HER 
ply is amazing; which, added to the fecurity of 
thefe fiflies under the icy rigour of the climate, 
render their increafe great beyond exprefTion; and 
from thefe retreats fome autliors are of opinion they 
would never depart, did not their numbers render 
it neceffary for them to m.igrate in queft of food 
congenial to their appetites. 
The great colony of Herrings fets out from the 
icy feas about the middle of winter: it is compofed 
of vaft numbers, even beyond conception; but no 
fooner is it in motion, than millions of enemies 
appear to thin the fquadrons. The fin-filh and 
the cachalot fwailow hundreds at a yav/n ; the por- 
pus, the grampus, the fliark, and all the numerous 
tribes of dog-fifli, find them an eafy prey; and, 
defifting from mutual carnage, unite in devouring 
thefe defencelefs animals: while the myriads of 
fea-fowl that frequent the polar regions watch the 
progrefs of their migration, and are nearly as fatal 
to them as their enemies of the deep. 
Thus furrounded with foes which they can nei- 
ther avoid nor repel, thefe helplefs emigrants find 
no odier fafety but that of crouding clofer toge- 
ther, and leaving the extreme ranks to be firft de- 
ftroyed. However, they loon feparate into fhoals, 
one body of which moves wefLvv-ard, and pours 
dov/n along the coafts of America as far as Caro- 
lina. In Chefapeak Bay, the annual inundation 
of thefe fillies is fo great, that they cover the fhores 
in fuch quantities as to become a nuifance. Thofe 
which hold more to the eaftward, and dire6l their 
courfe for Europe, endeavour to {?.yq themfelves 
from their unrelenting purfuers by approaching 
the firft fliore they can i\nd; and accordingly make 
their defccnt on Iceland about the beginning of 
March. When they arrive on that coaft, their 
phalanx, though it has fuffered confiderable dimi- 
nutions, is neverthelefs of amazing extent, depth, 
and clofenefs, covering a fpace as large as the 
ifland itfelf; the whole element feems as it were 
alive, and the numbers appear inexhauftible. 
That llioal which vifits the Britifh coaPcs, be- 
gins to appear off the Shetland Ifles in tlie month 
of April. This is the forerunner of the grand 
Ihoal which defcends in June, whole appearance is 
announced by the numbers of it's voracious at- 
tendants, the gannet, the gull, the fhark, and the 
porpus. When the main body is arrived, it's 
breadth and depth is fuch as to alter the very ap- 
pearance of the ocean. It is divided into diftinft 
columns of five or fix miles in length, and three or 
four in breadth; while the water curls up as the 
Herrings advance, and appears as if forced from 
it's bed. Sometimes they fink for the fpace of 
ten or fifteen minutes, then rife again to the fur- 
face; and, in bright weather, refledt a variety of 
fplendid colours, like a field befpangled with 
azure, gold, and purple. 
From che Shetland Ifles, where this great army 
divides, one body moves off to the weftern coafbs 
of Ireland, where it meets with a ncceffity of di- 
viding a fecond time: one party taking to the 
Atlantic, is loon loft in that extenfive ocean; the 
other pairing int: the irifli Sea, furnifnes a very 
confiderable capture to the natives. The fecond 
grand divifion, v;!iich takes place at Shetland, vi- 
fits the northern fhores of this ifland; and then 
entering the Britiih Channel, pafTes the Land's 
End, and foon after totally dilappears. 
Thus the Herrings, expelled from their native 
feas, feek thofe bays and fhores where food pre- 
fents itfelf in greateft plenty, and wheie they are 
H jER 
the leafl: liable to meet with their cruel purfuers 
of the deep. In general, the larger rapacious ani- 
mals of the ocean avoid the more populous fhores 5 
and thefe are chofen by Herrings as an afylum 
from more imminent danger. Thus, along the 
Britifh coafts, and thofe of Norway, Germany, and 
France, they are found punftual in their vifita- 
tions: neverthelefs, they are fometimes capricious 
in their migrations; and have been known to fre- 
quent particular fhores for a feries of years, and 
then to relinquifli them for ever. 
Towards the enci of June, Herrings are in full 
roe; and they continue in perfeftion till the begin- 
ning of winter. The young ones approach the 
fnores in the months of July and Auguft, and are 
then from half an inch to two inches in length. 
Few young Herrings being found in our feas dur- 
ing winter, it is generally fuppofcd that they re- 
turn to their native haunts beneath the ice, in or- 
der to repair the vaft deftruftion of their race in 
the fummer. Some old ones continue on our 
coafts the whole year, but their number is very in- 
connderable. 
The Hcrring-fifhery is of very remote antiquity. 
The Dutch, remarkable for their perfevering in- 
duft-ry, firft engaged in it about the year 11 64; 
they kept pofTelTion of it for feveral centuries; but 
at length it's value became fo well knov/n, that it 
gave rife to feveral obftinate contefts betv/een 
them and the Englifh. Still, hovv^ever, either 
from fome defedl in our government, or the mode 
of conducing our fifheries, the Dutch maintain a 
decided fuperiority over us in this lucrative branch 
of trade. 
Our great ftations are off the Shetland and Wef- 
tern Ifles ; and on the Norfolk coaft, in which the 
Dutch alfo participate. Yarmouth has long been 
famous for it's Herring-fair, which was regulated 
by a£l of parliament in the reign of Edward III. 
That town is obliged by it's charter to fend to 
the fheriffs of Norwich one hundred Herrings, to 
be made into twenty-four pies, by them to be de- 
livered to the lord of the manor of Eaft' Carleton, 
who is to convey them to the king ; and hence the 
facetious Dr. Fuller calls the Herring a Norfolk 
capon. 
Immenfe quantities cf Herrings are annually 
caught on the Britifh coafts ; many of which are 
confumed while frefh ; and the reft are either faked, 
pickled, or fmoke-dried, and exported to various 
parts of Europe. 
Confidered as an aliment, frefh Herrings are 
perfeftly innocent if moderately u fed; but, when 
taken in quantities difproportioned to the digeftive 
powers, they frequently produce a putrefaftion in 
the ftomach of the alcaline kind, and are other- 
wife attended with very pernicious confequences. 
Pickled Herrings are always unwholelbme food, 
their flefli being rendered hard, and fcarcely di- 
gcftible by the vital powers : thefe, however, are 
lefs injurious than fuch as are falted and dried; 
the laft being more hardened, and cohfequently 
lefs eafy of digeftion. 
Viewed in a medicinal light, the Herring is 
faid to be of confiderable importance. The vefi- 
cles called animas, taken internally, are faid to be; 
diuretic. Salted Herrings are fometimes applied 
to the foles of the feet in fevers, with intent to draw 
the humours from the head, and to mitigate the ' 
febrile heat. Herring-pickle is lifed in clyfters 
for the dropfy, and pains in the hips; and, exter- 
nally applied, it mundifies foetid ulcers, checks 
5 B the 
