HERRINGS SALMON. 131 



LESSON XXV. 



HERRINGS SALMON RE MORA. 



THE providence of God has stored the waters 

 with proofs of his bountiful goodness. Some of 

 these are of the greatest utility to man, and 

 amongst the rest, one single species of fish annu- 

 ally feeds many thousand people. This is the 

 herring, which, although millions are destroyed 

 every year for our use, appears as abundant as 

 ever. Our Almighty Benefactor has so ordained, 

 that that species of fish should increase and mul- 

 tiply so rapidly as to defy all ravages, and season 

 after season it issues from the Polar Seas in vast 

 shoals, which are so broad and so deep that they 

 alter the very appearance of the ocean. 



These shoals are divided into columns five or 

 six miles in length, and three or four in breadth, 

 which drive the water before them in a continued 

 ripple. In fine weather, these immense floating 

 islands glisten in the sun, and reflect a variety ot 

 splendid colours. Each column is led by a her- 

 ring larger in size than the rest, which seems to 

 govern their motions, and to act as leader. 



Herrings, in their annual migration, appear 

 off the Shetland islands in April and May ; one 

 great shoal then takes the eastern, and another 

 the western, side of Great Britain. The station 

 for fishing is near the Hebrides ; but they are 



