146 



JiALACOrTEROUS AdDOJUSALS.- 



-FISHES.- 



-Halecoids. 



the names of Common Shad, Menhaden, Hardheads, 

 Marshbankers, Sprinpj-herrings or Alewives, Summer- 

 herrings, Sliadhies, &c. (Alausa tyranmis, prcEstahilis, 

 teres, menhaden, shadiim,&c.), some of which are largely 

 consumed in the fresh state, and are said by Dr. 

 Mitclall to take salt well and to be liighly prized as an 

 article of food by the people. 



The Pilchard of Cornwall, which is the Sardine 

 of commerce {Almisa ]>ilchardus), is of much gi-eatcr 

 economical importance than the Shad. It is known on 

 the coasts of Normandy and Picardy by the names of 

 Cele'rin and C'elan, at Bordeaux by that of Royan, and 

 in the markets of Paris by that of Harengs de Dcrgioes. 

 On the coasts of Spain and Portugal and in the Medi- 

 terranean, where it is an abundant fish, it is generally 

 termed the Sardine, Sardu, Sardella, &o. The best 

 fishery for the Sardines on the French coast, is stated 

 by M. Valenciennes to be between Belleisle and the 

 ])eninsu!a of Quiberon. The chasse-marees in which 

 the fishery is carried on are of eight or ten tons burthen, 

 and have a crew of from six to ten fishermen, including 

 a master and a brigadier or mate; the rest being work- 

 ing men, not sailors by profession, but Breton husband- 

 men who become fishers for the time. The nets are 

 from fifteen to twenty fathoms long and two and a half 

 deep, with meshes under an inch in diameter. Nets 

 with small meshes are named carahins ; and those 

 which have meshes approaching an inch, folks. The 

 head-rope is buoyed up with corks, and leads are afSxed 

 to the foot-rope to preserve the erect position of the 

 net in the water ; some fishermen, however, preferring 

 to balance the net with the weight of a stout cable as 

 a foot-rope. Salted fish-roe is used for bait to allure 

 the fish to the spot, and is named resurc, rave, or more 

 commonly rogue. The roe of the cod is most in request 

 for this purpose ; but the roe of mackerel mixed with 

 the pounded flesh of that fish is frequentlj' employed — 

 this kind of bait being brought from Norway, more 

 especially from Drontheim. Gueldres and C'heri-ons 

 are other sorts of baits formed of small crabs and fish- 

 fry salted, but they are forbidden by law because of 

 tlie great quantities of fish-fry that their employment 

 consumes. The chasse-maree equipped and manned, 

 stands out to sea for two or three leagues, and then 

 the sail being lowered and the mast struck, it is kept 

 head to wind by the action of the oars alone. After 

 unshipping the rudder the net is payed over the stern 

 by the master; and while the boatmen put it on the 

 stretch by plying their oars, he throws the bait, reduced 

 to a proper consistence, to the right and left as far as 

 he can cast it. When the master, judging by the move- 

 ments of the corks and a quantity of silvery scales 

 appearing on the top of the water, tliat the net is pretty 

 full of fish, he loosens its end from the boat to attaeli 

 it to a buoy that he had fastened to the other end, and 

 so quits it for a time. Then, having cast out in the 

 same manner five or sis nets in succession, he waits 

 until he thinks the meshes are charged with fish, when 

 he proceeds to take up the first not, and then the others 

 in succession. The fish which are caught in the meshes 

 by the neck are next disengaged and covered with salt, 

 and the boat returns to port, whore the Sardines are 

 expeditiously landed by the aid of Breton women, who 



run with baskets of them on their heads. The jiroduce 

 of the fishery that does not find a ready market when 

 fresh, is either salted anew, or is pireserved in olive oil 

 or melted butter, to form an article of export to all parts 

 of Europe. The Sardines that are too large to enter 

 the meshes of the Breton nets, proceed onwards into 

 the Channel, increase still farther in size, and acquiie 

 the name of Ce'lan, but are often confounded in the 

 Paris markets with the common herring. On the 

 coast of Portugal the Sardine fishery is carried on in- 

 lateen-sailed boats named bean-cods, from their shape, 

 by English sailors. The jilan of fishing is much like 

 the French one described above, and the fish salted in 

 bulk and carried to Lisbon, and other markets of the 

 peninsula, where they are in gi'cat request. The Cor- 

 nish fishery is described in detail in Yarrell's " History 

 of British Fishes," and in the publications of Jonathan 

 Couch, Esq., of Polperro, who for many years has 

 studied the ichthyology of that coast. Tfiree stations 

 are particularly mentioned as points of assemblage for 

 these fishes ; one between the Lizard and the Stait in 

 Devonshire, eastward of which no regular Pilchard 

 fishery is prosecuted ; a second station lies between 

 the Lizard and the Laud's- end ; and the third is off 

 St. Ives. From five to ten thousand is considered a 

 moderate capture in one night for a single boat, fishmg 

 with drift-nets, but the take often amounts to twenty 

 thousand ; and the quantities inclosed in scan nets aro 

 frequently such as to be scarcely crediljle. Borlasc 

 records the capture of three thousand hogsheads at one 

 time, each hogshead containing from two thousand five 

 hundred to three thousand fish ; and an instance is 

 mentioned in Yarrell whore ten thousand hogsheads, 

 amounting to twenty-five millions of fish, were carried 

 into one port in a single day. The oulfit of a scan 

 costs about £800 ; of a string of drift-nets about £G a 

 net, and the value of the boat is from £100 to £150 ; 

 and the whole eajjital invested in the I'ilcliard fishery 

 is estimated at £450,000. The wages of the fishermen 

 depend on the success of their labours. A pilchard or 

 star-gazing pie, with the heads of the fish protruding 

 through the crust, is a dish peculiarly Cornish. Cam- 

 den tells us that in his day the " P^dchard" fishery 

 was prosecuted from July to November with great 

 success on the Cornish sea ; and that the fish, when 

 salted, smoked, and pressed, were exported in vast 

 quantities to France, Spain, and Italy, under the name 

 of Fumados. 



The Ikan-tamhan of the Malay peninsula {Dussu- 

 micra acuta) and Tdmban ncpis or hdtid {Clapcoiiia 

 perforata) of the Straits of Malacca are prepared like 

 Sardines in oil. The latter bears a close resemblance 

 to another Clupeoid of the same seas which is very 

 poisonous, and is itself said to bo poisonous when 

 its usually silvery eyes become red. In 1822, 1823, 

 and 1825, many natives of Boncoolen having eaten 

 of these red-eyed fish, were suddenly seized witli 

 violent vomiting, which, except when remedies were 

 immediately resorted to, ended fatally in an hour. It 

 was surmised that the poisonous fishes had fed on a 

 gelatinous substance which at that season exudes fron) 

 the beautifully-coloured coral reefs ; but Dr. Cantor, 

 who relates this circumstance, thinks that the Tdmban 



