MACKEREL. 73 



their weight is about two pounds each; but they 

 are said to attain the length of twenty inches, 

 with an increased weight in proportion. It should 

 be remembered, however, that the largest are not 

 by any means the best for the table. As an ar- 

 ticle of food they are in great demand ; and those 

 taken in the months of May and June are gene- 

 rally considered to be far better in flavour than 

 those taken either earlier in spring or in autumn. 

 To be eaten in perfection, this fish should be very 

 fresh; as it soon becomes unfit for food, some 

 facilities in the way of sale have been afforded to 

 the dealers in a commodity so perishable. Thus 

 mackerel were first allowed to be cried through the 

 streets of London on a Sunday in 1698, and the 

 practice prevails to the present time. At our 

 various fishing-towns on the coast the mackerel 

 season is one of great bustle and activity. 



At Yarmouth the mackerel fishery employs 

 ninety boats, with a tonnage of upwards of 3000 

 tons and 870 men, and produces about 20,000 

 a year. The frequent departures and arrivals of 

 boats in the season form a lively contrast to the 

 more ordinary routine of other periods ; the high 

 price obtained for the early cargoes, and the large 



