Tue Conscience oF MackeEreEL. 821 
were supplied with bait, and manned in quick time for even 
Yankees, and the take that day was almost miraculous. The 
catch that season had been short, but that day made up the 
deficiency of the year. The next morning indicated that the 
shoal had stacked arms and was prepared to march. But 
few were taken that day, and less numbers each day for a 
week that the fleet followed them, when the shoals all sank, 
as by one general order, off the coast. of New Jersey. 
It was matter of great surprise to the fishermen that the 
mackerel voluntarily yielded themselves to appease the fish- 
ermen and supply the fish-casks of human need; but, having 
done so, the shoals seemed to have retired with a glow of sat- 
isfaction at having done their duty, even at the loss of some 
of their favorites. 
In vain is the intimation to the pious fisherman that mack- 
erel are as liable to mistakes in their calculations as men, and 
so settled, before the regular fishing season was over, in too 
cold a latitude, and rose during a warm term to take a lunar, 
and lay their course for more genial winter quarters. No! 
The fishermen believe that, smitten by conscience for not fur- 
nishing the usual supply, the fish voluntarily yielded them- 
selves to the sacrifice for conscience’ sake. 
Mackerel, to be fully appreciated, should leap as it were 
from the water into the hands of the cook, and be made ready 
for the gridiron, broiled, and on the table in half an hour aft- 
er it has left its native element. Or a salted October mack- 
erel can not be depreciated by a person of nice taste; though, 
of course, a fresh fish is better than a cured one, and the soon- 
er it is cooked after its last shuddering flutter, and its ultra- 
marine tints die away, the better. 
The mackerel frequents the Atlantic coast from Belle Isle 
to Long Island. It spawns in spring in the bays, bayous, and 
estuaries, and comes into season for the table in August. 
“‘Whether from the abundance of suitable food found at such times, or 
from some other causes which influence the migrations of fish, it is hard to 
say, but experience shows us that on the coasts of Ireland mackerel are 
taken nearly all the year round. They are rarely very abundant on the coast 
xX 
