374 A DESCRIPTION OF 
THE SPRAT. (Clupea sprattus.) 
A WELL-known fish, between four or five inches in length; 
the back fin very remote from its nose ; the lower jaw 
longer than the upper, the eyes bloodshot, like those of 
the herring, to which it is nearly allied. Sprats arrive 
yearly in the beginning of November in the river 
Thames ; and generally a large dish of them is presented 
on the table at Guildhall, on Lord Mayor's Day, Novem- 
ber 9th. They continue through the winter, and depart 
in March. They are sold by measure, and yield a great 
deal of sustenance to poor people in the winter season. 
It is reported that they have been taken yearly about 
Easter time in a lake in Cheshire, called Kostern Meer, 
and in the river Mersey, in which the sea ebbs and flows 
seven or eight miles below the lake. 
This fish is caught on the southern shores of France, 
where it is held in great repute ; and from its abounding 
in the neighbourhood of the island of Sardinia, it is in 
that country called the Sardine. It is sent here pickled 
in the same way as herrings, and packed in barrels. Most 
naturalists, however, now consider the Sardine as a dif- 
ferent species from the Sprat, and it is certainly much 
more delicate in flavour. 
