324 FISHES. [Chap. X. 



a notice of their general characteristics forms an in- 

 teresting appendix to the present chapter. 1 



Of those in ordinary use for the table the finest by far 

 is the Seir-fish 2 , a species of Scomberoids, which is called 

 Tora-rnalu by the natives. It is in size and form very 

 similar to the salmon, to which the flesh of the female 

 fish, notwithstanding its white colour, bears a very close 

 resemblance both in firmness and flavour. 



Mackerel, carp, whitings, mullet both red and striped, 

 perches and soles are abundant, and a sardine (Sardi- 

 nella Neohowii, Val.) frequents the southern and eastern 

 coast in such profusion that in one instance in 1839, 

 a gentleman who was present saw upwards of four 

 hundred thousand taken in a haul of the nets in the 

 little bay of Groyapanna, east of Point-de-Gralle. As 

 this vast shoal approached the shore the broken water 

 became as smooth as if a sheet of ice had been floating 

 below the surface. 3 



Poisonous Fishes. — The sardine has the reputation 

 of being poisonous at certain seasons, and accidents 

 ascribed to eating it are recorded in all parts of the 

 island. Whole families of fishermen who have partaken 

 of it have died. Twelve persons in the jail of Chilaw 

 were thus poisoned, about, the year 1829; and the 

 deaths of soldiers have repeatedly been ascribed to the 

 same cause. It is difficult in such instances to say with 

 certainty whether the fish were in fault ; whether there 



1 See note B appended to this in such abundance that for a great 

 chapter. distance into the sea nothing can 



2 Cybium (Scomber, Linn.) gut- be seen but the backs of fishes, 

 tatum. which casting themselves on the 



3 These facts serve to explain shore, do suffer men for the space 

 the story told by the friar Odoric of three daies to come and to take 

 of Friuli, who visited Ceylon about as many of them as they please, 

 the year 1320 a.d., and says there and then they return again into 

 are "fishes in those seas that come the sea." — Hakluyt, vol. ii. p. 57. 

 swimming towards the said country 



