68 MACKAREL. 



fisli iDcgin to move from the deeper waters of the Atlantic, to 

 ■which they had retreated towards the end of autumn; and as 

 at this their early movement, their value to the fisherman is 

 much higher than afterwards, preparations are made to meet 

 them at a considerable distance from land — at the entrance of 

 the British Channel, south or west of the Scilly Islands, or 

 towards Cape Clear, in Ireland — amidst the uncertain weather 

 and darkness of the night, which render the voyage a service 

 of no slight labour and hazard. Such is the most frequent 

 course of proceeding, but it has sometimes happened that the 

 fish have shewn themselves near the western shores at an 

 earlier date than was expected, in which case, those who have 

 laboured the least have obtained the greatest success. I possess 

 notes which record that in the year 1818, fifteen thousand 

 were caught at Mevagissey, in Cornv/all, between the 1st. and 

 12th. of February; and in the year 1842, on the oOth. of 

 January, two boats brought into Plymouth — one of them fourteen 

 thousand, and the other four thousand. In 1843 some boats 

 succeeded in taking from twenty to thirty thousand in each 

 night of the first week in February. 



There is reason to suppose that the fish thus first sought for, 

 which obtain a preference in the market, are the produce of 

 the last, or next to the last season of breeding; and the 

 moderate progress they have made in growth during the small 

 time of their retreat, if the supposition of their being the 

 progeny of the last season be allowed, is not a very formidable 

 objection to the opinion. By their inferior size and general 

 appearance they may without difficulty be distinguished from 

 those of advanced age, and which esj>ecially are more distinctly 

 marked with an interrupted dark line along the side, which 

 therefore is regarded — even when it occurs in younger indi- 

 viduals — as a sign of inferior quality. 



I have had occasion to remark that in this early movement 

 the sexes are much divided, and that the males go before the 

 females in their course of migration. Out of twenty examples, 

 taken indiscriminately in March, sixteen were males; and in 

 another season, from a capture of seven thousand, seventeen 

 out of twenty were males. It is true I have witnessed 

 an exception to this, when in numbers selected from the 

 earliest fish, they consisted of an equal number of each sex. 



