2^8 THE KERRIK-G, 



they have at different times occupied and deferted their 

 feveral ftations, without aoj apparent caufe. But al- 

 though this ftupenduous gift of the munificent Author 

 of Nature, is at times partially diftributed, it is never 

 totally withdrawn. The fame inftin£t invariably ope- 

 rates ; and if one part is deprived of its eiT.ds, another 

 teems with plenty, and relieves the neceffity of fuch as 

 are lefs liberally fupplied : Thus, thoufands of the poor 

 are annually fupported, and rendered happy, by th-it in- 

 flin£l which the Almighty hath originally impreiled upon 

 this ufeful part of his creatures *. 



But this appetite for migration, which brings the her- 

 ring annually to our fhores, ferves alfo purpofcs of the 

 greateft importance in the economy of thefe animals : It 

 leads them to the fhallow and tepid waters of the tempe- 

 rate zone, to depofit their fpawn, where it is matured 

 and vivified with greater certainty than in the midft of 

 the frozen ocean. 



The multiplication of their kind, is, therefore, perhaps 

 the primary purpofe of nature in the migration of the 

 herring. It is not from a defe6l of food that they aban- 

 don regularly their northern retreats ; for it is immedi- 

 ately after leaving thefe, that they are moft plump : be- 

 fore their return, they are greatly reduced by fpawning, 

 and are then thin and miferable. The time ot fpawning 

 J3 from the beginning of winter till January, when they 

 almoft totally difappear from our coails, or are taken in 

 imall flragghng parties by the fiihermen, for the purpofe 

 of bait. It is probable, that at the time they abandon 

 our feas, they again repair to the north, to rellore their 



vigour, 



* Brit. Zoology, Gen. 39. 



