462 SHAD HERRING. Class IV. 



joram, and when dressed in that manner will 

 very nearly intoxicate the eater. 



In Great Britain the Severn affords this fish 

 in higher perfection than any other river. It 

 makes its first appearance there in May, but 

 in very warm seasons in April ; for its arrival, 

 sooner or later, depends much on the temper of 

 the air. It continues in the river about two 

 months, and then is succeeded by a variety 

 which we shall have occasion to mention here- 

 after. The Severn shad is esteemed a very de- 

 licate fish about the time of its first appearance, 

 especially in that part of the river that flows by 

 Gloucester, where they are taken in nets, and 

 usually sell dearer than salmon : some are sent 

 to London, where the fishmongers distinguish 

 them from those of the Thames, by the French 

 name of A lose. 



Whether they spawn in this river and the Wye 

 is not determined, for their fry has not yet been 

 ascertained. The old fish come from the sea 

 into the river in full roe. In the months of 

 July and August, multitudes of the bleak fre- 

 quent the river near Gloucester ; some of them 

 are as big as a small herring, and these the 

 fishermen erroneously suspect to be the fry of 

 the shad. Numbers of these are taken near 





