68 
MACKaREL. 
fisli begin to move from the deeper waters of the Atlantic, to 
which they had retreated towards the end of autumn; and as 
at this their early movement, their value to the fisherman is 
much higher than afterwards, preparations are made to meet 
them at a considerable distance from land — at the entrance of 
the British Channel, soutli or west of the Scilly Islands, or 
towards Cape Clear, in Ireland — amidst the uncertain weather 
and darkness of the night, which render the voyage a service 
of no slight labour and hazard. Such is the most frequent 
course of proceeding, but it has sometimes happened that the 
fish have shewn themselves near the western shores at an 
earlier date than was expected, in which case, those who have 
laboured the least have obtained the greatest success. I possess 
notes which record that in the year 1818, fifteen thousand 
were caught at Mevagissey, in Cornwall, between the 1st. and 
12th. of February; and in the year 1842, on the 30th. of 
January, two boats brought into Plymouth — one of them fourteen 
thousand, and the other four thousand. In 1843 some boats 
succeeded in taking from twenty to thirty thousand in each 
night of the first week in February. 
There is reason to suppose that the fish thus first sought for, 
which obtain a preference in the market, are the produce of 
the last, or next to the last season of breeding; and the 
moderate progress they have made in growth during the small 
time of their retreat, if the supposition of their being the 
progeny of the last season be allowed, is not a very formidable 
objection to the opinion. By their inferior size and general 
appearance they may without difficulty be distinguished from 
those of advanced age, and which especially are more distinctly 
marked with an interrupted dark line along the side, Avhich 
therefore is regarded — even when it occurs in younger indi- 
viduals — as a sign of inferior quality. 
I have had occasion to remark that in this early movement 
the sexes are much divided, and that the males go before the 
females in their course of migration. Out of twenty examples, 
taken Indiscriminately in March, sixteen were males; and in 
another season, from a capture of seven thousand, seventeen 
out of twenty were males. It is true I have witnessed 
an exception to this, when in numbers selected from the 
earliest fish, they consisted of an equal number of each sex. 
