FISHES. 375 
THE PILCHARD. (Clupea pilchardut.) 
THE chief difference between this fish and the herring is, 
that the body of the former is more round and thick ; the 
nose shorter in proportion, turning up ; and the under 
jaw shorter. The back is more elevated, and the belly 
not so sharp. The scales adhere very closely, whilst those 
of the herring easily drop off. It is also, in general, of 
considerably smaller size. 
About the middle of July Pilchards appear in vast 
shoals off the coasts of Cornwall. These shoals remain 
till the latter end of October, when it is probable they 
retire to some undisturbed deep, at a little distance, for 
the winter. 
The Pilchard fishery is an important branch of com- 
merce. From a statement of the number of hogsheads 
exported each year, for ten years, from 1747 to 1750 in- 
clusive, from the four ports of Fowy, Falmouth, Pen- 
zance, and St. Ives, it appears that Fowy exported yearly 
one thousand seven hundred and thirty-two hogsheads ; 
Falmouth, fourteen thousand six hundred and thirty-one ; 
Penzance and Mount's Bay, twelve thousand one hundred 
and forty-nine ; St. Ives, one thousand two hundred and 
eighty-two ; in all, twenty-nine thousand seven hundred 
and ninety- four hogsheads. Every hogshead, for ten 
years last past, together with the bounty allowed for ex- 
portation, and the oil made out of it, has amounted, one 
year with another, at an average, to the price of one 
pound thirteen shillings and three-pence ; so that the cash 
paid for Pilchards exported has, at a medium, annually 
amounted to the sum of forty -nine thousand five hundred and 
thirty-two pounds. The above was the state of the fish- 
ing several years ago ; at present it is still more exten- 
sive. 
