262 The Mackerel 



Mackerel family were to be found, as is the case almost 

 ever37where, there were certainly none of the fish 

 from which the whole family takes its name. I have 

 caught the Gar-fish in the West Indies, in Madagascar, 

 where there is to be found a curious variety, having 

 only one long mandible, with the mouth on the upper 

 part of it in the head, like a little trap-door in the head. 

 The largest specimens I have ever seen were in Zanzibar, 

 where, around the guardship ' London,' they would 

 he lazily sunning themselves, perfectly secure from 

 molestation, because the crew were strictly forbidden 

 to meddle with fish of any kind, for fear of cholera or 

 poisoning. 



The old naturalists believed that the Mackerel 

 roamed as far afield as does the albacore, very much 

 as they imagined the herring to do ; but it has been 

 found that, as with the herring, the Mackerel only 

 retires into the deep water off shore for feeding purposes 

 at certain seasons of the year, whence it comes in 

 such amazing numbers during the summer. Occasion- 

 ally there are found swimming amicably with the 

 ordinary fish a number of much larger individuals, 

 known as Horse-mackerel, which are so coarse and 

 poorly flavoured as to be almost unfit for food. These 

 have also a very bad reputation, with what reason as 

 far as our coasts are concerned I am unable to say, 

 for being poisonous, as has also the delicate little 

 fish known as the Lady Mackerel, a creature pretty 

 enough to be made a pet of, like goldfish. The Horse- 

 mackerel of St. Helena and certain West Indian ports 

 is, I know, poisonous, and should never be eaten ; 

 but this must be attributable to its food. 



I would here remark in passing that, while all raw 

 fish and meat is susceptible of being poisoned by the 

 direct rays of the tropical moon, the Mackerel family 



