Halecoids. 
146 Malacopterous Abuominals. FISHES. 
the names of Common Shad, Menhaden, Hardheads, 
Marshbankers, Spring-herrings or Alewives, Summer- 
herrings, Sliadines, &c. {Alausa tyr annus, prcEstahilis, 
teres, menhaden, shadina,&c.), some of which are largely 
consumed in the fresli state, and are said by Dr. 
Mitchill to take salt well and to be highly prized as an 
article of food by the people. 
The Pilchard of Cornwall, which is the Sardine 
of commerce {Alaxtsa jnlchardus), is of much greater 
economical imj'ortauce than the Shad. It is known on 
the coasts of Normandy and Picardy by the names of 
CdAin and Celan, at Bordeaux by that of lioyan, and 
in the markets of Paris by that of Ilarengs de Bergues. 
On the coasts of Spain and Portugal and in the Medi- 
terranean, where it is an abundant fish, it is generally 
termed the Sardine, Sarda, Sardella, &c. The best 
fishery for the Sardines on the French coast, is stated 
by M. Valenciennes to be between Belleisle and the 
peninsula of Quiberon. The chasse-marees in which 
the fishery is carried on are of eight or ten tons burthen, 
and have a crew of from six to ten fishermen, including 
a master and a brigadier or mate; the rest being work- 
ing men, not sailors by profession, but Breton husband- 
men who become fishers for the time. The nets are 
from fifteen to twenty fathoms long and two and a half 
deep, with meshes under an inch in diameter. Nets 
with small meshes are named carahins ; and those 
which have meshes approaching an inch,/o//es. The 
head-rope isibuoyed up with corks, and leads are affixed 
to the foot-rope to preserve the erect position of the 
net in the water ; some fishermen, however, preferring 
to balance the net with the weight of a stout cable as 
a foot-rope. Salted fish-roe is used for bait to allure 
the fish to the spot, and is named resure, rave, or more 
commonly rogue. The roe of the cod is most in request 
for this pui'pose ; but the roe of mackerel mixed with 
the pounded flesh of that fish is frequently employed — 
this kind of bait being brought from Norway, more 
especially from Drontheim. Gueldres and Chevrons 
are other sorts of baits formed of small crabs and fish- 
fry salted, but they are forbidden by law because of 
the great quantities of fish-fry that their empdoyment 
consumes. The chasse-marde equijjped and manned, 
stands out to sea for two or three leagues, and then 
the sail being lowered and the mast struck, it is kept 
head to wind by the action of the oars alone. After 
unshipping the rudder the net is payed over the stern 
by the master; and while the boatmen j)ut it on the 
stretch by plying their oars, he throws the bait, reduced 
to a proper consistence, to the right and left as far as 
he can cast it. When the master, judging by the move- 
ments of the corks and a quantity of silvery scales 
appearing on the top of the water, tliat the net is pretty 
full of fish, he loosens its end from the boat to attach 
it to a buoy that he had fastened to the other end, and 
so quits it for a time. Then, having cast out in the 
same manner five or six nets in succession, he waits 
until he thinks the meshes are charged with fish, when 
he proceeds to take up the first net, and then the others 
in succession. The fish which are caught in the meshes 
by the neck are next disengaged and covered with salt, 
and the boat returns to port, where the Sardines are 
expeditiously landed by the aid of Breton women, who 
run with baskets of them on their heads. The produce 
of the fishery that does not find a ready market when 
fresh, is either salted anew, or is preserved in olive oil 
or melted butter, to form an article of export to all parts 
of Europe. The Sardines that are too large to enter 
the meshes of the Breton nets, proceed onwards into 
the Channel, increase still farther in size, and acquire 
the name of Celan, but are often confounded in the 
Paris markets with the common herring. On the 
coast of Portugal the Sardine fishery is carried on in 
lateen-sailed boats named bean-cods, from their shape, 
by English sailors. The plan of fishing is much like 
the French one described above, and the fish salted in 
bulk and carried to Lisbon, and other markets of the 
peninsula, where they are in great request. The Cor- 
nish fishery is described in detail in Yarrell’s “ History 
of British Fishes,” and in the publications of Jonathan 
Couch, Esq., of Polperro, who for many years has 
studied the ichthj'ology of that coast. Tliree stations 
are particularly mentioned as points of assemblage for 
these fishes ; one between the Lizard and the Start in 
Devonshire, eastward of which no regular Pilchard 
fishery is prosecuted ; a second station lies between 
the Lizard and the Land’s-end ; and the third is off 
St. Ives. From five to ten thousand is considered a 
moderate capture in one night for a single boat, fishing 
with drift-nets, but the take often amounts to twenty 
thousand ; and the quantities inclosed in sean nets are 
frequently such as to be scarcely credible. Borlase 
records the capture of three thousand hogsheads at one 
time, each hogshead containing from two thousand five 
hundred to three thousand fish ; and an instance is 
mentioned in Yarrell where ten thousand hogsheads, 
amounting to twenty-five millions of fish, were carried 
into one port in a single day. The outfit of a sean 
costs about £800 ; of a string of drift-nets about .£6 a 
net, and the value of the boat is from £100 to £150; 
and the whole capital invested in the Pilchard fishery 
is estimated at £450,000. The wages of the fishermen 
depend on the success of their labours. A pilchard or 
star-gazing pie, with the heads of the fish protruding 
through the crust, is a dish peculiarly Cornish. Cam- 
den tells us that in his day the “ Pylchard” fishery 
was prosecuted from July to November with great 
success on the Cornish sea; and that the fish, when 
salted, smoked, and pressed, were exported in vast 
quantities to France, Spain, and Italy, under the name 
of Fumados. 
The Ikan-tamhan of the Malay peninsula {Dussu- 
miera acuta) and Tdniban nepis or hdtid {Clupeonia 
perferrata) of the Straits of Malacca are prepared like 
Sardines in oil. The latter bears a close resemblance 
to another Clupeoid of the same seas which is very 
poisonous, and is itself said to be poisonous when 
its usually silvery eyes become red. In 1822, 1823, 
and 1825, many natives of Bencoolen having eaten 
of these red-eyed fish, were suddenly seiz-ed with 
violent vomiting, which, except when remedies were 
immediately resorted to, ended fatally in an hour. It 
was surmised that the poisonous fishes had fed on a 
gelatinouf substance which at that season exudes from 
the beautifully-coloured coral reefs ; but Dr. Cantor, 
who relates this circumstance, thinks that the Tdniban 
