LOCALITIES OF FISHES. 71 



preserved specimens. As the colours, however, are 

 entirely changed by the action of the spirits, notes upon 

 each, when practicable, should always be made. To 

 those collectors, however, who are draftsmen, we should 

 recommend the plan pursued by us abroad. A rough 

 sketch was made from the fish, and all the tints washed 

 in, to enable any one to make an accurately finished 

 drawing afterwards, provided he possessed the specimen 

 itself, and the finished outline. 



(67.) The readiest way of procuring specimens, to 

 a person not himself a fisherman, but residing in a 

 maritime town, is by regularly frequenting the fish 

 markets, where nearly all the edible species found upon 

 the neighbouring coast will, at one season or other, be 

 exposed for sale. Particular people, however, have their 

 local prejudices in regard to such as are considered not 

 wholesome ; for these the collector should inquire of 

 the fishermen themselves ; or, what is much better, let 

 him go in their boats, and be present at the drawing 

 up of their nets : numerous species too small for the 

 market, or not usually eaten, will thus be procured. 

 Both these plans we pursued, with the greatest success, 

 at Palermo, Messina, Pernambuco, Bahia, &c. 



(68.) In regard to the localities most likely to pro- 

 duce abundance of species, it may be stated, almost 

 as a general rule, that the coasts of islands, widely 

 separated from continents, are the most productive : 

 hence it is that the tropical archipelagos of the East and 

 West Indies are much richer in fish than the coasts of 

 the neighbouring continents ; and to this, also, we attri- 

 bute, in a great degree, the peculiar abundance, both in 

 number and variety, found along the coasts of Sicily and 

 Malta. The Grecian islands, no doubt, are equally 

 abundant ; yet they have never been explored. But of 

 all the islands bordering the European geographical 

 range, we apprehend none offer such a splendid field 

 for the researches of the ichthyologist as the Madeira 

 islands on one hand, and the Azores on the other ; the 

 latter, more especially, may be called an unexplored pre- 



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