1 32 HERRINGS SALMON. 



caught in great abundance all along the English 

 and Irish coasts. Herrings are important articles 

 of commerce ; nearly 400,000 barrels being 

 cured annually in Great Britain, of which a 

 considerable portion are sent to other countries, 

 in exchange for money or useful articles of a 

 different kind. Herrings are both a wholesome 

 and nutritious food, whether eaten fresh, pickled, 

 or smoked. 



The salmon is another fish of the utmost value 

 as an article of commerce, and of food, being 

 by far the most delicate fish taken in our rivers. 

 It grows to a considerable size, sometimes weigh- 

 ing fifty or sixty pounds. At a certain season of 

 the year this fish, led by a singular instinct, begins to 

 ascend our streams from the sea, and makes its way 

 as far up as there is water to cover it, often leap- 

 ing over weirs and ledges of rocks several feet in 

 height, and overcoming all obstacles in the most 

 extraordinary manner. When it has reached a 

 shallow part of the river, the male and female 

 form a trench in the gravel, hollowing it out 

 with their snouts and shoulders to the length of 

 eight or nine feet, and in this the female deposits 

 her eggs to the amount of 17 or 18,000. After 

 this is done, which occupies several days, both 

 the fish employ themselves diligently in covering 

 these up carefully, in order to protect them from 

 other fish, and from water-fowl, which greedily 

 devour them. The eggs are then left by the 

 parents, and after some time, the fry, or young 



