699 A. EF. Verrili—The Bermuda Islands. 
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fied now. But they also state that the fishes soon became more shy 
and scarce, so that they had to go farther away at sea to catch them. 
The fishes have contributed largely to the food of the Bermudians, 
ever since the first settlement, and therefore it is not strange that 
they have decreased both in number and size. But it is difficult to 
determine definitely how much they have decreased, for accurate 
records and statistics are lacking. Moreover, it is possible that 
natural physical causes, as in the instance given above (ch. 19), may 
have, in other cases, caused the death of multitudes of fishes. How- 
ever, it has long been recognized in Bermuda that legal restrictions 
were necessary to prevent the wanton destruction of the fishes. 
Silvanus Jourdan, in 1610, gave the following account of the 
fishes : 
“Sir George Summers, a man inured to extremities (and knowing 
what thereunto belonged) was in this service neither idle nor back- 
warde, but presently by his careful industry went, and found out 
sufficient of many kind of fishes, and so plentifull thereof, that in 
half an houre he tooke so many fishes with hookes, as did suffice the 
whole company one day. And fish is there so abundant, that if a man 
steppe into the water, they will come round about him: so that men 
were faine to get out for feare of byting. These fishes are very fat 
and sweete, and of that proportion and bignesse that three of them 
will conveniently lade two men: those we call Rockfish.* Besides 
there are such store of mulletst that with a seane might be taken at 
one draught one thousand at the least, and infinite store of Pilchards, 
with divers kinds of great fishes, the names of them unknown to me: 
of tray fishes very great ones, and so great store, as that there hath 
been taken in one night with making lights, even sufficient to feed 
the whole company [150 persons] a day.” 
The following is an extract from the account of Wm. Strachy, 1610: 
“The shoares and Bayes round about, when wee landed first 
afforded great store of fish, and that of divers kindes, and good, but 
* The rock fishes (Mycteroperca bonaci and- other species, see plate xcv, figs. 
3, 4) still grow to large size, those taken off the outer reefs sometimes weighing 
80 to 100 pounds, but such large specimens are not now found in shallow water. 
Very likely the Hamlet Grouper (plate xev, fig. 2), may also have been here 
included as a Rockfish, though Hughes, in 1614, distinguished between groupers 
and rockfishes. This fish has always been one of the commonest of the large 
Bermuda market fishes, often weighing 20 to 30 pounds, but it may have been 
still larger and much more abundant at first. 
| White Mullets (Mugil Braziliensis), fig. 58, are still found here, but not in 
great abundance. Pilchards are still abundant. 
