THE GREY MULLET. 205 



My impression is, that this migration must take place at night or before sunrise, for it 

 was only early in the morning that I have seen them progressing, and I found that those 

 I brought away with me in the chatties appeared quiet by day, but a large proportion 

 managed to get out of the chatties by night some escaped altogether, others were trodden 

 on and killed. 



One peculiarity is the large size of the vertebral column, quite disproportioned to the 

 bulk of the fish. I particularly noticed that all in the act of migrating had their gills 

 expanded." 



It is known of the Climbing Perch that the fishermen of the Ganges, who subsist 

 largely on these fishes, are accustomed to put them into an earthen pan or chatty as soon 

 as caught ; and although no water is supplied to them, they exist very well without it, and 

 live this strange life for five or six days. 



On opening the head of this fish, the curious structure which enables it to perform such 

 marvellous feats is clearly seen. Just within the sides of the head, the " pharyngeal " 

 bones, i.e. the bones that support the orifice between the mouth and gullet, are much 

 enlarged, and modified into a series of labyrinthine cells and duplications, so that they 

 retain a large amount of water in the interstices, and prevent the gill-membranes from 

 becoming dry. Some writers say that this fish is capable of climbing up the rough stems 

 of palm-trees, in search of the water that lodges between the bases of the dead leaves and 

 the stem, but this account is now held unworthy of belief. In the Tamoule language it 

 is called Paneiri, or Tree-climber. 



THE small genus Atherinidse has a British representative in the SAND SMELT (Atherina 

 presbyter), a pretty little fish, and one that is of great use to fishermen, both for sale and 

 for bait. 



It is extremely plentiful upon the southern coast, .and in many places is sold as 

 the true smelt, which it somewhat resembles in flavour and the peculiar odour as of 

 cucumber. Owing to the small size of this fish the net is the usual mode of capture, 

 the fashion of which varies according to the locality. On some coasts the net is about 

 ninety feet in length and eighteen in depth, and is drawn along the sands by the united 

 aid of one party in a boat and the other on the shore. In other places, however, it 

 is circular and supported on an iron hoop. It is then baited with broken Crustacea and 

 lowered into the water. At intervals it is raised smartly to the surface, and the 

 entrapped Sand Smelts removed. 



The colour of the Sand Smelt is the palest pink, diversified with a broad belt of 

 shining silvery white, which is drawn along the side. The cheeks, gill-covers, and the 

 base of each pectoral fin are of the same white hue. Upon the upper part of the back 

 and head are a great number of little black spots. The length of the fish is from six to 

 seven inches. 



WE now come to the important family of the Mugilidse, of which the common GREY 

 MULLET is a good example. In all these fish there are two dorsal fins, the first having 

 four stiff spines. They are spread over all sea-coasts and fresh waters of the temperate 

 and tropical regions. The mode of feeding is rather curious. These fish live chiefly on 

 the soft organic substances that are found mixed with weed and sand, and in swallowing 

 the food a considerable amount of sand is taken into the mouth. The fish, however, 

 is furnished with a kind of self-filtering apparatus, by means of which the heterogeneous 

 mass is raked and sifted, as it were, and the indigestible portions rejected. 



The Grey Mullet deserves notice as being one of the most daring and ingenious of 

 the finny race, and is, in fact, a very fox for artfulness. The idea of constraint is most 

 obnoxious to it, and its instincts of freedom are so strongly developed that it endeavours to 

 recover its liberty in the most extraordinary ways. 



If, for example, it has been inclosed in a net, it will at once dart to the side and tiy 

 to leap over the head-rope into the open sea. Moreover, if one fish succeeds in the 

 attempt, the remainder immediately follow their leader, like a flock of sheep jumping 

 over a hurdle. If the net is raised so high that the leap is impracticable, the fish tries to 



