258 



The Mackerel 



to its neighbour appearing on some inland table twenty- 

 four hours later. But it is certainly a most beautiful 

 fish in appearance on a fishmonger's slab, its lovely 

 colours remaining even when it is stale, although the 

 bright red of the giUs has changed to a dull maroon. 

 But its flesh is firm and easily separated from the bones, 

 a great virtue in fish among people who have no cooks 

 to prepare their food, and see that there is nothing 

 to do to it at table but to put it in the mouth. It 

 says much for the superlative excellence of the herring, 

 that it remains in such high esteem in spite of its 

 multitude of small bones, which are most dangerous 

 if they get into the throat. Whatever the cause, 

 the fact remains that, in spite of its comparatively 

 high price and lack of flavour, the Mackerel is ex- 

 ceeding popular among our workers, and a joy to the 

 costermongers, whose ability and energy in distri- 

 buting perishable goods among the consumers is 

 unimpeachable. 



But apart altogether from the commercial aspects 

 of the Mackerel, he is an exceedingly interesting fish 

 in his ways, his mode of hfe. Ferocious in the extreme, 

 he spares nothing that he can swallow, and few items 

 of his prey can escape him, owing to his great swiftness, 

 due to his elegant shape. Moreover, the colouring 

 of the Mackerel is more perfectly adapted for con- 

 cealment than that of any other fish. It is perhaps 

 fairly well known that the reason why nearly all fish 

 are dark-coloured above and light-coloured below 

 is for purposes of concealment, for looking down upon 

 them from the light the dark shade blends with the 

 dark blue of the sea, while looking upwards to the light 

 the silvery belly matches the water, which is almost 

 colourless when looked through from that position ; 

 but the wavy transverse bands of light green and rich 



