228 PHYSOSTOMI. 



that no action for trespass would lie against these people for going on any lands 

 when in pursuit of their calling. It was also permitted to fishermen to haul their 

 nets on the nearest shore. The fishery carried on during the last six^onths of 

 the year is the most important, because pilchards are then in a condition in which 

 they wi]l cure or " save " best, being fat and with undeveloped roes. Of late 

 years large quantities have been taken during the first six months of the year, 

 they are purchased by local dealers, and forwarded by rail to provincial and 

 Welsh markets under the term of " wbite herrings." 



Mr. Dunn observes that off Mevagissey he has known three pilchards having 

 been captured by hook and line, the bait being a small bit cut out of the side of 

 another pilchard. Couch had been informed of two or three instances in which 

 this fish has been known to swallow the fisherman's hook baited with a worm. 

 Rutty, in 1772, observed that their best bait is the spawn of a cod, stock-fish, 

 or mackerel, which is salted and kept in barrels for this purpose. 



Breeding. — Off the coast of Cornwall Mr. Dunn observed that it appears to 

 breed at two seasons of the year, May and June, also in December, and the young 

 are first seen in September, 3 or 4 inches in length and about one-eighth of an 

 ounce in weight. On January 16th, 1882, these fish were returning to the bays 

 shotten, and one boat took 6000. Couch placed the winter breeding as commencing 

 as early as October, but this, of course, would vary with the temperature of the 

 season. I opened large numbers in the month of August, but in only one single 

 instance did I find developed roe. The pilchard deposits about 60,000 eggs, and 

 falls off in condition as spawning time is approached, when it becomes dry and 

 tasteless. Off Mevagissey it has seldom been observed to spawn within 10 miles 

 of land, usually from 20 to 30 miles off shore : the first named of these localities 

 is generally chosen in the summer, the latter in the winter or spring, " and off the 

 coasts of Devon and Dorset instead of Cornwall" (Dunn). Mr. Cornish (Zool. 

 1883, p. 431) gives his reasons for supposing these fish to spawn in the mackerel 

 season, i.e. between February and June, in the deep sea, eight or more leagues S.W. 

 and round to the W. of the Scilly Isles. Couch observed that the males exceed 

 the females in number, and he believed that they did not attain their full growth 

 until their second or third year. Mr. Dunn recorded that he has seen the roe 

 pressed from the fish when alive into a bucket of water, and each egg rests just 

 below the surface : also that the spawn, on first being shed, actually floats like cork 

 on the water. He likewise informed me, Sept. 29th, 1883, that large shoals of 

 young fish from 2 to 4 inches in length, and believed to be young pilchards, were 

 then in Mevagissey Bay and mackerel were preying on them. 



Hybrids. — Dr. Giinther, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, p. 377, describes what he 

 believes to be the hybrid between the pilchard and a shad. 



Pilchard fisheries. — To a stranger visiting the fishing-quay at Mevagissey an 

 hour or so after midnight, when the pilchards are being landed and sold by 

 their captors, the scene is by no means devoid of interest. The Jowters, with 

 their light traps and fast-trotting hacks, are assembled ready to purchase the 

 fish they require, and scour the country in order to retail them to the inhabitants 

 of every village and hamlet. The pilchards, having been washed, are packed in 

 layers, between each of which salt is sprinkled ; this assists in retarding decom- 

 position in these fish, which are so prone to become putrid. At the Barbican at 

 Plymouth, much the same scene may be witnessed, but pilchards are not to be 

 had in sufficient quantities, and cartloads of the coarser description of fish are 

 circulated by means of these Jowters : 12,000 to 15,000 hogsheads of pilchards 

 are annually exported from Cornwall, and the autumn fish, being more firm and 

 less oily, are generally prepared for the Italian market. A merchantable 

 pilchard must be 8 inches long, well-coated, washed, cured and pressed. A hogs- 

 head contains from 2900 to 4000 summer, and 2300 to 2900 winter fish ; it 

 measures 54 gallons, and should weigh, when filled and pressed, 476 lb. gross. 

 Its length is 33 inches, diameter of bilge (stave included) 24 inches, of head 

 (stave included) 22^ inches, of head within 22 inches (Fox). 



A large trade in pickled pilchards is carried on between Cornwall and the Italian 

 ports, the idea having originated at Mevagissey as follows : — In 1876, observed Mr. 



