11 



which place considerable quantities are annually exported, 

 as will be seen from the following statistical statement, 

 kindly furnished me by a commercial friend : — 



Export of dried Fish from, Cape Town ■: 



In 1849, 13,800 Cwt. 



„ 1850, 17,800 „ 



„ 1851, 15,200 „ 



„ 1852, 12,500 „ 



It is difficult, nay almost impossible, to form an esti- 

 mate of the probable consumption of fish within the 

 colonial borders. Judging, however, from the great 

 quantities used in a dried, pickled, and smoke-dried 

 state, as an article of internal traffic, and taking into 

 consideration, that fish is almost the principal food of 

 the poorer people in Cape Town and other ports, that 

 consumption must necessarily be very considerable. 



But it is not as nourishment alone, that fish is made 

 subservient to commerce. The preparation of Isinglass 

 affords to some countries the means of extensive trade 

 and speculation. The air-bladder of some of our fishes, 

 being large and firm, might yield that valuable substance, 

 if we were willing to try the experiment. I make this 

 observation with some confidence, having been told, that 

 one of our principal wine-merchants makes use of the 

 dried bladder of the Cape Kabeljauw, instead of isinglass. 



Besides the Fishes enumerated and described in this 

 treatise, there are some Crustaceans, and several Mol- 

 lusca, inhabitants of our seas, used as food by the 

 Colonists. Amongst these, the Cape Lobster {Falinurus 

 Lalandii Lam), is by far the most remarkable. This 

 crawfish, peculiar only to the West Coast, and common 

 to Table Bay, is easily caught in vast numbers all the year 

 round, and attains a length of thirteen, and a breadth of 

 nearly five inches. The flesh of the half-grown individuals 

 is tender and delicate, while that of the adults is coarse 

 and difficult of digestion. To the poorer classes of our 



