AN EXTRAORDINARY CATCH. 135 



herring ; 4th, Shotten, or spent herring. To the first 

 denomination belong all herrings under five or six inches 

 in length. The second class is the best fitted for food 

 purposes ; and it is unfortunate that the herring should 

 be taken in any other condition. In the course of three 

 months the rnatre develops into the full or spawning 

 herring. At the spawning-season they come together in 

 immense shoals, and hasten to the " spawning-grounds " 

 in the shallower and warmer waters of the coast. The 

 magnitude of these shoals can hardly be appreciated by 

 one who has not seen them. Sometimes they are driven 

 ashore in such numbers that the inhabitants of the neigh- 

 bourhood are absolutely unable to cure them, and the 

 adjacent markets are completely overstocked. They may 

 be caught in baskets or buckets, half a dozen at a dip. 

 On the 16th of October, in the year 1873, an extraordin- 

 ary influx of herrings took place at the mouth of the 

 river Exe. As fast as the boats could be unloaded, a 

 hundred men, women, and children were engaged in 

 stowing the fish in hampers to be sent by the South 

 Devon Railway to London for sale. The herrings were 

 piled on the beach in heaps two feet thick, while many 

 were floating dead in the water, as the nets had broken 

 in drawing them ashore. The neighbouring villagers 

 hastened to the spot with their baskets, and some in 

 donkey-carts, to secure as many as they were able to 

 carry off ; a large quantity was taken by the farmers to 

 be used for manure. 



