FISHES. 



54S 



produced their young, for they are viviparous, they again ascend 

 the stream, at different times, as opportunity offers, or as the 

 season is favourable or tempestuous. Their passage begins 

 usually about the end of January, and continues till towards the 

 end of May, when they are taken in the river Arno by millions, 

 and so small that a thousand of them goes to a pound. There is 

 nothing more certain than that they descend our own rivers after 

 floods in great abundance, and are thus caught in nets to very 

 great advantage. They are possessed also of a power of climb- 

 ing over any obstacle ; for, by applying their glutinous and slimy 

 bodies to the surface of the object they desire to surmount, they 

 can thus creep up locks, weirs, and every thing that would pre- 

 vent their ascending the current of the stream. 



But the length of the voyage performed by these fishes, is 

 short, if compared to what is annually undertaken by some 

 tribes, that constantly reside in the ocean. These are known 

 to take a course of three or four thousand miles in a season, 

 serving for prey to whales, sharks, and the numerous flocks of 

 water-fowl, that regularly wait to intercept their progress. These 

 may be called fish of passage, and bear a strong analogy to birds 

 of passage, both from their social disposition, and the immensity 

 of their numbers. Of this kind are the cod, the haddock, the 

 whiting, the mackarel, the tunny, the herring, and the pilchard. 

 Other fish live in our vicinity, and reside on our coasts all the 

 year round j or keep in the depths of the ocean, and are but sel- 

 dom seen : but these, at stated seasons, visit their accustomed 

 haunts with regular certainty, generally returning the same week 

 in the succeeding year, and often the same day. 



The stated returns, and the regular progress of these fish of 

 passage, is one of the most extraordinary circumstances in all the 

 history of nature. What it is that impels them to such distant 

 voyages ; what directs their passage ; and what supports them by 

 the way ; and what sometimes prompts them to quit, for sever il 

 seasons, one shore for another, and then return to their accus- 

 tomed harbour ; are questions that curiosity may nsk, but phi- 

 losophy can hardly resolve. We must dismiss inquiry, satisfied 

 with the certainty of the facts. 



The cod seems to be the foremost of this wandering tribe, and 

 is only found in our northern part of the world. This anitnal'a 

 chief place of resort is on the hanks of Newfoundland, and the 



