8 
comes out of the water alive. There is, in the best 
mackerel, an iridescent, rosy tint under the gills and forepart 
of the body, which I have seen in fish here, but which is 
much more conspicuous when they are taken. And it is 
this colour by which our fishermen judge their fish. They 
say, “ Red mackerel is good mackerel ; white mackerel is 
mackerel ; green mackerel is poison.” 
And in this last remark they are quite correct. When¬ 
ever a green hue supersedes the rosy, the flesh of the fish 
when eaten will, with very many people, produce most 
unpleasant symptoms of blood poisoning; and as these 
green mackerel are taken amongst the others at all times of 
the year, they give the fish a bad name, and cause people 
to abuse the whole family, when the truth is that they 
ought to have made a better selection. 
An average mackerel weighs lbs., which gives about 
1,500 fish to the ton. Large fish go to 2 lbs. or even 2\ lbs. 
but they are rare, and as they do not sell for more than the 
others, are reserved by the fishermen for presents to their 
friends, which starts another of our West Cornwall notions 
that “ you should never eat a mackerel unless it is given to 
you.” This saying is quite understood in West Cornwall 
now, but in process of time it will very probably get to be 
understood there, as meaning that it is unlucky to buy 
mackerel, and if that belief once gets about, well, we are a 
superstitious people, and you ladies and gentlemen in 
London will have a large addition to your supply of 
that fish from Cornwall. 
These large mackerel are usually females, with roes ready 
to be shed, and are known as Qtieen mackerel and King 
mackerel, but I do not recollect ever seeing a large male 
mackerel of this sort. 
Sometimes one is startled by an announcement in the 
