JuLT 30. 1885. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



9 



The Chastnel Catfish (Ictahmis punctatiis, Rafinesque). 

 ^The channel cat reaches a length of 3 to 3 feet and a 

 weia;ht of 15 to 20 pounds or more. As usually seen in the 

 markets it ranges from 1 to 5 pounds in weight, and those 

 exceeding 5 pounds are not common. It is handsomer, more 

 graceful, and more active than any other of our catlishes. 

 It is light olivaceous and silvery in color, covered with small 

 brown spots when young. The skin is thin and translucent, 

 much less thick anil leathery than in our common catflshes 

 (Amiurus). The head is small, the mouth small, and the 

 body slender. There is much lesH waste in the body of the 

 channel cat than in other fishes, as the latter lose more than 

 half their weight by the removal of the head, the entrails and 

 the skin. The flesh of the channel cat, when fresh, is 

 very superior; it is white, crisp and juicy, of excellent flavor 

 and not tough. It is much more delicate b(ith in fibre and in 

 flavor than that of our other catlishes. When well cooked, 

 I con.sider it superior to that of the black bass, the wall eye, 

 the yellow perch, or any other of ourpercoid fishes. x\mong 

 our fresh-water fishes, it is inferior only to the wbitefisli, tne 

 trout, and other Salmonidcp. The channel cat abounds in all 

 flowing streams from Western ISiew York westward to Mon- 

 tana and southward to Florida and Texas. It is, perhaps, 

 most common in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri. It 

 seems to prefer running waters, and both young and old are 

 most abundant in gravelly shoals and ripples. The other 

 catflshes prefer rather sluggish waters and mud bottoms. I 

 have occasionally taken channel cats in ponds and bayous, 

 but such localities are apparently not their preference. They 

 rarely enter small brooks unless these are clear and gravelly. 

 Whether they will thrive in artificial ponds we can only 

 know from experiment. The channel cat is much less 

 tenacious of life than the "bull-head" {Andurus nebulosits) 

 ana other Amiuri, It is a cai-nivorotis fish, although less 

 greedy thail its larger-mouthed rt^latives. It feeds on insects, 

 crawfishes, worms and small fishes, and readily takes the 

 hook. It spawns in spring, but its breeding habits have not 

 been studied. As a food flsh, the channel cat is certainly 

 better worthy of attention than any other American catfi.«h. 

 If once introduced, it ought to thrive in the rivers of the 

 Middle States, of Southern New England, and of OaUfornia. 

 It is also to be commended to the attention of European fish- 

 culturists. In the streams of Western Europe, which are 

 not cold enough nor clear enough for the trout, the channel 

 cat ought to thrive, and there is no fish native to those waters 

 which is as valuable for food. — David fl. Jordan in BuUetifi 

 of the U, b'. Fish Commission. 



Bass Fishing. — Putnam, Conn , July 17.— Fishing in this 

 part of the country has beeu good this spring, and now the 

 fraternitjf arc after black bass, and are bringing in good 

 strings. ' Speaking of bass tempts me to give Forest 'and 

 Stkeam: readers my first and only d.ay's bass tisJung as yet 

 this season. A friend of mine who never saw a bass caught 

 wanted to go with me. We went to Webster Pond one day 

 this week. After taking .some fifteen or twenty bass of 

 small and medium size, tiie larger ones began to fool around, 

 and at this .stage of the proceedings I thought I would try 

 the old 9 ounce fly-rod, just to show my friend how the 

 thing was done, A big swirl, a light yank, a rush, and the 

 old click reel s?pun out the usual music, until forty or flfty 

 feet of line was played out. "Where's your bass gone to?'" 

 "Look out yonder," said I. At that instant a small-mouth, 

 3-pound bass broke water, and shook himself two or three 

 feet in the air. "Say, is that fish the one you are after?" 

 "Well, yes, I should smile and say he was." The fish now 

 makes a dive for the boat, but swinging her around in time 

 the bass makes another leap forty feet on the other side of 

 the boat. "Look out, he'll break your rod; he will break 

 your rod." "Don't be alarmed, my friend; this rod has 

 killed a 9-pound trout in rapid water, and I guess it's good 

 for this." And in about three minutes that bass took a scoot 

 into the landing net. My friend looked admiringly at the 

 bass, and then at the rod, quietly remarking, "Well, it's 

 worth the whole trip up here to see that fellow taken with 

 that whip of yours." I do think there is more fight to the 

 square inch in a small-mouth black bass than in any other 

 fish that swims. And as I intend to spend a few days fool- 

 ing with them about the first of August, and if any of the 

 "old settlers" undertake to "telegraph" to me from their end 

 of the line, I will tell the readers of Fokest and Stkeam 

 what luck I had in "telegraphing" back to them. — W. 



Trout Fishing in Oregon. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 I have noticed an occasional item in the columns of j'^our 

 paper giving specimens of "good catches" in Oregon. I 

 wish to contribute another item that will not compare 

 unfavorfble with those that have happened before. In 

 company with Captain Fowler, of the Second Cavalry. IJ. 

 S. A,, stationed at Fort Klamath, Bishop Morris, of Port- 

 land, and myself spent several days last month on William- 

 son River in Klamath county, Oregon, testing our fishing 

 tackle and the quality of the trout that abound there. Un- 

 fortunately we did not keep a record of all the fish taken 

 and so cannot give the total number or weight. There were 

 caught at that time, however, several who.se weight was not 

 forgotten. The Bishop landed without gaff or net and with 

 an eight-ounce rod, one that weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces. 

 I had the good luck to land three that together weighed 18 

 pounds 5 ounces. Captain Fowler also landed several that 

 weighed over 5 pounds. The fish were taken with eight-ounce 

 rods and large flies. The coachman was the favorite. I 

 have never seen fish more gamy or make a better fight. They 

 were in every respect similar to the Rocky Mountain trout 

 that abound in the streams on this coast. Captain Fowler, 

 whose enthu-siasm for fishing is only equalled by his generous 

 hospitality, states that trout were taken from the river this 

 ^spring that weighed over eight pounds and I can well believe 

 it. Having cast flies in many streams in the State I have 

 come to the conclusion that there is but one place to fish 

 and that is in Williamson River. — W. E. PoTwaNE. 



The Brack Prince.— Chicago, July 2^.— Editor Forest 

 and Stream: Some time ago in your valuable paper under 

 the heading "The Most Kilbng Fly," I described a fly of 

 which I did not know the name, and the description agrees 

 exactly with that of "Cyrtonyx" in your issue of the 23d 

 inst., save that mine had a long red tail instead of shoots as 

 he describes it. I never knew the name of the fly until 

 "Cyrtonyx" named it, and it is certainly one of the most 

 killing flies for Colorado and New Mexican streams. This 

 fly having proved so tempting to the Salrno drginalis tribe. I 

 set to work (though no fly-maker) and made myself some 

 flies exactly like it save that I u.sed silver tinsel twist in place 

 of the gilt; this proved, if anything, more killing than the 



black prince, so I named it the black killer. If Mr. Hart 

 will send mo his address, I will be most happy to send him 

 a black prince, black killer and several other flies tliat I have 

 found remarkably good in Colorado waters, and if I can give 

 him or any of my fellow sportsmen any information regard- 

 ing the trout streams, ponds and lakes of Colorado or New 

 Mexico, I shall be most happy to do so. "Next!"— Sport. 



Maryland NBTTreo. — Fau-lee Creek, Kent County, Md. , 

 July 16. — While the oyster law of Maryland is strictly en- 

 forced, the seine fishermen are hauling day and niaht, takina: 

 great quantities of rock, pike, etc., and destroying thousands 

 of small fish. This is a grand game and fish country; but 

 this constant seine-hauling will tell in the course of time. 

 Fishing with hook and line for private use could never make 

 any perceptible difference, but will not the guardians of the 

 law look after the wholesale destroyers? Most of them be- 

 long in other States, where they cannot haul seine at this 

 time of the year. — E\^rett Von Culin. 



^islfculture. 



Address all cotnmunioations to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



A GLANCE AT BILLINGSGATE. 



BY WILLIAM VAN ZANDT OCX, 

 [A paper read before cbe American Fisheries Society. | 



TH.E Thames being the highway to London and originally 

 the source of its fish supply, it was very natural that 

 some point upon it should become the center of the fi.sh trade. 

 Billing-sgate has for centuries been that point. As to the ori- 

 gin ot the name there are many traditions. One is that Belin, 

 an ancient Britain ruler, who lived three or four centuries B. 

 C. and was held in great reverence by the fisher folk, con- 

 structed a gate in the immediate proximity to the present 

 market and g.ive it his name, 



Stow, a very practical writer, after considerable research, 

 comes to the' conclusion that a Mr. Beling or BiHiug, in the 

 time of Ehzabeth. had a wharf there. This commencement, 

 though less flavored with romance and more of fish than 

 otlier's, Ave think more than likely was the beginning of this 

 unpoetical tish mart. The market has been the property of 

 the city of Loudon for centuries, and the revenues derived 

 from it, though no stati.stics seem to have ever been compiled 

 on the subject, must in the aggregate be enormous. 



Originally the market was very primitive both in structure 

 and equipments, indeed, until within the memory of those 

 stni living, it consisted of "a batch of uncleanly old sheds reek- 

 ing -with tishy smells and more or less beset by ruffianly com- 

 pany." 



The language used by ttiose who frequented it has, as is well 

 known, become proverbial for its coai'seness. At one time 

 women were engaged in selling tish in the market, and it is 

 said were largely instrumental in giving the place the bad 

 name it bore, and though at this time it has eutu-ely changed 

 fi-om what it once was, it still beai'S the stigma of coai'seness 

 in the minds of many, illustrating, says a clever writer, that 

 "as in the case of men, the evil that women do lives after 

 them." 



The old sheds disappeared some years ago, tlieh places be- 

 ijig occupied by a building which tn turn has given way to 

 the present market. This .structure extends north and south 

 from the Thames River to Thames .street and was built with 

 ttie idea of having not only groimd space, but also space in 

 the basement below and the gallery overhead. The basement 

 part was intended for shellfish dealers. But it was not oc- 

 cupied by them long, tor being twenty-six feet below the 

 level of the river, it was so dark, damp and disagreeable that 

 few buyers cared to go there. Several deaths also occurred 

 among its occupants, and those remaining being unwilling to 

 stay longer in the "black hole," it was abandoned, except as 

 a place of storage and for lobster boiling purposes. The over- 

 head space was for dealers in dried fish and is connected with 

 the ground floor both by spacious stairs and elevatoi-s. Being 

 .sought, however, by few patrons, it was also abandoned and 

 its occupants went below and squeezed in, as did the shellfish 

 dealers from the basement ; so that at this time the entue 

 trad"} is concentrated on the ground floor. Without going 

 into details concerning the architecture of the building, it is suf- 

 ficient to say that it is generaUy admitted that the corporation 

 did not act wisely in enlarging the market at a great expense 

 and in a way that is of no practical use, instead of widenurg 

 the approaches to it on the Thames street side. The floors of 

 the building are of poUshed granite, concealed beneath wiiich 

 are drains of iron for carrying off the du't and refuse when 

 the market is flushed, which is^ done daily at the close of the 

 market hours. 



At the present time there are 156 stalls and 14 shops on the 

 groimd floor. The former are located iu the center, while the 

 latter are on the sides of the building. There is also a tavern 

 where flsh are served as the leading article of diet. Formerly 

 there wore three taverns, Simpson's, Bowler's and Bacon's, 

 where in other days the salesmen congregated before dayhght, 

 drank theii' black coiiee and "aff and atf," ate fish and talked 

 over the prices, sales and supply of fish for the coming day, In 

 order to have more space, howevex-, the number of taverns has 

 been reduced to one, which now bi-ings in a rental of |4,0U0 

 annually. The stalls vary in size, averaging 82sq. ft., accord- 

 ing to the Clerk of the Market, Mr. John Little, to whom I 

 am indebted for many courtesies. The stalls, according to 

 location, bring from 10 to 18 cents per square foot per week, or 

 an annual rental from §166 to |300 each. The shops bring from 

 $1,700 to 13,000. 



Avenues cross the market at regular intervals, and from 

 necessity are very liarrow. Great effort is required to keep 

 them open, and the rules of the market are very explicit in 

 regard to placing obstructions in them. Porters carry the 

 fish into and from the market in baskets, boxes, crates, bar- 

 rels, in fact in all kinds of ways. No one is permitted to per- 

 form the duties of porter without a license, for wUich he has 

 to pay 2s. 6d. When on duty, in order to readily distinguish 

 him, the porter is obliged to wear on his left arm a metalhc 

 badge havtug on it the armorial bearings of the city of Ijon- 

 don. If a port.er misbehaves, uses any abusive or obscene 

 language, gets intoxicated, steals, commits assault or violates 

 any of the rides of the market, his hcense is at once taken 

 from him. I was told that the present conduct of employes 

 in Billingsgate so happfly in contrast with "ye olden times," 

 is due to rigid enforcement of rules similar in tenor to those 

 just mentioned. 



The porter's dress consists of cotton overalls, a coarse cotton 

 sMi-t, worn on the outside of the trousers, which from the be- 

 grimed and bespattered appearance are very appropriately 

 called "slops." The head is protected by a "porter's knot," a 

 hat which has a cushion in the crown, very necessary padding, 

 it might be remarked, as the roiigh and heavy "ti'unks" ai'e 

 either borne directly on the top of the head, or resting on the 

 shoulders, back and neck. Wooden sandals are generally 

 worn on the feet to keep the bottoms of the shoes from con- 

 tact with the sloppy surface. The porter receives on an aver- 

 age about a penny f ai-thing for carrying each box of fish to 

 the salesman. The taking of it from the salesmen to the con- 

 veyance of the buyer is an optional charge, depending upon 

 the kinds of fish and distance to be carried. 



Land-borne fish enter the building on the Thames street 



side, while river-borne fish are brought into the market 

 through the south door facing the river. The boats bringing 

 them to London are not permitted to come alongside the 

 building tn unload, but, for some reason unknown to me, are 

 reqtui-ed to make fast to fastenings provided for them adjacent 

 to floating pontoons and barges that iirtervene. Planks, 

 mostly unprotected by side rails, extend fi-om boat to markec 

 about a hundred feet distant. Up and down and across these 

 planks the porters tramp with their heavy bm-dens, for each 

 titmk weighs about 100 pounds. 



Nine .steam carriers run to and from Billingsgate and the 

 fleets in the North tSea, and bring the bulk of the water-borne 

 fish. The unloa ding of th ese boats— indeed all kinds of craft — 

 is an interesting sight. But let Sala tell the story : "This 

 wharf is covered with fish, and the scaly things themselves 

 are being landed wth prodigious celerity and in quantities 

 almost as prodigious from vessels moored in triple tier before 

 the market. Here are Dutcli boats that biing eels, and boats 

 fi-om the North Sea that bring lobsters, and boats from Har- 

 tlepool, Whitstable, Harwich, Great Grimsby, and other Eng- 

 lish seaports and flshiug stations. They are all caUed boats, 

 though many are of a size that wotdd rendei- the term ship, or 

 at least vessel, far more applicable, They are mostly square 

 and rsquat in rigging, and somewhat tubby in build, and nave 

 an rmmistakably fishy appearance. Nautical terms are min- 

 gled with London street vernacular; fresh mackerel competes 

 in odor with pitch and tar; the tigbt-straincd rigging cuts in 

 dark indigo relief against the pale blue sk>' ; thi? whole is a 

 confusion, slightlv' dirty but eminently xjictm-esque, of ropes, 

 spars, baskets, oakum, ' tar]);:iuliii, Ush, canvas trousers, osier 

 baskets, loud voices, trampling feet ;uid 'perfumed gales,' not 

 exactly from 'Araby the blest,' but from the holds of the fish- 

 ing craft." 



The method of handling and eanying the fish may sti-ike 

 the author of "Twice Aroimd the Clock" as one of "prodigi- 

 ous celerity," but to an American familiar with steam appli- 

 ances and labor-saving machinei'y, it appears to be very tedi- 

 ous, costly, old-fashioaed and in great contrast to systernsseen 

 with us, where a vessel puts in, unloads, packs up, and leaves 

 the wharf in two hours. 



Steam appliances have not been adopted at Billingsgate, I 

 am informed, because the fish would be more rapidly brought 

 to the salesmen than they could be haudlod, and so the old 

 system is clung to, and porters with trunks on their heads 

 approach the salesman, stand in waiting, then deposit them 

 only as rapidly as they can be sold and again borae away. 



The salesman or auctioneer gets five per cent, on the sales 

 made. Many flsh were formerly sold at "Dutch auction," 

 where the salesman names a high figure, thou drops to a lower 

 one, and so on until a bid is made wliich is accepted, and the 

 procedm'e is gone through with de novo. No license isi-eqiured 

 to seU fish by Dutch auction, and this method is still in great 

 favor in many of the fishing ports. 



The Bumm'aree appears to be an individual essential to Bil- 

 lingsgate. 



Jonathan Bee, in his slang dictionaiy ("Lexicon Balatroni.-- 

 cum"), published 182:;, defines the bummaree to be the man 

 who at BiUingsgate takes the place of the salesman, and gen- 

 eraUy after y o'clock A. M., buys the last lot of fish. 



The authoi" ot "London Labor and London Poor," 18.53, says 

 that at that time Billingsgate was opened at -1 A. M., but for 

 two hom-s it was otUy attended by the regular fishmonger and 

 the bummaree. At the present t'hne, Ivowever, not only is the 

 bummaree the first to arrive, but, as in 182^, he is the last to 

 leave. He now purchases from the salesman audseU* tiO small 

 dealers, eostermougers and consum«Ji'i<. Before making a sale 

 the bummaree breaks the packages and assorts the fish, sup- 

 phdng the ljuyers with the kinds, sizes and cjuahty de*s>3"edl. 

 A very useful function it might be remarked when w« re- 

 member that a "ped" often contains various kinds of fish, 

 smtable and unsuitable for the uses for wdiich they are wanted 

 by ditferent classes of purchasers. But how'ever useful the 

 bummaree may be, that such an individual exists at all, only 

 goes to prove the inadequate accommodations of BDlingsgate 

 for the trade, and whether there is ioundation or not for such 

 accusation as are heard concerning him; the bummaree will 

 exist so long as the fish supply of populous London has to pass 

 through this limited inaccessible market in a limited time. 



The market is opened at .5 o'clock in the morning and is 

 practicaUy over at 10 o'clock. Before the opening, however, 

 the auctioneers ai"e in their places, behind what are called- 

 "bidks" or "forms," upon which the fish are deposited in 

 "trunks," "doubles," etc. Little if any opportunity is given 

 buyers to ascertain the condition of the tish, for no sooner is 

 the box deposited on the "bulks" than it is knocked down as 

 sold, and again boi'ne away. If the buyer is not infoimied in 

 some way in regard to the condition of the fish, to purchase 

 the unopened boxes so rapidly, and with such apparent indis- 

 criminate recklessness, seems to an outside observer, to put it 

 mildly, great confidence in the comhtion of the fish, and in the 

 honesty of the salesman. 



During the whirl of business all seems confusion and chaos. 

 Porters are seen rushing hither and thither with reeking bar- 

 rels, baskets and boxes. Auctioneers with long narrow ae- 

 coxmt books in their hands are bawhng to ljuyers, who, with 

 hands by the side of their mouths, direct back their shouting 

 answers, while the uninitiated explorer stands bewildered in 

 their midst, until he is caUed to his senses by the exclama- 

 tion, "Hout the way." "The only comparison lean find for 

 the aspect, the sights and soimds of the place," sa.ys a well-, 

 known writer, "is a rush, a rush hither and thither at a helter 

 skelter speed, apparently bUndly, apparently without motive, 

 but really with a business-like and engrossing pre-occupa,tion 

 for fish and all things fishy. Baskets f idl of turbot borne on 

 the shoulders of the facchini of the place, skim thi'ough the 

 air with such rapidity that you might take them to be flying 

 fish." 



"At that piscatorial house," says Bertram, ("Haiwest of the 

 Sea," p. 59) "we can see in theieaiiy morning the produce of 

 our most distant seas brought to our greatest seat of popula- 

 tion, sure of finding a ready and profitable market. The 

 aldermanic turbot, the tempting sole, the gigantic codfish, the 

 valuable salmon, the cheap sprat, and the universal herring, 

 are all to be found dm-ing their diflierent seasons in great 

 plenty at Billingsgate, and in the lower depths of the market 

 buildings, countless quantities of shellfish of all kmds stored 

 in tubs may be seen, and all over is sprinkled the dripping sea 

 water, and all around we feel that 'ancient and fish-like 

 smell' which is the concomitant of such a place." 



CommerciaUy spea,king fish are divided by the Londoner 

 into two classes: 1. Prime. 2. Oft'al. The former compre 

 bonds the choice varieties, such as sole, btill, turbot, etc. The 

 latter includes the commoner coarse kinds, such as place, 

 roher, haddock, etc. The quantities that come into Billings- 

 gate are very disproportionate. Mr. Little says that thirteen 

 boxes of offal reaches the market to one box of prime. That 

 gentleman has very kindly furnished me a table sho\ving the 

 quantity of fish arx-iving at Billingsgate per mouth during the 

 year 1883, which I shall make a part of this paper, as also a i 

 series of tables showing the amount of fish coming to London 

 since 1875. It will be seen from Mv. Little's statement that the 

 quantity coming by water is much loss than by land. Special 

 trains bearing flsh alone run daily to London from Grimsby, 

 Hull, Yarmouth and other places. As these trains do not 

 come in the vicinity of Billingsgate, the fish have to be carted 

 through the narrow- streets and tortuous lanes, across the city 

 to the market in order to be sold, and when sold to be again 

 carted over the same streets through which it has aheady 

 with difliculty passed. 



Speaking of the approaches to Billingsgate, the Quarterly 

 Review, October, 1882, says: "Their badness was of compara- 

 tively slight importance so long as the bulk of the fish w^as 

 brought thither by water. "RHien, however, it became neces- 

 sary to deal each year with some 90,000 tons of railway-borne 



