THE HERRING AND OTHER FISH 341 



a most marked impression on the mind. One of those fat 

 herring, taken straight from the water, then split and grilled 

 on a gridiron over an open fire, will actually catch fire from 

 his own fat. 



But in Labrador our herring have won a well-earned 

 reputation for being facile princeps among the world's her- 

 ring; only those from the Icelandic and Shetland waters 

 can compare with them. The Labrador fish run to seven- 

 teen, or even more inches in length and weigh nearly one 

 pound apiece. 



Kings and queens have worshipped at the shrine of the 

 herring. William Berkelzon of Flanders, in about 1300, 

 discovered how to cure led herring, and generally how to 

 preserve them better for food. After his death, Charles 

 the Fifth erected a monument to his memory, visited his 

 grave, and there prayed for his soul. Mary of Hungary, 

 in a somewhat appropriate way, paid tribute to our bene- 

 factor by sitting on his tomb and eating a red herring. In 

 North Scotland there is an old saying, "No herrings, no 

 weddings." The "common" herring is not taken in the 

 Pacific or Mediterranean, but, nevertheless, has a great 

 range, from Cape Hatteras to Spitzbergen and the White 

 Sea. 



The one failing of the herring, and the one thing that still 

 keeps hope up that he may return to Labrador, is his incon- 

 stancy. He seems to disappear according to some subtle 

 law of nature which has baffled all the skill of scientists, 

 and has eluded all the speculations of fishermen. History 

 records that European herring were to be found in vast 

 quantities in the year 1020 A.D., and during the following 

 periods: the twelfth century, 1260-1341, the fifteenth 



