Part 2

3d. SUMMERS are what are caught by the Dutch Chasers, or Divers, from June till the middle of July. They are sold in Sea-Sticks; they will not endure repacking: they go one with another full and shotten; but the repacked Herrings are sorted.

4th. The SICK and SHOTTEN HERRINGS by themselves; the barrel should be marked.

5th. CRUSS HERRINGS are what are caught after the middle of September; they are cured with salt upon Salt: all these are full Herrings.

There is likewise another sort, called COWED HERRINGS. These serve to make Red Herrings from September to October; they should be carried on shore within a week after they are taken; they are roed in salt, but never gipped; those which they make Red Herrings of, are washed in fresh water previous to their being hung up in the Herring-Houses, generally known by the appellation of Herring-Hangs.

Then followeth the manner of salting Herrings. When the fishes are taken out of the nets and put into the warbacks which stand on the side of the vessel, one fills the gipper’s baskets. The gippers, after having cut their throats and taken out their guts, proceed to sort them. When the gipped are put into the basket, one man takes it to the rowerback, wherein there is salt; one stirs them about in the salt, whilst another takes them from him, and carries them in baskets to the packers. Each barrel is packed by four men, who lay the Herrings one by one in a very even manner; which barrel being full, another man takes it from them. The barrel is usually left to stand open for a day or two, to dissolve the salt; afterwards it is filled up, and the barrel is headed. Observe, that the pickle be strong enough to sustain the fish; otherwise they will decay in it.

The MACKAREL.

A very common sea fish of the Schomber kind. Its nose is sharp pointed and tapered; its eyes large; and both its jaws of the same length: the teeth are small, but very numerous; the body compressed on the sides; towards the tail, it is rather slender, and somewhat angular. The first dorsal fin is placed a little behind the pectoral fin; it is triangular, and has nine or ten stiff rays; the second has twelve soft rays, and lies at a distance from the other; the pectoral has twenty, and the ventral six rays: at the base of the anal fin, is a long spine. Betwixt the last dorsal and the tail, are five small fins; the same number, likewise, betwixt the anal and the tail. The tail is broad and semilunar; the colour of the back and sides above the lateral line is beautiful green, variegated with black lines pointing downwards; beneath the line, the belly is of a beautiful silvery colour. The eyes of the Mackarel are almost covered with a white film, which grows in winter, during which time they are nearly blind: they cast it in the beginning of summer.

It is in high estimation amongst the Romans, because it furnished the precious garum.

The MULLET,

Is a name given indeterminately to fish of several kinds; but the true meaning of the word is the same with that of the Mugil, or Cephalus. The characters of the Mugil are these. The branchiostege membrane on each side contains six crooked bones; the upper one being the broadest, and hid under the gills; only five are discernible; the scales are large, and cover the head and the opercula of the gills, as well as the body of the fish. The head is depressed in the anterior part; the body oblong and compressed. According to these distinctions, there is only one species of Mugil, namely, the Mugil of Ovid and the Ancients. It resembles the Thymallus in its external figure; its jaws are tender and thin, and have no teeth in them; the tail is forked. The Linnæan system reckons two species; viz. the Cephalus and Albula.

Three or four different species of the Mugil have been described by Rondeletius and others; but their difference seems to arise merely from age, place, and the like accidents.

The nose is sharp, the belly bowed; the head plain and flatted; the scales are very large, and cover the body entirely. The back is of a dusky blue, or greenish-brown colour; the belly white, and the sides variegated, from the head to the tail, with green and black lines; its tongue is rather rough; it has no teeth. It preys upon no fish, and is therefore supposed to feed on weeds. At certain times it comes up the river, but it is generally caught at sea.

The Mullet is a very good tasted fish; we make tobago of its spawn.

Mullets are to be found chiefly on the sandy coasts; particularly where there are influxes of fresh water. They come in great shoals; and they keep rooting the mud like hogs, and leave their trace in the form of large round holes.

They are very cunning; and when surrounded with a net, the whole shoal frequently escape by leaping over it; for if one takes the lead, the others are sure to follow.

The PEARCH, or PERCH,

Is a genus of fish of the order of Thoracci; the characters of these are, that the membrane of the gills has seven bones, and the back has one or two fins; the first spiny, and the second soft: the body is covered with rough scales; the edges of the gill-covers are scaly and serrated. Linnæus enumerates thirty-six species; this fish is variegated with black spots.

There is a strange variety of Pearch; some of which are quite hunched; and the backbone, near to the tail, very much distorted: in colour and other respects, it is similar to the common kind.

The best time for their biting is betwixt spring and summer, as at that time they are very greedy; and the angler, with good management, may take all that are in the hole, at one standing, if there were ever so many. The Pearch will bite all day long, if it be cloudy; but the best time is from eight till ten in the morning, and from three till six in the afternoon. It is very abstemious in the winter, and will seldom bite; if it does at all, it is in the middle of the day. All fish bite best at this time of the day in that season.

The PIKE

Is the Lucius Esox of Linnæus. It has a very flat head; the upper jaw is broad, and shorter than the lower, which turns up a little at the end; the body is long, slender, and compressed sideways; the teeth are very sharp, disposed only in the front of the upper jaw, but in both sides of the lower; sometimes in the roof of the mouth, and frequently in the tongue.

The eyes are small, and the slit of the mouth very wide; the dorsal fin is placed very low on the back, and consists of twenty-one rays; the pectoral of fifteen, the ventral of eleven, and the anal, of eighteen; the tail is bifurcated.

They are to be found in most of the lakes in Europe. Lapland produces very large ones, some eight feet long; they are dried there, and exported for sale.

The Pike was introduced into England in the reign of Henry VIII. in 1537, when a Pike was sold for double the price of a house lamb in February. Besides its usual food, fish and frogs, it devours water-rats and young ducks. It is remarkable for its longevity: we read of one that lived till ninety years old, and of another that was no less than two hundred and seventy years old.

The ROACH

Is the English name of a very common fish, called by some authors the Rutilius and Rubiculus, and by others the Rubellio. It is a species of the Cyprinus, according to the new system of Artedi, and the Cyprinus Rutilius of Linnæus. It has been looked upon (though without much reason) remarkable for its liveliness and vivacity, from which comes the proverb “sound as a Roach.” In some parts of the world, this fish will only live in standing waters: it thrives very much in ponds and deep, still rivers: it is very remarkable for its progeny; a pond being sooner stocked with this fish than any other.

The SHAD

Is the name of a sea fish of the Herring kind; it is also called the Mother of Herrings; by some authors Clupea and Trissa; by the Ancients Trechis, or Trichias; and the Clupea Alosa of Linnæus. In its general form, it very much resembles the Herring; only it is flatter and broader, and grows to a cubit long and four inches broad. The back is convex and rather sharp; the head sloping considerably from it. The body grows gradually less to the tail from thence. The lower jaw is rather longer than the upper; the teeth very minute. The dorsal fin is small, and placed very near the center: the middle rays are the longest. The pectoral and ventral fins are small; the belly very sharp; the tail forked: the body is of a dusky blue. Above the gills is a line of black spots, which mark the upper part of the back on each side. The number of these spots is different in different fish, from four to ten.