Fishes. 1645 



eastern side of the nets. If the weather continues fine for some clays, 

 they are occasionally found irregularly to approach the shores in sandy 

 situations, as at Mount's Bay, Lamorna Cove and Whitsand Bay, 

 and also near St. Ives ; but they rarely at this time congregate into 

 large masses, and frequently a few stragglers only are to be seen. 

 During the early part of summer, and late in the spring, such as about 

 April, May and June, they are occasionally seen in small shoals, but 

 without any definite course ; sometimes going east, at others west ; 

 sometimes approaching the shores, and at others returning into deep 

 water off the land. When the other fisheries have failed, advantage is 

 taken of this, their early appearance, and the boats go in pursuit of 

 them. In 1842, on the 23rd and 28th of April, ten hogsheads were 

 taken in Mount's Bay; and in 1843, on the 30th of November, up- 

 wards of a thousand hogsheads were taken in Mount's Bay by the 

 drift-nets. In former years their early appearance was more frequent 

 than it has lately been ; thus about the year 1790, shoals of the pil- 

 chard were frequently seen about January and February. But even 

 when they are not seen, if the nets are " shot " off the sandy inlets 

 about sun-set, many will be frequently taken, but what seems strange, is, 

 that they are all meshed on the shore side, and if taken in the morning, 

 on the outside of the net. From this it appears that they approach 

 the shore during the day, and return to deeper water towards evening. 

 Such is the opinion of the fishermen, and such I believe, from their 

 catches, to be the case. These diurnal migrations occur when the 

 fish are supposed to be not yet arrived on our shores. As summer 

 advances, the stragglers associate into small companies ; these again 

 unite into larger ones, called " shirmers" or " braking -schulls ;" and 

 finally into those large autumnal schulls which are the objects of the 

 fishery. In the early spring they can hardly be said to be gregarious, 

 for they move independently of each other, in a very irregular manner. 

 When they begin to congregate, they rise to the surface, and though 

 they move about without any apparent order, yet their general course 

 is in a westerly direction ; and this is ascertained by the side of the 

 nets on which they are taken, and by the boats following the direction 

 of their course. The great bulk of the fish, however, do not remain 

 close to the shores throughout the year, but in deep water ; and in 

 their annual migrations they resort to the south-west, west and north- 

 west of the Scilly Islands, and the entrances to the channels. Late in 

 July, or early in August, the boats of Mount's Bay return from the 

 coasts of Ireland, where they have been engaged on the herring fish- 

 ery, and then they fall in with immense shoals of pilchards at the 

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