236 MALACOPTERYGII. 



chiefly in that of the head ; and another said he knew them by colour alone. 

 Although the difference was in each respect very apparent to myself, I put both 

 parties to the test, and found that the one guided by form, and the other by 

 colour, drew the A. Toblanus from his basket with equal dexterity, and without 

 a moment's hesitation singled it out from hosts of the A. Lancea. This fishing 

 is carried on here daily throughout the year, except in winter, when being full 

 of spa^\^l the sand-eels are considered unfit to be eaten. At other times they are 

 used by all classes of people. In the excellent hotel at Dundrum they were 

 served up to us at dinner along with salmon, and were fried with crumbs of 

 bread strewed over them — for breakfast they are similarly cooked. The poorer 

 people dry them in the sun, and in bright days the tables and trays of the cottage 

 are sure to be seen set out before the doors covered with sand eels. 



" August '21th. — -At Newcastle, about three miles South of Dundrum, great 

 quantities of sand eels were taken at the morning ebb of the spring-tide ; by 

 some individuals so many as forty quarts. In the evening I reckoned about 

 eighty persons out fishing, and having two one-horse carts in readiness beside 

 them to carry away the produce; but the harvest that was then gathered fell 

 short of requiring such extra aid.* 



" Having observed a number of pigs at Newcastle daily frequenting the sand at 

 the extreme edge of the retiring waves, I ascertained, as had been anticipated, 

 that they were in search of sand eels. This, however, was not the chosen feed- 

 ing-ground of these animals, as I subsequently saw them regularly driven out 

 there to forage for themselves. The A. 7'o6<a«t«, though taken here, is less fre- 

 quent than at Dundrum. 



" When at Ballywalter, on the coast of Do-wn, and northwards of the last- 

 mentioned place, in May, 1836, I found a few of A. Tobianus by examining the 

 sand eels which fishermen were using as bait; and in the month of March 

 following, obtained a specimen along with two of the A, Lancea from the sto- 

 mach of a sea trout (.S. Truffa) taken at Donaghadee. On questioning some 

 fishermen at Portaferry, situated just within the entrance to Strangford Lough, 

 in the same County, respecting the two species of sand eel, I learned that they 

 had not been as such distinguished by them. It was however stated, that they 

 occasionally obtained much larger individuals than ordinary, which from colour 

 were named ' green-backs,' the common being called sand eels ; the former both 

 from superior size and different colour must doubtless be the A. Tobianus. 



" Amongst a few fishes found dead on the beach at Caimlougli near Glenarm 

 (County of Antrim) in June, 1836, by Dr. J. L. Drummond, was a specimen of 

 the A. Tobianus. In this, as well as every other instance in which I have seen 

 the last-named species, specimens of A. Lancea occurred at the same time. 



" In the Wild Sports of the West there is a short but graphic account of sand 

 eel fishing by moonlight on the coast of Mayo ; and at Strangford Lough and 

 other places in the North of Ireland it is likewise a favourite pastime of the 

 young in the moonlight nights of summer. It is said that from the silvery bril- 

 liancy of the fish being more striking by night than day, it is at this time cap- 

 tured with greater facility ; but is it not rather for the novelty of dry-land fish- 

 ing, with the additional feature of being achieved by moonlight, that the sport is 

 at this time practised ? f Although the sand eel is noticed in several of the 

 Statistical Surveys of the Irish Counties, there is not, that I recollect, any re- 

 mark which would lead us to suppose that more than one kind has been ob- 

 served ; but there can be little doubt that both species are found elsewhere than 

 on the coasts of Do^vn and Antrim. 



" The largest specimen of A. Tobianus obtained at Dundrum was 13 inches 



* " The coast [at Newcastle] affords plenty and variety of sea-fish ; and such 

 quantities of sand eels have sometimes been taken on it, particularly in the late 

 season of scarcity, that the poor carried them away in sacksful." — Harris's 

 Down, p. 81, published in 1744. 



t Mr. Lukis states that in Guernsey they are sought for by moonlight. — Yarr. 

 Brit. Fish., vol. ii. p. 324. 



