THE HERRING. 3 ! 7 



Herrings, retire to the deep whence they issued, and there remain until the succeed- 

 ing year summons them to a repetition of the same duties. 



The usual method of catching Herrings is by drift-nets, which are spread or " shot," 

 in innumerable lines of complicated cordage, forming a veritable labyrinth of ropes 

 and meshes, the back lines adding to the general complexity of the structure. 



The night view of a Herring fishery is singularly beautiful, owing to the phosphores- 

 cent properties of the fish, a phenomenon common to many of the finny tribes, and 

 which is well describeed by Mr. W. H. Maxwell in his " Wild Sports of the West." 

 " The darkness of the night increased the scaly brilliancy which the phosphoric prop- 

 erties of these beautiful fish produces. The bottom of the boat, now covered with 

 some thousand Herrings, glowed with a living light which the imagination could not 



HERRING. C/upea hareagus. SPRAT. Clupea spnttus. 



create and the pencil never imitate. The shades of gold and silvery gems were rich 

 beyond description ; and much as I had heard of phosphoric splendor before, every 

 idea I had formed fell infinitely short of its reality." 



The Herring is one of the fish that cannot endure absence from water, and dies 

 almost immediately after it is taken out of the sea, thus giving rise to the familiar say- 

 ing, as " dead as a Herring." 



The food of the Herring is extremely varied, even in the comparatively shallow 

 waters, and its subsistence during the time it is submerged in the deep is necessarily 

 unknown. In the stomach of the Herring have been found Crustacea of various 

 kinds, molluscs, the spawn and fry of other fish, and even the young of its own kind. 

 It can be taken with a hook, and has been known to seize a limpet that was used as 

 bait. 



