io 4 NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY, 



happens, towards the end of the year, the Whale, and his aflb- 

 ciates; the Porpoife, Grampus, and the like, ftand ready to 

 execute God's decree, which is to hunt and terrify thefe fmall 



peregrina- Fifh, and to fend them where they are wanted. How this is 

 done will be explained hereafter, in the article of Herrings, and 

 the Whale, therefore I fhall not detain my reader at prefent with 

 thofe particulars : they are, indeed, very remarkable, and of 

 fervice to fhew God's wife and affectionate ceconomy. I fhall 

 now in the firft place obferve, that as mofl kinds of Fifh 

 love bell to be in the coldeft waters, they are therefore more 

 healthful and fine in Winter than in Summer ; and are found not 



Numtcrs. only in the greateft quantities towards the north pole, but are 

 alfo much fatter and finer there. When they, as has been 

 obferved by their annual fpawning, are obliged to emigrate, 

 and are on that occafion driven about in inexpreffibly large 

 fhoals by the fifh of prey, which are God's inftruments decreed 

 for that purpofe, they are fent farther fouthward ; by which 

 they lofe fome of their ftrength and fat. This happens in 

 the long voyage they take; and they fometimes approach 

 the coafls before they recover of their fatigue. When they 

 grow better the females difcharge their fpawn, and the males 

 their femen ; by which they are again weakened and emaciated 

 for fome time. The firfb inhabited land from the north pole, 

 that thefe emigrants or {trolling fifh-colonies touch upon, next to 

 Iceland *, is Fi»marken and Norway \ as alfo the north of 

 Scotland, and the Orkneys. In thefe places they are found in 

 fuch multitudes, particularly the Herrings, Mackarel, and fome 

 other kinds of Fifh, that it will appear incredible to my readers, 

 who live in other countries, to whom I fhall feem to have tran'f- 

 grefled the bounds of probability ; tho' I have not been able, 



opinion, that the Fifh feeks the creeks, fhores and lhallows, for the fake of frefher 

 water, than that of the ocean, which is fuppofed to promote their breeding. The 

 manner of their ejecting the Spawn, according to fome obfervations, particularly 

 with regard to the Salmon, is thft ; namely, the Fifh bends itfelf quite crooked 

 on one fide, by which means the roe fquirts out at the excretory ducf : and when 

 a fhoal of females have thus difcharged the roe, then the males come and dif- 

 charge or eject, their generative fluid in the fame manner over it. 



* In Iceland there is a great deal of fifh catched, particularly of the Cod kind j 

 which may be known by the annual fhip-loads that are fent to Copenhagen and 

 Gluckflat : and it is certain, that as Iceland lies near the place of their firfb departure, 

 there might be caught ten times as many, if that country was not in fuch want of 

 wood, and confequently of boats and fhips. This confideration ought to remind, 

 the Norwegians to take more care of their woods than they do at prefent here on 

 the weft fide. "Was it poffible that we could deftroy all our woods, then certainly 

 our fifheries would likewife be deftroyed ; for fo many boats, and the ieveral 

 100,000 planks which are annually required for that fervice, would become too 

 ' dearr 



m 



