456 Fishes. 
appears from tolerably accurate computations, no fewer 
than one thousand six hundred and fifty boat-loads were 
taken in Loch Torridon in one night. These would, in 
the whole, amount to nearly twenty thousand barrels. 
This fish is prepared in different ways, in order to be 
kept for use through the year. The white, or pickled 
Herrings, are washed in fresh water, and left the space 
of twelve or fifteen hours in a tub full of strong brine, 
made of fresh water and sea-salt. AYhen taken out, 
they are drained, and put in rows or layers in barrels, 
with salt. 
Red Herrings are prepared in the same manner, with 
this difference, that they are left in the brine double the 
time above mentioned ; and when taken out, placed in a 
large chimney constructed for the purpose, and contain- 
ing about twelve thousand, where they are smoked by 
means of a fire underneath, made of brushwood, for the 
space of twenty-four hours. 
THE SPRAT, (Clupea Sprattus,) 
A well-known fish, between four and five inches in 
length, the back fin very remote from the nose ; the 
lower jaw longer than the upper, and the eyes blood- 
shot, like those of the herring, to which it is nearly 
allied. Sprats arrive yearly in the beginning of Novem- 
ber in the river Thames ; and generally a large dish of 
them is presented on the table at Guildhall, on Lord 
Mayor's Day, November 9th. They continue through 
the winter, and depart in March. They are sold by mea- 
sure, and yield a great deal of sustenance to poor people 
in the winter season. It is reported that they have been 
