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MALACOPTERYGII. 
chiefly in that of the head; and another said he knew them by colour alone. 
Although the difference was in each respect very apparent to myself, I put both 
parties to the test, and found that the one guided by form, and the other by 
colour, drew the A. Tobianus from his basket with equal dexterity, and without 
a moment’s hesitation singled it out from hosts of the A. Lancea. This fishing 
is carried on here daily throughout the year, except in winter, when being full 
of spawn the sand-eels are considered unfit to be eaten. At other times they are 
used by all classes of people. In the excellent hotel at Dundrum they were 
served up to us at dinner along with salmon, and were fried with crumbs of 
bread strewed over them — for breakfast they are similarly cooked. The poorer 
people dry them in the sun, and in bright days the tables and trays of the cottage 
are sure to be seen set out before the doors covered with sand eels. 
“ August 27th . — At Newcastle, about three miles South of Dundrum, great 
quantities of sand eels were taken at the morning ebb of the spring-tide ; by 
some individuals so many as forty quarts. In the evening I reckoned about 
eighty persons out fishing, and having two one-horse carts in readiness beside 
them to carry away the produce ; but the harvest that was then gathered fell 
short of requiring such extra aid.* 
“ Having observed a number of pigs at Newcastle daily frequenting the sand at 
the extreme edge of the retiring waves, I ascertained, as had been anticipated, 
that they were in search of sand eels. This, however, was not the chosen feed- 
ing-ground of these animals, as I subsequently saw them regularly driven out 
there to forage for themselves. The A. Tobianus , though taken here, is less fre- 
quent than at Dundrum. 
“ When at Ballywalter, on the coast of Down, and northwards of the last- 
mentioned place, in May, 1836, I found a few of A. Tobianus by examining the 
sand eels which fishermen were using as bait ; and in the month of March 
following, obtained a specimen along with two of the A. Lancea from the sto- 
mach of a sea trout (S. Trutta) taken at Donaghadee. On questioning some 
fishermen at Portaferry, situated just within the entrance to Strangford Lough, 
in the same County, respecting the two species of sand eel, I learned that they 
had not been as such distinguished by them. It was however stated, that they 
occasionally obtained much larger individuals than ordinary, which from colour 
were named e green-backs,’ the common being called sand eels ; the former both 
from superior size and different colour must doubtless be the A. Tobianus. 
“ Amongst a few fishes found dead on the beach at Cairnlough near Glenarm 
(County of Antrim) in June, 1836, by Dr. J. L. Drummond, was a specimen of 
the A. Tobianus. In this, as well as every other instance in which I have seen 
the last-named species, specimens of A. Lancea occurred at the same time. 
“ In the Wild Sports of the West there is a short but graphic account of sand 
eel fishing by moonlight on the coast of Mayo; and at Strangford Lough and 
other places in the North of Ireland it is likewise a favourite pastime of the 
young in the moonlight nights of summer. It is said that from the silvery bril- 
liancy of the fish being more striking by night than day, it is at this time cap- 
tured with greater facility ; but is it not rather for the novelty of dry-land fish- 
ing, with the additional feature of being achieved by moonlight, that the sport is 
at this time practised ? f Although the sand eel is noticed in several of the 
Statistical Surveys of the Irish Counties, there is not, that I recollect, any re- 
mark which would lead us to suppose that more than one kind has been ob- 
served ; but there can be little doubt that both species are found elsewhere than 
on the coasts of Down and Antrim. 
“ The largest specimen of A. Tobianus obtained at Dundrum was 13 inches 
* “ The coast [at Newcastle] affords plenty and variety of sea-fish ; and such 
quantities of sand eels have sometimes been taken on it, particularly in the late 
season of scarcity, that the poor carried them away in sacksful.” — Harris’s 
Down, p. 81, published in 1744. 
f Mr. Lukis states that in Guernsey they are sought for by moonlight. — Yarr. 
Brit. Fish., vol. ii. p. 324. 
