with sounds of various kinds ; and that he has seen 

 them shoal together at the notes of a trumpet. 



The usual time, as was said before, for the sturgeon to come 

 up rivers to deposit its spawn, is about the beginning of summer, 

 when the fishermen of all great rivers make a regular preparation 

 for its reception. At Pillau, particularly, the shores are formed 

 into districts, and allotted to companies of fishermen, some of 

 which are rented for about three hundred pounds a-year. The 

 nets in which the sturgeon is caught are made of small cord, and 

 placed across the mouth of the river ; but in such a manner that, 

 whether the tide ebbs or flows, the pouch of the net goes with 

 the stream. — The sturgeon thus caught, while in the water, is 

 one of the strongest fishes that swims, and often breaks the net 

 to pieces that incloses it ; but the instant it is raised, with its 

 head above water, all its activity ceases ; it is then a lifeless, 

 spiritless lump, and suffers itself to be tamely dragged on shore. 

 It has been found prudent, however, to draw it to shore gently; 

 for if excited by any unnecessary violence, it has been found to 

 break the fisherman's legs with a blow of its tail. The most 

 experienced fishers, therefore, when they have drawn it to the 

 brink, keep the head still elevated, which prevents its doing any 

 mischief with the hinder part of the body : others, by a noose, 

 fasten the head and the tail together ; and thus without imme- 

 diately despatching it, bring it to the market, if there be one 

 near, or keep it till their number is completed for exportation. 



The flesh of this animal, pickled, is very well known at all 

 the tables of Europe •, and is even more prized in England than 

 in any of the countries where it is usually caught. The fisher- 

 men have two different methods of preparing it. The one is h^ 

 cutting it in long pieces lengthwise, and, having salted them, by 

 hanging them up in the sun to dry : the fish thus prepared is 

 sold in all the countries of the Levant, and supplies the want 

 of better provision. The other method, which is usually prac- 

 tised in Holland, and along the shores of the Baltic, is to cut 

 the sturgeon crosswise, into short pieces, and put it in small bar- 

 rels, witli a pickle made of salt and saumure. This is the stur- 

 geon which is sold in England ; and of which great quantities 



