DIFFEEENCES OF FLAVOUR. 165 



of the feeding it has enjoyed in its particular locality. The 

 superiority in flavour of the herring taken in our great land-locked 

 salt-water lochs is undoubted. Whether or not it results from 

 the depth and body of water, from more plentiful marine 

 vegetation, or from the greater variety of land food washed into 

 these inland seas, has not yet been determined; but it is 

 certain that the herrings of our western sea-lochs are infinitely 

 superior to those captured in the more open sea. . It is natural 

 that the animals of one feeding locality should difler from those 

 of another : land animals, it is well known, are easily affected 

 by change of food and place j and fish, I have no doubt, are 

 governed by the same laws. But on this part of the herring 

 question I need scarcely waste any argument. 



Moreover, it is now known, from the inquiries of the late 

 Mr. Mitchell and other authorities on the geographical distribu- 

 tion of the herring, that that fish has never been noticed as being 

 at all abundant in the Arctic Eegions ; and the knowledge 

 accumulated from recent investigations has dispelled many of 

 what may be termed the minor illusions once so prevalent about 

 the life of the herring and other fish. People, however, have 

 been very slow to believe that fish were subject to the same 

 natural laws as other animals. In short, seeing that the 

 natural history of all kinds of fish has been 'largely mixed up 

 with tradition or romance, it is no wonder that many have been 

 slow to discard Pennant's pretty story about the migratory 

 instinct of the herring, and the wonderful power of sustained 

 and rapid travelling by which it reached and returned from our 

 coasts. Even Yarrell wrote in a weak uncertain tone about this 

 fish J indeed his account of it is not entitled to very much con- 

 sideration, being a mere compilation, or rather a series of ex- 

 tracts, from other writers. 



It was not tin the year 1854 that anything like an authentic 

 contradiction to Pennant's theory was obtained. Before that 

 time one or two bold people asserted that they had doubts about 

 the migration story, and thought that the herring must be a 

 local animal, from the fact of its being found on the British 

 coasts all the year round ; whUe one daring man said authorita- 

 tively, from personal knowledge, that there were no herrings in 

 the Arctic seas. During the year I have mentioned, a paper, 

 which was communicated to • the Liverpool Meeting of the 

 British Association by Mr. Cleghorn of Wick, directed an amount 

 of public attention to the herring-fishery, which still contuiues, 



