UC-NRLF
SM 571
II:"
. .-...,- . m mm
' )
-V-
^r "
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
PRESENTED BY
PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID
THE GREAT FISHERIES
THE WORLD.
THE GREAT
FISHERIES OF THE WORLD,
Thomas JJebon aufo <on0,
LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK.
THE GREAT FISHERIES
THE WORLD
DESCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED.
' And there we hunted the walrus,
The narwhal, and the seal ;
Ha 1 'twas a noble game !
And like the lightning's flame
Flew our harpoons of steel."
LONGFELLOW.
LONDON:
T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW;
EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK.
gHETHER we call ourselves " Saxon, or Dane, or
Norman," we who speak the English tongue are
most of us piscatorially inclined. As boys, we
disport ourselves with a hazel stick, a piece of
whipcord, aucl a crooked pin ; as men, we are proud of our
exploits with rod and line, and learned in " flies," and expert
in all the mysteries of the " gentle art/' Or, if not experts
ourselves, we are more or less interested in the achievements
of those of our friends who are so ; or, at all events, we go
down to the coast, and learn something of fishing as distinct
from angling; or, finally, we are gastronomes, aiid include
the products of the fisheries in our daily bill of fare. The
sea and the loch and the river are so various and abundant
in their supplies that every taste is gratified ; and the mail
who shuns the humble herring can regale himself on salmon
or the "lordly turbot;" he who shrinks from the dyspeptic
lobster may indulge without fear in the nutritious oyster.
So that, in one way or another, we are all interested in fish,
and the modes of capturing them ; in the herring-boat and
the salmon-net, in the lobster-trap and the oyster-farm. " It
is only the Arabs of the desert," says an old proverb, " who
affect to despise fish;" and they, because they are unable to
catch them ! In Greece, as Dr. Doran pleasantly remarks,
" sages discussed their qualities, and tragic writers introduced
heroes holding dialogues on the qualities of fish-sauce." And
in Great Britain the " finny prey " are not less esteemed by
the poor than by the wealthy ; by the labourer who dines oif
VI PREFACE.
a red hen-ing, than by the connoisseur who " trifles " witli
tnrbot cl la Bechamel*
It must be remembered, too, that our English fisheries are
of considerable commercial importance ; and that all along
our coast, from St. Ives to Wick, populous and prosperous
towns are dotted, which, but for these fisheries, would
speedily cease to possess a local habitation and a name.
Further: they breed a hardy and adventurous race of sea-
men, to whom, in time of war, the royal navy must look for
its best recruits ; self-reliant, skilful, patient, and mostly
temperate men, such as are seldom to be found, now-a-days,
on the decks of our merchant- vessels. They live a hard life ;
a life with many risks and small gains ; and they take their
changes and chances very quietly ; seldom murmuring, and
never going out "on strike," or "rattening." It is to be
wished some competent writer would sketch the manners and
customs of our fishing-population ; for Mr. Bertram, in his
valuable " Harvest of the Sea," has but lightly touched upon
this part of his subject.
Of the great fisheries of the world, but more particularly
of those in which British enterprise is engaged, the present
volume attempts to offer a popular survey, which, the author
trusts, will prove acceptable to the fish-loving reader. It
aims at being comprehensive rather than exhaustive ; and
the design has been to furnish such information as would be
useful and attractive to the general public, rather than to
supply material for the investigation of the learned in pisci-
culture and piscicapture. For this reason its scope has been
extended so as to include certain fisheries which are of com-
mercial significance, though they do not add to our food-
supplies. The author has taken the greatest care in the
collection of his facts ; and would fain hope that the reader
who takes the trouble to peruse his discursive pages will find
in them something which he did not know before, and gain
a stronger and enduring interest in the great fisheries and in
the men who carry them on. '
STo nt cuts.
I. THE SALMON
The SALMON well known to the ancients Its natural history Salmon-
fishing Spearing salmon A "killing" fly Contest between the angler
and the fish Salmon-spawning Migratory instinct of the salmon
Salmon in Alaska Salmon-fishing in Canada Salmon-rivers in Great
Britain Poaching : its evils Economizing the fisheries The sport of
"harling" described Catching salmon in Greenland In Finland In
North-West America In Lower Brittany The angler's delight.. . . 9-49
IT. THE GADID^E AND PLEURONECTID^E.
'White-fish" Description of the COD Its voracity Its usefulness Cod-
curing Cod-fisheries in the North Seas Trawling Line-fishing for
cod Cod-fisheries of Newfoundland A curious story Value of the
cod-fisheries The Newfoundland fishermen The "bultow" mode of
fishing The summer shore-fishery Cod-fishing off Labrador Cod-
fisheries of Norway The Shetland fishermen The HADDOCK: its
natural history "Finnan haddies" The WHITING: its natural history
The COAL-FISH and the POLLACK The HAKE described The Pleuro-
nectidse, or "flat-fish" The TURBOT, and its fishery The SOLE In
good repute among the ancients BRILL and PLAICE Natural his-
tory of the FLOUNDER The HALIBUT How caught by the Green-
landers 50-99
III. THE SCOMBERnXffl.
Characteristics of the Scomberidse The TUNNY : its natural history Notes
from the ancient writers Tunny-fishing in the Mediterranean Ancient
modes of tunny-fishing Modern modes The " Tonnaire " The "Ma-
drague" A scene in the Bay of Palermo The MACKEREL described
Its migrations An anecdote from Pontoppidan The SWORD-FISH Its
formidable weapon Its hostility to the whale Sword-fish in the Medi-
terranean Catching sword-fish Quotation from Oppian The Sicilian
harpooneer Fishery in the Strait of Messina 100-120
Vlll CONTENTS.
IV. THE HERRING.
Introductory remarks HERRING shoals Their supposed migratory move-
ments Different races inhabit different waters Spawning season
Four stages of the herring's career 127-135
V. THE HERRING-FISHERY.
Animated scenes at a herring-port Departure of the herring-fleet Its adven-
tures Its return Value of the herring-fisheries Yarmouth and Loch
Fyne herrings The Loch Fyne fisheries Trawl versus drift net The
Dutch fishery Herrings at Yarmouth The herring-fishery in Loch
Boisdale A scene at Wick Red herrings Once more at Yarmouth
A visit to a curing-house "Ryving and speeting" The Shetland
herring-fishery The Dutch fishermen at Lerwick The controversy
about trawling Conclusion 136-108
VI. THE PILCHARD, SPRAT, AND OTHER CLUPEIDJE.
About the PILCHARD Arrival of the pilchard-shoal on the Cornish coast
Seine-fishing Pilchard- curing Pilchard-tucking A picturesque spec-
tacleSeine versus drift A scene at St. Ives The pilchard fishermen
About the SPRAT Natural history of the SARDINE The WHITEBAIT
The ANCHOVY The Roman "garum" About the SHAD 169-18G
VII. THE STURGEON.
The STURGEON described Its different species Its various habitats Why
it enters the rivers Its commercial value Caviare: how made The
sturgeon-fishery on the Garonne In Russia How carried on in the
Volga 187-198
VIII. THE EEL-FISHERY.
Celebrity of the EEL Lake Copais Modern "celeries" Reproduction of
eels- Their habits described Their physiological characteristics Fish-
ing for eels Night-lines Clod-fishing The celery at Comacchio
Cooking eels A grand festival at Comacchio 199-213
IX. THE LOBSTER AND THE CRAB.
A "standing romance of the sea" Natural history of the LOBSTER Descrip-
tion of its segments Its digestive system Its annual exuviations-
Various kinds of lobsters The CRAB Various kinds of crabs Their
general characters Lobster-traps described How lobsters are sent to
London 214-227
X. THE SHRIMP AND THE PRAWN.
About the SHRIMP A popular crustacean Shrimping The shrimp-fishery
at Chausey The "putting-net" At Saint-Gilles-sur-Vic About the
PRAWN ... 228-237
CONTENTS. IX
XI. THE OYSTER.
The OYSTER a favourite with the ancients "Oyster-enthusiasts" Professor
Wilson upon oysters Scallop-shells and oyster-grottoes Who first ate
an oyster? Physiology of the oyster Its mode of locomotion --- Deposit-
ing its spawn Longevity of the oyster Oyster-beds in the Thames At
Whitstable In the river Colne In the Firth of Forth Irish oyster-
beds Fattening oysters The science of oyster-culture Oyster-farms in
Italy At Lake Fusaro In England Facts about oyster-breeding
Oyster-farming in France The He de Rhe "parks" An oyster-farm at
Arcachon The secret of successful oyster-culture 238-268
XII. PEARLS, AND MOTHER-OF-PEARL.
The PEARL-OYSTER described Where found What is a pearl? Value set up-
on the pearl Its historical associations Some famous pearls How their
quality may be improved The pearl-fishery in Ceylon Divers and their
work Sifting the pearls British pearls Concluding remarks .. 269-284
XIII. THE MUSSEL.
Characteristics of the MUSSEL Its " byssus " described Its mode of loco-
motion Mussel-culture Story of the Irishman, Walton Mussel-farm
in the Bay of Aiguillon What is a bouchot? Mussel-culture the staple
of an important industry Fresh-water mussels .................. 285-294
XIV. THE HOLOTHURIA, TREPANG, OR SEA-CUCUMBER.
Natural history of the HOLOTHURIA, or SEA-CUCUMBER How it is fished
for The fishery on the Australian coast Its principal processes de-
scribed Trepang-fishery. in the Gulf of Manaar The European holo-
thuria 295-303
XV THE SHARK.
Description of the SHARK Kightly called the "ocean-pirate" Held in
abhorrence by the ancients Pliny's account of the divers and the shark
General hatred with which it is regarded A Sicilian scene Charac-
teristics of the shark The construction of its eye explained Sharks in
British waters The blue shark Its voracity The tenacity of life
The white shark described A pathetic story Fishing for sharks An
exciting event The shark comparatively worthless Its destructiveness
The neuse hound or cat-fish The thrasher or sea-fox The Greenland
shark The basking shark Hunting the sun-fish Characteristics of the
hammer-head shark" Sun-fishing" on the Irish coast A long chase
" Glorious sport " 304-337
XVI. THE TURTLE.
The TURTLE described The green or edible turtle How it is caught in the
Bahamas Green turtle in the Gallapagos Turtle and turtle-catching
at the Isle of Ascension In the East Indies Tortoise-shell The
hawksbill turtle Some interesting facts The coriaceous turtle The
loggerhead turtle Turtle in the South Seas 338-351
X CONTENTS.
XVII. THE WHALE : AND THE 'WHALE-FISHERY.
Organization of the WHALE Adaptability to the conditions under which it
lives Its three skins Useful qualities of its blubber Characteristics
of the whale Its remarkable respiratory apparatus Its caudal fin, or
tail Its "breathing" or "blowing" Its senses Its organ of hearing
described Moral character of the whale Affection for its young
A whaling anecdote Waller's "Battle of the Summer Islands" Differ-
ent species of Cetacea The Greenland whale Its "baleen "or whale-
bone Its swiftness of motion Its food Anecdote illustrative of its
maternal affection Its principal products The cachalot, or sperm
whale Spermaceti described What is ambergris? Formidable char-
acter of the cachalot The whale-fishery British whaling-ships A
whaling-vessel and its crew Every one in his place Pursuit of "a fish"
"A fall! a fall!" A swift chase The capture A narrow escape
Dangers of whale-fishing Anecdotes Securing the prize Cutting-up
the whale " Making-off " described The king of fishes The whale-
fishery at Vadso A new mode of killing The dead leviathan Whales
at Shetland The Shetland fishery Stories of adventure and peril
Danger and a rescue The ship of death The American whaler Essex
A boat capsized "We have lost Carr ! " Romance of the north
Another catastrophe The herbivorous Cetacea Tritons and mermaids
The manatee The dugong 352-425
XVIII. THE SEAL: AND THE SEAL-FISHERY.
General description of the SEAL Its physiology described Its senses
Capable of being tamed The land of winter Habits of the seal Seals
at home Hunted by the Eskimos The seal and her cub The fur seal
The common seal Hector M'Intyre and the phoca The harp or
Greenland saddleback seal Its characteristics The bearded seal The
marbled and the crested seals The sea-lions of the South Pacific The
sea-elephant The seal-fishery The Newfoundland sealers Seals in the
Newfoundland waters A seal-hunt Hazards of the fishery" Running
ice" Ships employed in the fishery "Weighing and cutting"
Antiquity of the seal-fishery Value of the seal An Eskimo seal-
banquet The Eskimo seal-hunters Seal-fishing in the Baltic The
Shetland seal-hunters Off Labrador 426-464
XIX. CORAL : AND THE CORAL-FISHERY.
What is CORAL? What it was supposed to be, and what it is Reproduction
of the corallines Three kinds of gemmation Reproduction by fission
Formation of what is popularly called coral Coral-banks, islands, and
reefs Gradual elaboration of a coral-reef The coral-fishery In the
Strait of Messina The divers and their hazardous pursuit Their habits
Different kinds of coral How coral is worked 465-487
XX. CURIOUS FISHES AND MODES OF FISHING.
Volcanic fishes Prennadillas Fish in Artesian Wells Showers of fish The
ECHENEIS, remora, or sucking-fish Ancient fables about the remora
A story from Julian A quotation from Oppian Complex apparatus of
the remora How it works Catching turtle with the echeneis The
pilot-fish Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, and what he saw 488-506
THE TREASURES OF THE DEEP.
CHAPTER I.
THE S A L M O N.*
" Let me wander beside the banks of the tranquil streams of the warm
South, 'in the yellow meads of Asphodel,' when the young spring comes forth,
and all nature is glad ; or, if a wilder mood comes over me, let me clamber
among the steeps of the North, beneath the shaggy mountains, where the
river comes foaming and raging everlastingly, wedging its way through the
secret glen, whilst the eagle, but dimly seen, cleaves the winds and the clouds,
and the dun deer gaze from the mosses above. There, amongst gigantic rocks,
and the din of mountain torrents, let me do battle with the lusty salmon, till
I drag him into day, rejoicing in his bulk, voluminous and vast."- SCROPE.
"See the fish
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream." SHAKESPEARE.
jjOWS of pointed teeth on the jaws, the palate,
the tongue, in fact, the most complicated
mouth-armour or dental apparatus which is
known ; a wedge-shaped body, covered with
thin small scales, which are embedded in the silvery
spotted skin ; great muscular strength of body, and re-
markable powers of swimming; a surprising fecundity;
* The materials of the following chapter have been derived from Russel,
"The Salmon;" Stoddart, "The Angler's Companion;" Scrope, "Days and
Nights," &c.; Bertram, " Harvest of the Sea;" C. St. John; Yarrell; Sir J.
llichardson; Peslandes; Badham, &c. ; and from personal observations
10 DIFFICULT PROBLEMS.
a delicious and highly-esteemed flesh, as much valued by
ancient as by modern epicures, and furnishing a staple
article of diet for many peoples ; habits of unusual inter-
est, and physiological phenomena which have suggested
problems to a hundred naturalists ; such is the fish of
fish, the lordly SALMON !
Though there is much that we do not know about the
natural history of the salmon, yet it is better known than
that of any other of the two hundred and fifty kinds of
fish which inhabit the seas and rivers of Britain ; and
this, as Mr. Bertram says, for three good reasons. It is
of greater value as property than any other fish ; its
large size better admits of observation than smaller mem-
bers of the fish tribe ; and, in consequence of its migratory
instinct, we have access to it at those seasons of its' life
when to observe its habits is the certain road to informa-
tion. Yet not a few of the difficulties connected with its
mode of reproduction and growth are by no means dis-
posed of. Almost every day some evidence is offered of
the unsettled state of our knowledge of these questions ;
and it may, we fear, be apprehended that they will hardly
be answered to the satisfaction of all inquirers and theor-
ists until some such course has been adopted as Mr.
Russel humorously suggests. If, he says, a deputation
of omniscient authors and witnesses could be induced to
stay below water for a few months, going down say in
November, taking their seat where they could observe
the deposition and development of the ova, " sitting,"
like Milton's Sabrina, " under the glassy, cool, translucent
wave," accompanying their charge to the sea, and re-
turning to their native element in autumn, saturated
THE ANCIENTS AND THE SALMON.
11
THE SALMON.
with information, they would then be competent to pro-
nounce a conclusive deliverance on every perplexing point
connected with the salmon !
Beginning at the beginning, we may observe that the
ancients were doubtlessly acquainted with several mem-
bers of the Salmonidce family, though it was their mis-
fortune not to know its noblest scion, the famous Salmo
solar. We read in ^Elian of certain speckled fish which
the Macedonians were wont to catch with an . artificial
fly; and Athenseus speaks of a fish called pyruntes, "ex-
cellent for the table, easy of digestion, and found only
in cold, clear, rapid streams," which were probably some
12 THE SALMON IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
kind of trout. The thy mains of ^Eliaii is identified by
some authorities with the umbra, or grayling. The
Latin name alludes to its thyme-like odour; a peculiarity
noticed by modern writers. " Some think he feeds on
water-thyme," says Izaak Walton, " and smells of it on
first being taken out of the water." " So sweetly scented
is this fish's body," writes St. Ambrose, " as to have
procured for one highly perfumed the compliment, that
he smelt daintily like a flower or a fish."
The later Romans seem to have known, but not appre-
ciated, the Salmo solar. Pliny refers to it as an inhabi-
tant of the rivers Dordogne and Garonne ; having heard
of it probably from Roman tourists who had travelled
through Gaul, or from Gallic visitors to the Eternal City.
Reference to it under its present well-known title first
occurs in Ausonius, who also distinguishes it by different
names according to its growth :
" Nee te puniceo rutilantem visceri salmo
Transierim." ....
" Purpureusque salar stellatus tergora guttis." ....
"Teque inter geminas species neutrumque et utrumque,
Qui necdum salmo nee jam salar ambiguusque
Amborum, medio Fario intercepte sub sevo."
Coming down to more modern times, we know that
the salmon was highly prized by the princes, barons, and
monks of the Middle Ages, and that it invariably ob-
tained a conspicuous place in all sumptuous banquets.
That it was much affected by the priestly order, we infer
from an anecdote told by Fayot. A restaurant, or cafe,
which formerly stood in the Cloitre St. Jacques de
1'Hopital, Paris, was famous for its Wednesday and
Friday fish-dinners. A certain abbe, on one occasion,
partook there so plenteously of salmon, as to induce a fit
MIGRATIONS OF THE SALMON, 13
of dyspepsia. Some days afterwards, \vhen celebrating
mass, reminiscences of the delicious fish floated back upon
his mind, and during the confiteor he was heard to mur-
mur, as he quietly beat his breast, " Ah, ce bon saumon !
ce bon saumon ! "
Salmon is named among the dainty dishes placed before
A rthur and the Knights of the Table Round in Hookham
Frere's mock-heroic poem. It is included in the bills of
fare recorded in the Earl of Northumberland's Household
Book, which belongs to the reign of Henry VII. And,
to conclude these notes, is it not immortalized in the
" Noctes Ambrosianse " of Christopher North ]
The salmon is an inhabitant of northern climes. In
autumn and winter it is a fresh-water, during the rest of
the year a salt-water fish. It quits the " ocean-depths "
about October for spawning purposes, and in immense
shoals seeks the mouths of the rivers, up the channel of
which it will force its way. It is said that the phalanx
preserve a remarkable degree of military array in their
movements ; so that Olaus Magnus describes the shining
procession, in their glittering panoply of scales, sweeping
rapidly onwards like an invading army, as a spectacle well
worthy of admiration.
On these occasions they swim as cranes and wild geese
fly in a wedge ; the largest salmoness, it is said, forming
the apex of the triangle, and the young males the base.
According to Deslandes, when ascending a stream they
keep as close as possible to the bottom, because there the
current against which they are contending has less power ;
but in descending they rise to the surface, to profit by
the force of the current, which is then going in the same
direction as themselves. Some authorities assert that
14
SALMON-LEAPING
they can proceed at the rate of thirty miles an hour; and
being, as quaint old Fuller says, " both bow and arrow,
they will shoot themselves out of the water to an incred-
ible height," that is, to fourteen feet. The present writer
has never seen a salmon rise above six or seven, but his
opportunities have not been many. He can bear witness
to the enjoyment the fish seem to take in their expedition,
when they are sailing through a comparatively tranquil
reach ; they splash, and frolic, and tumble, like a group
of happy children in a
summer pool. When
they reach a fall or an
embankment, they clear
it by a leap, as a hunter
takes fence, hedge, or
ditch. The manner in
which they do this is
very curious : they bend
themselves into the form
of a bow, suddenly relax
the body, and then, tak-
ing a sidelong curve
through the air, like a
boomerang, alight on the
other side of the obstacle.
If baffled in the first at-
tempt, they try again ;
and so again and again,
until successful. Their
perseverance is as great as that of Robert the Brace's
spider : we once watched a young salmon, at a point where
the stream, a Highland stream, was coming down in
(502'
WATERFALL.
UP THE STREAM. l-~>
spate, make eleven efforts before it succeeded. The poet
Drayton describes tins strange mode of locomotion with
much graphic vigour, though, be it said, with some
exaggeration :
" Whenas the salmon seeks a fresher stream to find
(Which yearly by the sea comes hither of his mind,
As he in reason grows), and stems the watery tract
Where Tivy falling down doth make a cataract,
Forced by the rising rocks that there her course oppose,
As though within their bounds they meant her to enclose;
Here, when the labouring fish doth at the foot arrive,
And knows that by his strength but vainly he doth strive,
His tail takes in his teeth; and, bending like a bow
That's to the compass drawn, aloft himself doth throw,
Then springing with his tail, as doth a little wand
That, bended end to end, and flirted from the hand-
Far off itself doth cast, so doth the salmon vault ;
And if at first he fail, his second somersault
He instantly essays; and from his nimble ring
Still yesting, never leaves until himself lie fling
Above the streamful top of the surrounded heap."*
It is an entertaining sight, in spring and summer-, to
watch the salmon making their way up a stream. Every
high tide brings up a number of them, and they seem to
have no other object than the youth in Longfellow's
" Excelsior." In the shallow places, you may see them
swimming, or, more correctly speaking, wading, in water
two or three inches deep, so that half their glittering,
sheeny body is exposed to view. On they go, however,
scrambling up the fords, and making tho water fly to the
right and left, like ducks at play.t When the fish are
numerous, you may catch sight of a dozen or so at once ;
and at such points they might be killed by spears, or
even by a stick, and, indeed, says Mr. St. John, many a
salmon does come to his death in this way. The fisher-
men, when the river is low, escape much useless fatigue,
* Drayton, " Poly-Olbion," book xxi.
t C. St. John, " Wild Sports of the Highlands," p. 54, ct sqq.
(502) 2
16 SALMON-FISHING AT NIGHT.
and save their nets from injury, by working in a quiet pool
immediately above a shallow, where they station one of
their number, who watches for the ascending flotilla, and
gives a signal to his companions on its coming within
ken. Forthwith they put out their nets, and they are
almost certain to catch the salmon. And in this way
very few of the fish escape while the water remains low,
but as soon as a slight flood rises they can get up unper-
ceived. In the night, as in the day, it is easy to distin-
guish them, from the sparkle and sheen of the water as
they struggle onward. Moreover, the noise they make
is always' detected by the acute ear of the experienced
fisher.
There is something romantic, or, as lady novelists
would say, thrilling, in listening during the "stilly night"
to the hoarse cry of the watch when he discovers a fish,
and the rushing sound of oars and boat immediately
afterwards. Sometimes a stealthy otter suddenly appears
in the shallows, having slipped quietly and unobserved
through the deeper parts of the stream, until, for want of
water to cover him, he is compelled to wade. As soon
as he is descried, a general clamour is heard, for he is a
daring poacher, and one of the fishermen's worst enemies.
They endeavour to entangle him in the net, and if they
succeed he immediately falls a victim to their vengeance ;
but not infrequently he slips noiselessly to the side of
the bank, hides in some hollow or reedy nook until the
danger is past, and then glides away unperceived.
Mr. St. John is of opinion that neither sea-trout nor
salmon ever seem happy, except when breasting their
way against a stream. It is certainly astonishing what
difficulties they are ready to encounter and overcome.
FISHING IN THE TAY. 17
111 the Findhorn, owing to the impetuosity of the current,
its frequent and sudden floods, and its shifting beds of
gravel and shingle, no cruives, or weirs, are made use of :
they would be swept away as fast as built. But in the
Spey, and many other Scottish rivers, large cruives are
erected, which prevent the passage of the fish, except on
Sundays and in floods. A cruive is a dam, or embank-
ment, thrown across the river, with openings at intervals,
to permit the descent of the water in a strong stream.
Through those openings the fish pass into a kind of
wooden cage, and as the entrance is made after the
fashion of a wire mouse-trap, they are unable to find
their way out again. However convenient they may be
for the fishermen, the angler regards them with any other
feeling than that of satisfaction.
Salmon-fishing, as everybody knows, is conducted in a
variety of modes : by the harpoon, by the line, by nets of
various sizes and shapes. In the Tay the fishermen
adopt the following procedure. The net being placed in
the boat, one party begins to row slowly up the stream,
while another party, carrying a rope attached to the net,
proceed along the bank in the same direction. On arriv-
ing at a certain point, the boat rows across the river, the
net is run out, and the crew pull down to the starting-
place, making a complete sweep of a considerable stretch
of water. The men on the bank in like manner turn
round, and make for the rendezvous, hauling on the
rope as they move along. In this way the passage of the
river is completely barred against the ascending fish,
which are enclosed in the meshes of the net as its two
ends are brought together, and in due time hauled ashore.
By this wholesale process, a considerable number of sal-
IS si>KAKix<; SALMOX.
mon are caught on favourable occasions; and the salmon-
fisheries in the Tay, and similar rivers, yield their pro-
prietors very large returns.
Spearing salmon is now illegal, but it is a very excit-
ing sport, as the reader, if he is acquainted with Sir
Walter Scott's " Iledgauntlet," will willingly acknow-
ledge. Mr. St. John describes a scene of which he him-
self was an eye-witness. The night was calm and dark.
The steep and rugged rocks through which the river
m:id(5 its way were illuminated in the most brilliant
manner by fifteen or sixteen torches, carried by as many
athletic and active Highlanders, which threw strange
si lil'ting lights on the surface of the stream, and gave a
\v<-ird aspect to the whole procedure. Sometimes one of
the poachers for such they were would remain motion-
less for a few moments, in eager yet patient expecta-
tion that a fish started by his companions would swim
within reach of his spear, as he stood with it ready poised,
like one of Homer's heroes, and his excited countenance
lighted up by his torch as he bent over the water. Then
came loud shouts and a confused hurrying to and fro, as
a magnificent fish darted in among the group ; noisy
prills of laughter when some unlucky fellow, darting at
his prey in the deep water, missed his balance and fell
headlong into it. Every now and then a salmon would
U> triumphantly hoisted into the air, its shining body
quivering on an uplifted spear. The fish, as soon as
caught, was carried ashore, where it was quickly des-
patched by a veteran (islicr deputed to this office.
The use of the leister, or spear, however, was prohi-
bited by an Act of Parliament passed in 1859. Mr.
AN EXCITING SPORT. 19
Russel characterizes the sport as butcherly and destruc-
tive. " Night-leistering," he says, " with the glare of
the pine-torches reflected from cliff, and wood, and water,
with the yells, the laughter, and the immersions, was
doubtless in some respects a fine sight, and a most excit-
ing sport ; but it was slaughterous and wasteful, killing
more fish in a few minutes than would have sufficed for a
season's sport and killing them, too, just when they were
most useful in the water, and most useless out of it. It
was no uncommon thing, on some of the upper fisheries
of the Tweed, to kill within an hour, on a February or
November night, a greater number of fish than had been
killed with the rod during the whole season (and the
farther up the river, the greater or more entire becomes
this truth), to say nothing of the far greater numbers
killed by poachers with the same weapon, both in and
out of the legal season." "'"
So Captain Francks, writing in Oliver Cromwell's
time, exclaims : " When the salmon goes to the shal-
lows, that is the time the prejudicate native consults his
opportunity to put in execution that barbarous practice
of murdering fish by moonshine, or at other times to
martyr them with the blaze of a wisp and a barbed spear.
What ! are these cannibals or murdering moss-troopers to
surprise fish by the engine of fire-light 1 Such dark con-
spirators sprung from Fawkes or Cataline, or some infer-
nal incubus."
The true angler, in his pin-suit of this iioblu fish, will
diic.lly use the fly. He may occasionally resort to other
bait, such as salmon- roc, parrta.il, ininnoxv, worm, but
* Ituss.'l, "The Salmon" (ed. 1854), pp 100, 101.
20 SALMON FLIES.
his chosen weapon of destruction will be the skilfully-
fashioned fly. In his use of it will be shown his dex-
terity, his patience, his readiness of resource, his know-
ledge of the habits and character of the fish. In his
making of it will be shown his ingenuity, his profound
lore, his accomplished manipulation. We cannot enume-
rate here the various devices to which the fertile mind
and hand may have recourse. Different rivers and dif-
ferent seasons need different treatment. The fly that
kills in a shallow of the Tweed will fail in a pool of the
Spey or Ness. So there are Tweed flies, and Spey flies,
and Forth and Teith flies, and flies for the Urchay and
the Awe. And there are also flies of special renown,
such as the Childers, the General, the Dundas, the But-
cher, the Doctor, the Parson, the Fail-me-never, and the
Black Dog. For the benefit of the inexperienced reader,
we will describe the wonderful composition of the Fail-
me-never :
The body is made of black mohair, black hackle, and
silver twist ; the wing, of mottled feather from the tail
of the Argus pheasant ; the shoulders, of a twitch of
orange mohair ; the tail is yellow.
Here is a recipe for a fly of extraordinary killing
powers :
Tie with well -waxed silk a portion of silkworms' intes-
tines on a highly-tempered and finished Limerick-made
hook. ISTow for the tail : First come two turns of gold
thread, then a tenth part of an inch of red floss silk.
Next comes the tail, consisting of a bright gold feather
from the crest of the golden pheasant. The body is now
to be made of, alternately, a stripe of green, a stripe of
blue, and the remainder of orange-coloured floss silk,
AX EXTRAORDINARY SPECIMEN. 21
with a double binding of gold thread and silver tinsel.
The legs are concocted of a black barn-door cock's hackle,,
taken from him in winter, when the bird is in full plum-
age ; next to the wing is placed a turn of grouse's feath-
er, and two or three turns of the purple-black feather which
is pendent on the breast of an old cock heron. Now
for the wing which is composed of a mixture of feathers
from, the mallard killed in this country j from the teal
drake, also a native \ from the turkey-cock ; the bus-
tard, from India ; a stripe or two of green parrot ; a
little of the tippet of the golden pheasant ; a thread or two
from the peacock's tail ; a bit from the Argus pheasant,
and from the tail of a common hen pheasant ; all these
mixed and blended together form an irresistible wing.
Round the shoulder of it give a turn of the blue and
black feather off a jay's wing. For the head, take a
small portion of that substance called pig's wool, so mys-
terious to the uninitiated, wool not being recognized as
one of the usual products of a member of the Stddce ; then
finish off with a few turns of black ostrich feather ; not
forgetting, as a final touch, a couple of horns of red and
blue macaw's feather. Now all this labour, and all these
heterogeneous materials, result in the production of a
fly which, according to a veteran angler, no salmon in a
taking mood (one can hardly suppose the fish swallows it
at the impulse of hunger) can resist. Behold the noble
8almo salar as he mounts suddenly from the cool depths
of the pool, balancing himself for a moment while the fly
quivers before him in the swirling eddy, and then seizing
the gaudy bait with a rapid spring, to retreat apparently
well pleased with his success in fly-catching, until he finds
himself abruptly checked, brought to a stand, and held
22 EQUIPPED FOR THE FRAY.
fast, as in iron gyves, by the unexpected strength of the
mimic insect !
Every angler can tell you a greater or less number
of stories connected with his exploits in salmon-fishing ;
of the big fish he has caught, of the address displayed in
catching them, of the runs they have given him, of mar-
vellous adventures in pool and rapid, and of hair-breadth
'scapes and romantic incidents. Brightly-coloured pic-
tures of incidents such as these enliven the pages of
almost every book devoted to the art of angling. With-
out borrowing from any personal experiences, we shall
appropriate a description from the pen of Christopher
North, which seems to us pre-eminent in accuracy of
detail and picturesqueness of language. We do not
doubt but that many anglers have enjoyed sport as good,
and killed their fish under circumstances as exciting ; but
we are confident that none have ever related their doings
with half as much effect.*
The angler is equipped, let us suppose, with a twenty-
feet rod of Phin's, all ring rustling, and a-glitter with the
preserving varnish, and lithe to its topmost tenuity as
the elephant's proboscis, the hickory and the horn with-
out twist, knot, or flaw from butt to fly a faultless
taper, " fine by degrees and beautifully less," the beau-
ideal of a rod by the skill of cunning craftsmen to the
senses materialized ! A fish fat, fair, and forty ! " She
is a salmon, therefore to be wooed she is a salmon,
therefore to be won;" but shy, timid, capricious, head-
strong, now wrathful and now full of fear, like any other
female whom the cruel artist has hooked by lip or heart,
Professor AVilson, " Recreations of Christopher North," ii. 5, 6.
A FISHER'S EXPEDITION. 23
and, in spite of all her struggling, will bring to the gasp
at last and then, with calm eyes, behold her lying in
the shade dead, or, worse than dead, fast-fading, and to
be re-illumined no more in the lustre of her beauty, in-
sensible to sun or shower, even the most perishable of all
perishable things in a world of perishing !
But the salmon, says our authority, has grown sulky,
and must be made to spring to the plunging stone.
Then suddenly, instinct with new passion, she shoots out
of the foam like a bar of silver bullion ; and, relapsing
into the flood, is in another moment at the very head of
the waterfall ! Give her the butt, give her the butt, or
she is gone for ever with the thunder into two fathom
deep ! Now comes the trial of your tackle. Her snout is
southwards right up the middle of the main current of
the hill-born river, as if she would seek its very source
where she was spawned ! She still swims swift, and
strong, and deep and the line goes steady, boys, steady.
There is yet an hour's play in her dorsal fin danger in
the flap of her tail and yet may her silver shoulder
shatter the gut against a rock. Why, the river was yes-
terday in spate, and she is fresh run from the sea ! All
the lesser waterfalls are now level with the flood, and she
meets with no impediment or obstruction. The coast is
clear ; no tree-roots here, no floating branches, for during
the night they have all been swept down to the salt loch.
In medio tutissimus ibis ay, now you feel she begins
to fail -the butt tells now every time you deliver your
right. What ! another mad leap ! yet another sullen
plunge ! She seems absolutely to have discovered, or
rather to be an impersonation of, the perpetual motion.
But our quotation has extended to such a length that
24 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON.
we must pass over the further phases of the struggle be-
tween the angler and the fish, and come to the final scene.
The salmon is languidly lying afloat on the foam, as if
all further resistance were vain, and she were bent on
gracefully surrendering herself to death. But, put no
faith in female ; she trusts to the last trial of her tail.
Sweetly workest thou, O reel of reels ; and on thy smooth
axle spinning sleepest, even as Milton describes her, like
our own worthy planet The gaff ! the gaff ! Into the
eddy she sails, sick and slow, and almost with a swirl,
whitening as she nears the sand. There, she has it !
The gaff has struck right into the shoulder, fairer than
that of Juno, Diana, Minerva, or Vemis, and she lies at
last in all her glorious length and breadth of beaming
beauty, fit prey for giant or demigod angling before the
Flood !
We must now turn our attention to the natural his-
tory of the salmon.
The parent fish deposits her spawn in October, Novem-
ber, and December, ascending the fresh-water streams for
that purpose ; and the spawn quickens into life about
April or May. The young fish are of course exceedingly
helpless, and are seldom seen during the first week or
two of their career, when they carry about with them as
a provision for their sustenance a portion of the egg
from which they sprung. At that time they measure
about half an inch in size, and their appearance is so sin-
gular that certainly 110 one would suspect they could
eventually develop into fine grilse or salmon. The ani-
mal, in fact, does not assume the shape of a perfect fish
for about fifty days, after which it may be seen hovering
THE SALMON'S GROWTH. 25
about the vicinity of its birthplace, weak and timid, hid-
ing among the stones, and always apparently of the same
colour as the " surroundings " of its asylum. Speedily
the transverse bars of the parr begin to show themselves,
and the fish grows with considerable rapidity, especially
if it is to be a twelvemonth's smolt.
The young fish continue to grow for a little longer than
two years before the whole number reach the second
stage in the life of the salmon, and develop into smolts ;
after which they descend the rivers, and seek the salt
water. It is to be noted, however, that half the quan-
tity of any one hatching begin to change at a little over
twelve months from the date of their birth : hence arises
the anomalous circumstance of fish of the same hatching
being partly grilse, weighing four pounds, and partly
parr, weighing barely half an ounce. The smolts of the
first year return from their sea- voyage while their brothers
and sisters are still gambolling among the shallow waters
of the upper streams, not only showing no desire for
change, lout not being in a condition to endure it.
What the salmon feeds upon while in the salt water
has not been discovered ; it assimilates its food so rapidly,
that none is found in its stomach when it is captured
and opened. As it thrives apace, however, its feeding
must be nutritious, and probably consists of crustaceans,
herrings, sand-launces, and other small fish.
The parr were at one time supposed to be a distinct
species; but Mr. Shaw, of Drumlanrig, in 1 834-3 G, by
a series of experiments, proved that they are neither more
nor less than young salmon ; and this fact has been con-
firmed by observations taken at the Stormoiitfield breed-
ing-ponds, on the Tay.
26 A SWIFT TRAVELLER.
It has been ascertained that smolts returning from the
sea within six or eight weeks of their first migration will
weigh from three to five pounds. They are then known
as grilse. Some reascend the rivers when weighing only
a pound and a half or two pounds ; and these, in many
places, are known as salmon peaL
Thenceforth the salmon passes its life in annual migra-
tions to the sea, returning to the rivers to spawn, or for
other reasons, in the autumn, and frequently remaining
during most of the winter. It revisits, if it can, the
stream in which it has spent the earlier part of its exist-
ence ', and the fish belonging to any particular river
always exhibit some characteristic difference from those
belonging to other rivers. It is surprising to what a dis-
tance from the sea they will force their way ; ascending
the Rhine to the Falls of SchafFhausen, and the Elbe to
Bohemia. Their rate of speed is extraordinary ; they
can travel fifteen hundred feet in a minute, or four hun-
dred miles in a day ; but this is only in what an oarsman
would call occasional " spurts." Still, with all the diffi-
culties in their way, they will make twenty to twenty-
five miles in as many hours. As we have already stated,
the greatest perpendicular leaps they seem able to achieve
do not exceed twelve or fourteen feet. If they attempt
more, they fall back exhausted, and perish on the neigh-
bouring rocks. But they can carry themselves up rushing
and broken cataracts of a much more considerable eleva-
tion by a series of characteristic bounds or boomerang
springs.
As spawning-time approaches, they undergo consider-
able changes of colour, and both male and female assume
a general duskiness. In. this state they are called *' foul
BOUND TO THE SEA. '2 i
fish," and their capture is illegal. After the spawning is
completed they are known as " kelts," or " spent-fish : "
the males are also termed " kippers," in allusion to the
" kip," or cartilaginous hook of the under jaw; and the
females a shedders" or "boggits."
Let us recapitulate. The young fry, when first hatched,
are known as parr ; when a twelvemonth old, they are
smolts ; after their first migration, they become grilse;
thence they develop into the full-grown mature " salmon,"
which, after spawning, is called a " kelt."
Mr. Bertram is surely right in saying that the most
remarkable characteristic of the Salmo solar is its extra-
ordinary instinct for change. After the parr has grown
into a smolt, its desire to visit the sea is so intense,
especially if it has been bred in a breeding-pond, that
it will leap from its place of confinement in the hope
of attaining at once its salt-water goal. The instinct of
river-bred fish on this point is not less strong. They
rush towards the sea with as much eagerness as Xeno-
phon and his Greeks, 'who saluted it with the famous
cry of u Thalassa ! Thalassa !" Various opinions are ad-
vocated as to the cause of this migratory mania ; at which,
by the way, it would be very unbecoming in Englishmen
to sneer. Some people affirm that in the pasture-grounds
of Poseidon the fish finds that nutritious food which adds
so rapidly to its size and weight. There cannot be the
shadow of a doubt that sea-water ripens it to its prime
condition ; the river fish not being equal in savouriness,
crede experto ! to the noble specimens caught or netted in
the briny estuaries. They lose in weight and deteriorate
in quality from the moment they enter the fresh water.
It is a curious fact, we may add, and an instance of the
28 SPAWNING-TIME.
wonderful prevision of nature, that the eel, which is also
a migratory fish, descends to spawn in the sea at the very
time that the salmon ascends to spawn in the river.
Were it otherwise, the roe of the salmon would be ab-
solutely destroyed.*
Spawning-time is from the end of autumn to the be-
ginning of spring, or even the beginning of summer. In
different rivers it differs considerably owing probably to
differences of temperature, caused by the higher or lower
latitude, the absence or neighbourhood of forests, low
warm valleys, or snow-covered mountains
The spawning takes place on beds of fine gravel where
the water is tolerably shallow ; the same beds being used
for this purpose year after year. The spawning female
approaches the bed, escorted by at least one male, some-
times by more than one ; in which case they fight lustily
with their kips. In the gravel she makes a furrow with
her tail, and in the furrow deposits her spawn, on which
the male afterwards pours the vivifying milt. The eggs,
when deposited and vivified, are covered by a movement
of the female's tail. The time occupied in these pro-
cesses varies from three to twelve days.
The ova have to run the gauntlet, as it were, of a host
of enemies trouts and other fishes, ducks and other
water-fowl, and insect larvae which greedily devour them.
Moreover, a spate in the stream may wholly sweep away
the nursery and its contents, or overlay the eggs with gravel
to such a depth that they are never hatched, or, if hatched,
the young cannot emerge to the " light of day." It is im-
probable, therefore, that the number of eggs hatched can
bear any reasonable proportion to the number deposited.
* Bertram, " The Harvest of the Sea," p. 1S8.
SALMON IN ALASKA. 29
Salmon abound in the rivers of Alaska, the territory
in. North- West America which Russia ceded a few years
ago to the United States. So plentiful are they in the
spring-time as to impede, it is said, the passage of boats ;
and when a strong " south-easter " rises, it drives them
ashore, where they lie in putrescent heaps ! In the neigh-
bourhood of Sitka, extensive fisheries existed, and from one
hundred thousand to one hundred an^l fifty thousand sal-
mon were annually exported to the Sandwich Islands and
elsewhere. Immediately, says Mr. Whymper, on the
arrival of a boat-load of fish at the wharf, a number of
the poorer women, some of them Indians, arranged them-
selves in two long lines, and cleaned and gutted the fish
with wonderful expedition. A few buckets of water
were then thrown over the heap, and they were carried
to the vats, and put in brine at once, to be ready for ex-
portation. Each woman's payment was a large fish,
weighing twenty or thirty pounds, and worth just
nothing ! For salmon listen, ye epicures ! is the com-
monest of common fish in all the rivers of the North
Pacific, and esteemed accordingly as food fit only for those
unhappy individuals who can get nothing better. How
much it is to be desired that those abundant supplies of
a nutritious " comestible " could be utilized for the benefit
of our swarming populations in England and Scotland !
In the river Yukon are found at least two, and per-
haps three, varieties of salmon. The largest kind some-
times measures five feet; and boots are partly made with
its tough skin. They are caught all down the river in
weirs set in shallow places, in circular hand-nets, or by
spearing. A flotilla of light birch canoes may be seen
ascending the river in regular array ; and at a given sig-
30 THE NORTH AMERICAN RIVERS.
nal the owner of each dips his round hand-net into the
river, and if, when he raises it, a big salmon comes up
floundering and struggling, as is generally the case, the
helpless prisoner is hailed with a shout of derisive tri-
umph. The enthusiastic angler cannot do better than
undertake a trip to Alaska, if he would participate in
salmon-catching on a large and easy scale !
Salmon frequent, most of the North American rivers,
but especially the St. Lawrence and its tributaries. An
American writer says that they are most plentiful on the
north shore, and, as might be supposed, in those streams
which are still outside of the confines of civilization.
The noble fish usually makes his appearance about the
20th of May, and continues in season for two months.
Nearly all the streams we speak of are interrupted in
their course by waterfalls ; but there are few of these
which offer any effectual obstruction to his upward pro-
gress, and the stories related of his leaps are truly won-
derful. The average weight of the Canadian fish is about
fifteen pounds, but monsters weighing full forty pounds
are not infrequently captured. The common mode of
fishing is with a stationary net, set just on the margin of
the river at low- water. When the tide rises, the salmon
commence running, and becoming entangled by their gill-
covers in the meshes of the net, are taken out dead by
the fishermen at low- water. Formerly, as many as three
hundred would be captured in this way at one time ; but
either they are less plentiful, or they have profited by
the lessons of a long and severe experience.
The Indian mode of taking them is identical with the
Scotch leistering. Two Indians embark in a canoe, and
while one paddles it stealthily along, the other stands erect,
SALMON-FISHING IN CANADA.
with spear uplifted.
A torch at the prow
of the boat attracts
the attention of the
fish. They come with-
in range, and are im-
mediately speared.
From an episode
narrated by an Ame-
rican angler, it may be
inferred that salmon-
fishing in Canada is
attended by much the
same adventures as
in Great Britain.
Describing an ex-
pedition he made
with two companions
to the St. Margaret
River, he says that
they started from Ta-
dousac at nine, and
reached their place
of destination at
twelve. They found
the river uncom-
monly high, and a
little "rily." Mak-
ing a desperate effort,
however, they threw
their line about three
hours, capturing four
(502)
SDIAN MODE OF TAKT
3
32 AN ANGLER'S NARRATIVE.
salmon, one of which fell to the share of our authority.
He (the salmon) was a handsome fellow, weighing seven-
teen pounds, and in good condition ; he afforded his cap-
tor's comrades no inconsiderable amount of fun, and
placed him in a peculiar position. For the salmon had
taken the hook when the angler was wading in swift
water up to his middle, and as soon as he discovered his
predicament, he wheeled round suddenly, and started
down the stream.
My rod, says the angler, bent nearly double, and I saw
that I must allow him all the line he wanted ; and having
only three hundred feet on my reel, I found it necessary
to follow him with all speed. In doing so I lost my
footing, and was swept by the current against a pile of
logs. Meantime my reel was in the water, and whizzing
away at a tremendous rate. The log upon which I de-
pended happened to be in a balancing condition, and
when I attempted to surmount it, it plunged into the
current and floated down the stream, leaving your
humble servant astride at one end, and clinging to it
with all his might. Onward sped the salmon, the log,
the fisherman ! At last the log drifted into an eddy, and
while it was gyrating in incessant circles I abandoned
it, and fortunately reached the shore in safety. My life
having been spared, I was more anxious than ever to
carry off the salmon which had led me into so much
danger ; and so I held aloft the rod, and continued down
the stream, over an immense number of logs and rocks,
which seemed to have been set there for my particular
discomfiture. On coming in sight of the fish, I found
him in still water, with his glittering belly turned up-
wards, and, in fact, " completely drowned." I imme-
BRITISH SALMON-FISHERIES. 33
diately drew him up on a neighbouring sand-bank, and
received the congratulations of my friends on my peculiar
mode of taking salmon.
The principal salmon-rivers in Great Britain are the
Tweed, the Tay, the Spey, the Esk, and the Severn.
Unfortunately, of late years, through over-fishing and
poaching, our salmon-fisheries have suffered a grievous
decay, and the interference of the Legislature has been
invoked to prevent the resort to improper modes of
capture, and to confine the fishing to those seasons of the
year most suitable to the habits of the fish. In several
places, moreover, salmon-breeding, according to the most
improved principles of fish-culture, has been introduced,
and with a degree of success which justifies the hope that
streams now depopulated may once more yield an abun-
dant supply. The salmon is of some importance as an
addition to our food-resources. It is difficult, or almost
impossible, to obtain any accurate statistics on this point ;
but Mr. Russel tells us that in 1862, apparently an
ordinary year, three Irish railways conveyed about 400
tons of salmon, or about 900,000 Ibs., being equal in
weight and treble in value to 15,000 sheep. In Scotland
the Tay alone furnishes about 800,000 Ibs., being equal
in weight to 20,000 and in value to 60,000 sheep.
The weight of salmon produced by the Spey is not in-
ferior to the weight of mutton annually yielded to the
butcher by each of several of the smaller counties. The
diminution in the supply of food caused by the decay of
the Tweed fisheries, is about 200,000 Ibs. a year. And,
as Mr. Russel reminds us, in making comparisons between
the supplies of fish and of flesh, we must recollect that
34 BRITISH SALMON-FISHERIES.
fish, or at least salmon, though higher in money value,
cost nothing for their "keep," make bare no pastures, hol-
low out no turnips, consume no corn, but are, as Franklin
expressed.it, "bits of silver pulled out of the water."
The Tay salmon-fisheries are owned by various private
proprietors and corporations, and yield an annual rent of
about 18,000. On the Spey they may be said to be
worth ,15,000 which is chiefly, if not wholly, paid to the
Duke of Richmond. The rental of the Esk we estimate
at 10,000, and that of the Tweed at 8000, but it
varies considerably. It is fair, however, to compute the
annual yield of the British salmon-fisheries, as a source
of rental, at 70,000.
Mr. Bertram, referring to a recent Report of the In-
spectors of the English Fisheries, which embraced a sum-
mary of the condition of ninety rivers, says : "I gather
from it that considerable progress has already been made
in arresting the decay of these valuable properties, and
that there is every prospect of the best rivers being
speedily repeopled with salmon to an extent that will
secure them, under proper regulations, from again falling
into so low a condition. A careful perusal of this report
shows that fixed nets have been nearly abolished ; that
portions of rivers not hitherto accessible to fish have been
made so, passes and gaps having been created by hun-
dreds. Poachers have been caught and punished with
great success ; and, according to a review of the report in
the Field, a journal which is well -versed in fishery
matters, ' salmon have been seen in large quantities in
places where they have not been seen these forty years.' "
The following table shows the quantity of salmon im-
ported into London, in boxes weighing each 112 Ibs.,
THE TWEED FISHERY.
35
from 1850 to the end of 1865, when the Legislature put
an end to the open fisheries : *
Year.
Scotch.
Irish.
Dutch.
Norwe-
gian.
Welsh.
1850
13,940
2135
105
54
72
1851
11,593
4141
203
214
40
1852
13,044
3602
176
306
20
1853
19,485
5052
401
1208
20
1854
23,194
6333
345
None
128
1855
18,197
4101
227
None
59
1856
15,438
6568
68
5
28
1857
18,654
4984
622
None
220
1858
21,564
6429
973
19
499
1859
15,630
4855
922
None
260
1860
15,870
3803
849
40
438
1861
12,337
4582
849
60
442
1862
22,796
7841
568
87
454
1863
24,297
8183
1227
180
663
1864
22,603
8344
1204
837
752
1865
19,009
6858
1479
1069
868
The lover of salmon cannot regard without feelings of
apprehension and indignation the condition of the Tweed
fisheries indignation at the manner in which they are
spoliated, apprehension lest exhaustion should be the re-
sult of the spoliation. Recent legislation appears to have
done but little good. A new Government inquiry is
promised, however ; and it is to be hoped, rather than
expected, that it will remove all grievances, and restore
the fisheries to prosperity. If the stranger inquire of a
Tweed fisherman what is the fons et origo mali, he will
be told it is the systematic " poaching " that is carried on
in spite of watchers and constables ; and he will come to
the conclusion, perhaps, that the best remedy for so
serious an evil is not a Government Commission, but the
diffusion of knowledge, and the growth of a healthy
* Bertram, " The Harvest of the Sea," p. 222.
36 POACHING AND POACHERS.
public opinion. Poaching has been called an " abject
trade," but it is certainly a profitable one j and a large
portion of the population seem unwilling to believe that
the rights of property extend to river-waters. They
appear to appreciate intensely
" The good old rule, the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can."
Lord Minto asserts that "not one man in a hundred
believes himself to be violating any moral law when he
offends against the Tweed Acts." And the improved con-
dition of the salmon-fisheries has given a fresh stimulus
to poaching by largely increasing its gains. The salmon
being a migratory fish, ascending from the depths of ocean
to the sweet waters of some sequestered woodland pool,
falls an easy victim to its human enemies, and perishes
by hundreds every year just at the time when it is most
valuable ; for, however costly a thirty-pound salmon may
be on the slab of a Bond Street fishmonger, it is infinitely
more precious when on the point of multiplying and re-
plenishing its kind.* Few persons have any idea of the
multitudes of fish captured and killed by the poachers.
It is on record that a gang of these men (and occasionally
women) have taken a hundred salmon from the spawning
beds in one night. To bestow any sympathy on such
ignorant and destructive plunderers is surely ridiculous !
The salmon is beset by natural enemies, and nature
has so carefully guarded against its unlimited increase,
that we do not need to step forward and wage an ex-
terminating war against it when it is unfit for food, and
preparing to reproduce its kind. It is a well-known fact
* See The Times, August 27, 1874 : "The Tweed Fisheries."
POACHING AND POACHERS. 37
that a given area of water will breed and feed only a
given number of fish. The interference of the poacher is
therefore an offence against economic as well as moral
laws. Yet in 1872-73, 327 persons were accused of
violations of the Tweed Acts; 164 of whom paid the
fines in which they were mulcted, while 41 were im-
prisoned, 44 absconded, and GO were acquitted. No
fewer than 235 various engines of capture were taken
from poachers during the same period.
" The poacher's argument,"* says a contemporary, " is
just the old-fashioned one which has often been made to
do duty, that as a river is, generally speaking, the pro-
perty of twenty or thirty people, the salmon moving up
and down its stream cannot be the property of any par-
ticular person. But there is one crushing reply to this
proposition, which must be obvious to the meanest com-
prehension ; it is that by no species of logic can the
salmon in the Tweed and its tributaries be considered the
property of the poacher As a plain matter of fact, not
all the Queen's army could effectively watch a great
salmon-river if there were an extensive population in its
course. The Tay proprietors are fortunate ; that river
flows through a land where there is no population to
disturb its finny treasures. On the Tweed and its many
tributaries there is a considerable population, many of
whom have but a slight knowledge of ' mine and thine/
and all of whom have a taste for salmon and a strong
* A dour Scotch " wabster" once argued with the writer that the water in
the Tweed, as it was constantly flowing, could not belong to Lord or the
Duke of . We asked him to whom the bed of the river would belong, if
it suddenly dried up ? Further, observing a water-butt in his garden, we re-
quested him to state to whom its contents belonged when filled by the rain,
which no more belonged to him than to his neighbour. Our friend shook his
head, but made no " articulate " reply.
38 POPULAR PREJUDICES.
desire for gain. The cost of protecting the Tay salmon-
fisheries is only about a fourth of what it costs the Com-
missioners to protect the river Tweed." It must not be
supposed, however, that no poaching takes place on the
Tay.
The worst of it is, that the public themselves are
growing impatient of a legislation which is designed for
their benefit, simply because they hear so much of it 1
In Scotland the river-fisheries are regulated by about
twenty Acts, and have been the subject of more Govern-
ment inquiries than we care to count. The consequence
is, that people who know little or nothing of the economy
of the fish, or of its natural history, have come to regard
the favour shown to this particular inhabitant of the
waters with something like annoyance. At the bottom
of this feeling, we suspect, lurks a kind of undefinable
prejudice against the salmon as the rich man's fish. Its
present price renders it a rare dish at the table of the
householder of average means ; and as for the peasantry,
most of them say, we fancy, what a villager once said to
ourselves, " Saumon is iia for the likes of we ! " They
grudge, therefore, the care and attention bestowed upon
it, and hate the supervision exercised by the police force.
Their prejudices would disappear if their ignorance
were enlightened ; if they could be made to understand
that a regulation of the fisheries is essential if the salmon
is to be preserved as a British fish, and that efficient
regulation means increased supply, and increased supply
reduced prices. The salmon is a valuable article of food,
and with proper care ought to be brought within the
reach of the average purchaser. There is no reason why
it should not become much cheaper than meat; for which.
SUMMING UP THE QUESTION. 39
at times, it would then be an agreeable substitute.
Formerly, it was so common an article of diet in Scot-
land, that farm-servants and others, on engaging with
new employers, would make it a condition that it should
appear on their tables only a certain number of times a
week. Otherwise, they would have breakfasted on
salmon, dined on salmon, and supped on salmon, every
day ! No immediate fear need be entertained of any
very early return of such unlimited salmon-consumption.
What would become of the salmon, it has been asked,
if they were abandoned to the cruel mercies of the
poacher 1 The answer is easily given. To judge from the
experience of the past, in ten years not a Salmo salar
would be found in our streams ! It is certain that at one
time the salmon-fisheries of Great Britain were nearly
annihilated through greed and want of management and
indiscriminate fishing. It is equally certain that the
prudent legislation of recent years has done much to
recuperate them, and that a steady persistence in the
present course cannot but be productive of the best re-
sults. " The philosophy of the whole question," says an
enthusiastic writer, " lies in a nutshell. If the man who
causes two blades of grass to grow where only one grew
before is a benefactor to his race and his country, the
same may be emphatically said of him who rears two
salmon to-day for the one he reared twenty years ago."
There is no end to the destructive appliances which
man has brought to bear against this lordly fish ; and it
is a matter for wonder that any who once ascend our
rivers should find their way back into the sea. Nor
would they do so, but for the admirable institution of
40 A CRUEL DECEPTION.
"close-time. " The most fatal of all these " military engines"
is the common sweep-net, which in many of our streams
is in use for miles and miles on both banks, and at the
same time ; so that the fish needs be cunning which
would get in safety to the retirement of the upper waters.
Not less deadly is the still -net, the stake-net, or the hang-
iiet. Further, the pole and the basket anxiously await
the sentimental or over-active fish that finds an amuse-
ment in jumping up waterfalls. By the way, a good
story is told of Lord Lovat, the Jacobite rebel. It is
said that when luncheon-time approached, he would
betake himself to a " fall " on his estate famous for its
leaping fish, and place a caldron of boiling water in such
a position that a salmon missing its spring would tumble
into it, and thus commit "salmonicide" after a novel and
original fashion ! Whereupon the cynical nobleman
would eat his lunch with peculiar gusto.
Numerous are the ingenious and stealthy deceptions
which practise on the credulity and curiosity of the fish,
or on his hasty greediness. Slowly sailing up the fresh
breezy stream, he catches sight of what seems a bit of
rainbow, a flash of many colours ; darts at it merrily, and
finds himself impaled on a horrid hook at the end of an
oiled line, which tugs at him, and plays with him, and
holds on to him in spite of all his efforts to get free ! He
plunges into a deep pool, and rests awhile ; then, thinking
his enemy is away, he seeks to glide down the river. In
a moment he finds himself checked; pulled up suddenly at
the will of some mysterious and powerful creature, whose
formidable shadow he sees reflected on the waters. Away
he goes again with a jerk; but this creature is as cunning
as he is powerful, and all his manoeuvres are anticipated
" HARLING " THE SALMON. 41
and foiled until, at length, he suffers himself, palpitating
and shuddering, to be hauled out of his native element,
and stretched upon the " flowery mead," a victim !
It may be that Salmo solar is hungry, and affects a
little bit of fish ; for he too has epicurean sympathies.
Well, in the very nick of time a shy little minnow makes
his appearance ; now dangling right before his jaws, now
receding into the distance, now approaching him again,
until he is tempted to dart at and seize it to find himself
befooled by his appetite. " And," adds a lively writer,
"as if a man could not do harm enough with one rod and
line, which a providential arrangement of hands has made
the full complement of his offensive armoury, he gets
him a boat if he be suitably situated, and hangs him out
astern therefrom three rods, each with its line and lure. A
second conspirator the boatman tacks quietly across
and across the stream, thus drawing the lines through the
water, while the first sits cat-like in the stern. Suddenly
a reel rattles, the boatman shouts a husky ' therrum,' and
the contest between brains and instinct commences ; some-
times, it is true, to the discomfiture of the brains. The
number of rods renders it possible to pander to so many
tastes at once, that the salmon falls a frequent prey to
this great sport of 'harling.' "
For this sport of " harling," which is both exciting and
effective, it would seem necessary that the stream should
be broad, so as to afford space for the movements of the
boat ; and the current quick, in order that the lines may
be kept always in new water as the boat drops slowly
down. In a romantic burn, where the water tumbles and
flashes over rocky ledges or eddies, and whirls round great
42 A GREENLAND FASHION.
boulders, a boat, of course, is useless ; nor is it needed,
as under such circumstances the salmon always rise
quickly enough to the fly. But the fly cannot be used
advantageously in an ample river, or loch, or estuary,
while in either place harling may safely be adopted.
The Greenlanders catch the salmon with the hand, or
with a forked stick, groping among the great stones where
the fish conceal themselves. But the method most com-
monly adopted is this : They erect an embankment at the
mouth of those streams which discharge their waters into
the sea. The embankment is built of stones, so arranged
as not to obstruct the flow of the stream ; and for the
facilitating this flow, a small sluice is opened up in it.
When the tide rises, it easily covers both dyke and sluice,
and the salmon has no difficulty in passing : it ascends
the stream to a considerable height, and very frequently
" forgets itself" in the fresh water; so that, when the tide
ebbs and the sluice closes spontaneously, the salmon finds
itself imprisoned in a reservoir whose embankment it
cannot cross. In a short time it lies almost dry, and the
Greenlanders capture their prize without any difficulty.
In Iceland, the fishermen, stationing themselves on the
two banks of a water-course, extend a net right across
the latter ; then advancing against the current, they
impel before them the unlucky salmon, which, when no
longer able to retreat, spring upon the shore. As many
as two hundred at a time are caught in this fashion.
In Finland, the noisiest and most turbulent point of
the river is selected, and the waters are pent up in a
AMONG THE INDIANS. 45
narrow channel formed by piles sunk deeply in their bed,
and bound together by branches of trees. A few open-
ings are left through which the fish can pass ; but across
these openings stout nets are extended, and the fish, once
entangled in the snare, is unable to extricate itself.
The riverine peasants, says Acerbi, walk upon these
piles with a truly wonderful address, though the current
often agitates them in a very perceptible manner. Men,
women, children, all leap from pile to pile with the
most singular agility. We felt desirous to assist them in
drawing their nets ; we were rash enough to cross a third
of the palisade ; but the sight of the water swirling and
eddying beneath our feet turned one of my companions
giddy, and had he not been checked in time he would
have fallen into the river. The children, and even the
men, confide too rashly in their nimbleness, and it is
seldom a year passes without one of them falling into
the water at the risk of being drowned, since the violence
of the current precludes all possibility of a boat being
kept within reach to render assistance.
The Shoshony Indians, who dwell on the bank of the
Serpent River, to the west of the Rocky Mountains,
devote themselves entirely to the salmon-fishery. There
is a place named the Salmon's Fall (Chute-du-Saumon) \
it is a succession of rapids, with a perpendicular cascade
above them of fully twenty feet. An incredible number
of salmon is caught here. They begin to leap soon after
sunset, reascending the course of the river. Some of the
Indian fishermen then plunge into the midst of the rapids,
swimming with equal strength and dexterity. Others
station themselves on the rocks, others stand waist-deep
46
A SALMON-SPEAR.
in the waves ; and all, armed with spears, strike death to
the salmon as the latter attempt to leap, or fall back in
the water. It is a continual massacre.
XDIANS SPEAKING SALMOV.
The spear of which these Indians make use is singularly
constructed. It is armed with a fragment of eland's
horn, perfectly straight, and about seven inches long, to
the point of which an artificial barb is attached with
some well-gummed thread. The iron is fastened by a
stout rope, some inches long, to a great willow pole. If
the fisher's aim be good, the lance-head frequently tra-
verses the body of the fish. He afterwards detaches it
easily, and leaves the salmon struggling with the rope in
its body, while the fisherman grasps the pole. But for
THE CHATEAU-LIN FISHERIES. 47
this arrangement, the willow rod would be broken by the
weight and struggles of the fish.
Several thousand salmon are caught in a single day's
fishing. A traveller, who was present on one occasion,
asserts that he saw a salmon make a leap of nearly thirty
feet from the point where the water began to foam up to
the summit of the fall !
The fisheries of Chateaulin have been graphically de-
scribed by Deslandes. Chateaulin is situated in Low r er
Brittany.
The fishing-station consists, he says, of a double row
of closely-planted poles, which cross the river from bank
to bank, and being sunk to an equal depth, afford a kind
of practicable causeway. To the left, down the river, is
a kind of grated reservoir, measuring fifteen feet square,
and so constructed that the river current flows into it
of its own impetus. In the midst of this reservoir, and
almost on a level with the water, may be seen an aper-
ture of eighteen to twenty inches in diameter, surrounded
by blades of tin slightly bent, which are shaped like
isosceles triangles, and open and shut easily. As a whole,
they are not unlike the mouths of those mouse-traps made
of iron wire. The salmon, guided by the current to-
wards the reservoir, enters it without difficulty by push-
ing aside the tin plates it meets on its way, and whose
bases are set round the hole. These plates, when drawn
in together, form a cone, but on opening out assume the
shape of a cylinder. On emerging from the reservoir the
salmon enters a basin, from which it is drawn by the
fishermen in a net attached for this purpose to the ex-
tremity of a pole. Their skill is so great that they never
(502) 4
48 THE CHATEAULIN FISHERIES.
fail to bring out immediately the particular fish on which
they set their choice.
Salmon do not always come in the same abundance.
If they arrive one by one they all repair to the reservoir,
and from the reservoir to the basin, without ascending
further ; but if they arrive in numerous shoals, the
females attracting the males, who redouble their strength
and ardour to follow them, then they sweep through the
piles which form the causeway with an incredible velo-
city ; the eye can scarcely follow them. In this way a
great number of salmon would escape the fishermen if
they did not take care to embark in small flat boats and
float along the causeway, spreading out nets whose meshes
are extremely close ; every fish entangled in these is im-
mediately conveyed into the reservoir, where it disgorges
its food, and acquires a more exquisite flavour.
This fishery begins about the end of September, and
reaches what we may call its climax towards the end of
January. Prodigious quantities of fish are then captured.
It grows slack in May, and entirely ceases in the month
of July.
The value of salmon, eitlier as a means of sport or as
an article of food, depends largely on the part of the river
where he is captured. If he is hooked near the tidal
waters, he is usually in good condition for sport, and in
equally good condition for the table. But if taken in the
higher waters, unless he is a fresh-run fish, still invigor-
ated by his ocean food, he is comparatively an ignoble
prey.
There is no enjoyment for the true angler, however,
like fly-fishing; and the hero of a hundred fields probably
CAUGHT AND WON. 49
never feels half the pleasure in his victories that the
angler feels who has hooked, and played with, and cap-
tured his salmon. Away with your nets j take the
pliant rod, the well-oiled line, and the cunning bait,
and set out to match your skill against the salmon's
instinct. You find a suitable spot a quiet pool within
hearing of the music of a woodland waterfall ; dexterously
you cast your fly, and then you wait and watch. What
minutes of delightful suspense ! At last your patience is
rewarded. A bite a quiver a plunge, and away up the
middle of the river darts the wounded fish.
The angler hastens after her ; away she goes, swift and
strong, and fresh ; but the line holds true, and, spite of
her leaps and plunges, gains upon her efforts. She
slackens her pace ; by degrees her exertions are less
strenuous ; as the reel is carefully wound up, she yields
more and more to approaching fate ; and now her silver
side brightens on the foamy stream, and, utterly spent,
she surrenders herself to death.
In this way are salmon caught and won
CHAPTER II.
THE GADID^E AND PLEURONECTIDJ5.
| HE Gadidce family is very numerous, and in-
cludes some of the fish most important from
a commercial point of view, and most valued
as additions to our food supplies. It belongs
to the sub-order Anacanthini (or " soft rays") of the order
Teleostei ; and its principal members are the cod, the
haddock, the whiting, and the ling. These are popularly
known (as well as the Pleuronectidce) as " white-fish."
Let us deal with them in the order in which we have
named them.
The COD (Gadus morrhua, or Morrhua vulgaris) is so
well known as scarcely to require description ; but the
distinctive features of the genus to which it belongs are
the three dorsal fins, two anal fins, and a barbule beneath
the chin. It is a large, plump, solid fish, frequently
attaining the weight of one hundred pounds ; but, whether
large or small, is always nutritious and well-flavoured.
Its reproductive power is enormous ; the roe of the female
has been estimated to contain from four to nine millions
of eggs ; * a reproductive power rendered necessary to
* Leuwenhoeck counted 9,344,000 eggs in a single female.
HABITAT OF THE COD.
51
compensate for the havoc committed among its kind by
its numerous enemies.
We meet with this valuable fish in all the waters of
the northern hemisphere between the 40th and 60th
parallels of latitude. It would seem, as an old writer
puts it, that Providence has willed the cod should abound
in the temperate and northern regions; in Denmark,
Norway, Sweden, Iceland, the Orkneys, and " many parts
of Muscovy," as well as in other countries where cereals
cannot be cultivated on account of the inclemency of the
climate. And where the fishery is successful the inhabi-
tants not only make its products, either fresh or dried,
their great substitute for food, " but sell them in large
52 THE GREAT COD BANK.
quantities to foreign merchants, who convey them into
the interior of Europe."
The great rendezvous of the cod appears to be the cele-
brated bank which lies off the island of Newfoundland,
and is known as the Great Cod Bank. It forms a sub-
marine ridge, about one hundred miles in length by sixty
miles in breadth. So enormous at times is the accumu-
lation of fish in its vicinity, that the fishermen can do
little else from morn to night than cast the line, and haul
it in, and open the struggling prey to bait their hooks
afresh with its entrails. They are packed together so
closely that a line, dropped haphazard into their midst,
frequently hooks a dozen or more by some part or other
of their body. And it is affirmed that a single fisher will
take from three hundred to four hundred fish a day.
The voracity of the cod is remarkable. It feeds upon
molluscs, crustaceans, the herring, the whiting, and even
its own kind, besides an infinite variety of smaller fishes.
It flings itself indifferently on every object that conies
within its purview ; not despising, in case of need, an
ounce or so of lead. And, according to Anderson,
nature has endowed it with a facility which, indeed, this
voracity renders almost indispensable of vomiting, so to
speak, its stomach ; of turning it inside out, in front of
its mouth ; and after emptying it, and cleansing it in the
sea-water, returning it into its proper position, after
which it recommences eating. And its digestive organs
act with so much rapidity that in less than six hours it
assimilates any kind of food, however indigestible. We
conclude, therefore, that dyspeptic complaints are un-
known among the Gadidse !
Almost every part of the cod, as Cuvier tells us, is
USEFULNESS OF THE COD. 53
adapted for the nourishment of man and animals, or for
some other purposes of domestic economy. The tongue,
for instance, whether fresh or salted, is a great delicacy ;
the gills are carefully preserved, to be employed as baits
in fishing ; the liver, which is large and good for eating,
also furnishes an enormous quantity of oil, which is an
excellent substitute for that of the whale, and useful for
the same purposes ; the swimming-bladder furnishes an
isinglass not inferior to that yielded by the sturgeon ; the
head, in places where the cod is taken, supplies the fisher-
men and their families with food. The Norwegians give
it with marine plants to their cows, for the purpose of
stimulating a greater production of milk. The vertebrae,
the ribs, and the bones in general are given to their cattle
by the Icelanders, and to their dogs by the Kamtschat-
dales. These same parts, properly dried, are also em
ployed as fuel in the desolate steppes which border on the
Icy Sea. The roe furnishes a table dainty, and is also
used, or, more correctly speaking, wasted, as ground-bait
for the sardine-fishery, as we shall see hereafter. Cod-
liver oil (oleum jecor is aselli) is recognized as a very valu-
able therapeutic agent, and in the earlier stages of con-
sumption and scrofulous affections of the joints and bones
acts almost as a specific. The reader will see, therefore,
that the cod is a fish which in its time plays many im-
portant parts, and will appreciate its commercial and
economic value.
In Lent, and on Fridays, dried or salted cod is much
eaten by Roman Catholics and others ; but there can be
no doubt that, to do justice to the fish, it ought to be
eaten fresh. Cod-curing, however, is a staple trade at
Newfoundland, and is practised also in many of the
54 COD-CURING.
fishing-towns of Scotland. There is 110 particular diffi-
culty in the process. First, catch your fish. Next, cure
it as soon as possible after it is caught. Split it open
from head to tail ; cleanse it thoroughly from every par-
ticle of blood ; drain it, after cutting away a portion of the
back-bone ; deposit it with other fish, similarly prepared,
in a long vat or trough, and cover it well with salt, placing
a heavy weight upon it to keep it down in the pickle.
Take your fish, when sufficiently pickled, out of its
repository ; drain it ; wash and cleanse it ; and bleach or
pine it by exposure to the sun and air on the open beach.
After a while it will acquire a peculiar whitish appear-
ance, technically known as the bloom. Then your labour
is over, and your dried cod is ready for the store, closet,
or the market.
Ling is cured in the same manner; and both ]ing and cod
are very palatable when thus prepared, either boiled and
served up with sauce, or toasted like a Finnan haddock.
Fresh cod are in season from September to March ;
they are in finest condition in the months of November,
December, and January.
The largest cod-fisheries are carried on in the North
Sea and off the banks of Newfoundland. To the latter
we shall presently refer. The cod-bank at the Faroe
Islands has been almost ruined by over-fishing, and the
same is true of the once celebrated Dogger-Bank. There
are immense supplies, however, on the west coast of Ice-
land, which, as yet, have been scarcely touched. At
present the greater proportion of the white-fish sent to
the London market comes from the North Sea fishing-
grounds, and the fishery is conducted after the following
fashion :
THE COD-FISHEKY. 55
The modern cod-smack is built for speed, with large
deep wells for carrying her cargo alive; she costs 1500
or more, and is usually manned by a crew of eleven men
and boys. Her average expense per week is 20 during
the long-line season, but rises considerably if she is unfor-
tunate in losing lines. The number of these taken to
sea depends on the numerical strength of the crew. Each
man has a line of 50 fathoms (or 300 feet) in length ;
attached to it are about a hundred " snoods," with hooks
already baited with mussels, and pieces of herring or
whiting. Each line is laid clear in a shallow " scull,"
or basket, so that it can run out freely as the boat forges
ahead.
When they reach the fishing-ground the men heave
overboard a cork buoy, with a flag-staff fixed to it about
six feet in height. This buoy is kept stationary by a
rope, called the " pow-end," which is dropped by means
of an anchor or heavy stone to the bottom. To the pow-
end is also fastened the fishing-line, which is then paid
out as fast as the boat sails ; or, if the wind be unfavour-
able, is propelled by the rowers. When the line is
exhausted the end is allowed to drop, and the boat is
carried back to the buoy. Here the pow-end is hauled
up, and the fishermen carefully haul in their line with
whatever fish it may have hooked. It is not often that
it comes up unproductive. The booty, however, varies.
Sometimes as many as seven or eight hundred fish are
caught in a single haul ; seldom fewer than two hun-
dred ; but occasionally the cod are eaten off the line by
dog-fish and other enemies, and all that comes up to the
fisherman is a " beggarly array" of empty hooks, or a few
fragments of flesh and u skeleton or two.
56 AMATEUR FISHING.
Mr. Bertram tells us, and tells us truly, that hungry
cod-fish will seize any kind of bait ; and for the long or
great lines we have been describing, you may use bits of
whiting, herring, haddock, and of almost every fish which
swims in the sea. For hand-lines, however, the best bait
is mussels or white whelks, and the next best lug-worms.
If the reader should spend a few weeks in the later
autumn at any of the coast-towns of Fife or Haddington-
shire, he cannot do better than arrange for a brief expe-
rience of " deep-sea fishing." He need not venture further
out than the Isle of May, in the Firth of Forth, or
the Bell Rock. Bait will be provided by the fishermen ;
or, if he takes his spade or three-pronged fork, he can dig
up a supply of lug- worms on the sands. The lug is about
five inches long and half an inch thick. The only part
used as bait is the head part. Mussels or white whelks
are caught by a line ornamented with a number of pieces
of carrion or cod-heads, and laid along the bottom in a
locality where they are known to be plentiful. The
whelks fasten upon the cod-heads, are pulled up, stowed
away in bags, and preserved in the well of the boat until
wanted.
The English fishers largely employ the trawl-net in
their white-fish fisheries, though the practice is sometimes
described as injurious to the fishing-grounds.
The trawl-net is worked from a boat called a trawler;
generally a vessel of about thirty-five to fifty tons, manned
by a crew of five or six men and two or three boys, who
frequently share both the risk and the profit on the co-
operative principle. Each yawl is furnished with two
masts, and three sets of sails to suit various states of
THE TRAWL-NET, 57
weather. The trawl-rope is seven hundred and twenty
feet in length, and six inches in circumference ; and to
this rope are attached the different parts of the trawling
apparatus namely, the beam, the trawl-heads, bag-net,
ground-rope, and span or bridle ; the whole being hauled
in and worked by means of a capstan. The beam, made
of heavy elm wood, is thirty-eight feet long, tapers at
either end, but is about eight to ten inches thick in the
middle. At each extremity is fixed an oval ring (or
" trawl-head "), measuring four feet by two feet six
inches. The upper part of the bag-net, which is about
one hundred feet long, is fastened to the beam, the lower
part being attached to the ground-rope, while the ends
of the ground-rope are brought round the trawl-heads.
These being allowed to fall quite slackly, the mouth of the
bag-net forms a semicircle when dragged over the ground.
We trust the reader who has never seen a trawl-net is
now able to form a tolerably accurate conception of one.
He has then to think of it as fastened to the trawl-rope
by means of another rope, which is of about the same
thickness, and about double the length of the beam ; this
is the "span" or "bridle." Each end of the span is
attached to the beam so as to form a loop, and to this
loop is knotted the trawl-rope.
The ground-rope is usually an old rope, as, in case the
net should encounter any obstruction in the water, it is
desirable this rope should break, and allow the remainder
of the gear to be hauled up. If the warp broke instead
of the ground-rope, the trawling apparatus would be left
at the bottom.
The trawl-boat, while the net is out, sails along at the
rate of two to three knots an hour.
58 LINE-FISHING.
The fish thus caught are turbot, brill, haddock, skate,
sole, and other flat fish, besides occasional cod. Herrings
are also trawled for on the English coast. It is unques-
tionably a wholesale system of fishing, yielding large re-
turns ; but, from the manner in which it sweeps the bottom
clear of everything that comes within its meshes, there
can be no doubt that it is injurious in many localities,
and it ought not to be allowed too near the shore.
Another remedy for over-fishing generally would be to
legislate for the cod, haddock, and the like, as we legis-
late for the salmon ; and to establish a close-time for
each fish, according to the occurrence of its spawning
season.
We are indebted to Mr. Cobb for the introduction of
a new and improved mode of line-fishing for cod. He
fixes a small piece of cork about twelve inches above the
hook ; this keeps the bait afloat, and shows it more
plainly to the hungry fish. The fishermen, when not
busy with the great or long-lines, fish with hand-lines,
each armed with a couple of hooks, and each hook sus-
pended in the water by its little buoy of cork. A heavy
weight attached to the lower extremity of the line keeps
it steady near the ground ; and in this way enormous
quantities of cod, as well as of haddock, whiting, hake,
ling, pollack, and coal-fish, are caught in British waters.
It is related that four hundred to five hundred and fifty
cod have been taken in ten hours by a single fisher ;
and oif the Dogger-Bank a couple of men have caught
eighty score in one day.
A great portion of the dried cod which reaches our
markets is imported from Newfoundland, where cod-
curing is carried on as an extensive and profitable trade.
AT NEWFOUNDLAND.
59
It is shared by both English and French fishermen : the
former establishing their curing-houses at St. John's, the
chief town ; the latter at Saint- Pierre and Miquelon
Islands. The curing processes adopted by both are very
similar.
A shed a chaujffunt is raised upon piles, standing one
half in the water and one half on shore ; it is constructed
of planks and posts, through which the air circulates
freely, but roofed in with old canvas or sailcloth. Here
the fish are opened and washed, the intestines removed,
the liver carefully set aside ; after which the split fish are
packed between thick layers of salt, drained, and dried
upon the open strand.*
DRYING COD NEWFOUNDLAND.
The oil pressed from the liver is received into a caldron
sunk in the earth, and covered by a roof nine feet in
height. When carefully prepared, and strained off into
the casks, this oil is perfectly pure, almost without smell,
and, literally, clear as crystal.
* Gobineau, " Tour du Monde," 1SG3.
60 GASPARD DE CORTEREAL.
Drying-sheds are used in many parts of the Newfound-
land coasts. They are built of stone, and so situated as
to obtain all the sunshine available in that region of fogs,
and to admit of a free current of air. The sun's heat is
desirable, but not its rays ; and these are warded off by
an arrangement of branches, which can be shifted so as
to prevent them from striking directly on the fish, while
the wind is still at liberty to blow upon it. The wind
dries, say the Newfoundlanders, but the sun scorches.
It would be difficult to exaggerate the value of this
nutritious and most useful fish. When, writes an ac-
complished author, towards the commencement of the
sixteenth century, Gaspard de Cortereal (a Portuguese
gentleman, jealous of the Spaniards, and their rival in
the desire of discovering new countries) cast anchor in
the midst of the fogs of the savage coasts of a sterile
island, and landed for the first time in Newfoundland, he
certainly did not think that he was opening for Europe
a source of riches more profitable, equally certain, and far
less exhaustible than those which the proud rivals of
his nation derived from the mines of Potosi, the conquest
of which had been effected with such effusion of blood ;
but the fact has so turned out, and a fish in other respects
by no means remarkable has become, in the hands of
almost every nation in Europe, the origin of one of their
most assured and lucrative branches of commerce.
We agree with our author's reflections, but dispute his
facts. The discovery of the Terra de Haccalhaes, or
" Codfish-land," was made by John, not Gaspard, Cor-
tereal ; and took place in or about 1463, not towards the
commencement of the sixteenth century. The Portuguese
would seem to have commenced the cod-fishery soon after
EARLY DAYS OF THE COD-FISHERY. 61
the discovery of the island; which, in 1496, was redis-
covered by John and Sebastian Cabot, and named Prima
Vista. Early in the sixteenth century they employed in
this new branch of commerce upwards of two hundred
vessels ; but the sturdy English soon put in their claim
for a share, and they too, in turn, were followed by
French and Dutch, Norwegians and Danes, and Spaniards.
Hoare, an English merchant, made an attempt to colon-
ize Newfoundland in 1536, but failed disastrously; Sir
Humphrey Gilbert, however, was more successful in 1583.
About this time the English vessels employed in the
fishery numbered fifty; the Spanish, one hundred; the
Biscayan, twenty or thirty; the Portuguese, fifty; and
the French, one hundred and fifty. Among all these, it
is said,* the English were distinguished by the better
equipment of their vessels ; while they seem to have
claimed, without objection or denial on the part of the
foreign fishermen, a sovereignty over the surrounding
seas founded, it may be, on the discoveries of Cabot and
Davis. Towards the close of Elizabeth's reign, the English
fleet resorting to the Newfoundland banks mustered two
hundred sail, and employed upwards of eight thousand
seamen.
In 1623 Sir George Calvert, afterwards Lord Balti-
more, succeeded in planting a colony in the south-eastern
part of the island, which he named Avalon, and of which
he appointed his son governor. Two years later the
English fishery had assumed such large proportions that
the ports of Devonshire alone employed one hundred
and fifty ships, which disposed of their fish to Spain,
Portugal, and Italy. In the reign of Charles II. a tax
* Harris, " Collection of Travels," ed. 1753, vol. ii
G2 NATIONAL DISPUTES ABOUT THE FISHERIES.
which the French had been accustomed to pay to England
for the privilege of fishing off Newfoundland was remitted,
and our trade began to decline, while that of France pro-
portionately increased. This result was necessarily dis-
pleasing to Englishmen, and a sturdy cod-merchant, in
1676, determined to give his rivals a lesson. Taking
with him one hundred and two twenty-gun ships, and a
couple of ships-of-war, he succeeded, in spite of French
fortifications, in capturing as many cod as yielded him
the noble sum of 386,400.
What France failed to gain by open force, she next
attempted to win by stealthy encroachments ; and though
the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 had formally recognized
Newfoundland as a British possession, she had made such
progress that in 1721 she had no fewer than four hundred
vessels trading in cod, and had almost driven us out of
foreign markets. After a long series of aggressions, she
consummated her audacity in 1762 by seizing upon the
island ; only, however, to be driven out of it in the fol-
lowing year. For another century the fishery continued
to be a source of contention between the two nations ; but
in 1857 the English and French Governments executed a
convention by which certain privileges were surrendered
and given on both sides, and the French obtained per-
mission to cure their fish on the small islands of St. Pierre
and Miquelon, with the understanding that they should
erect no fortifications.
All about the cod-fishery at Newfoundland, we may
learn from the elaborate pages of Lacepede, who begins
by informing the reader that nets were first employed till
it was found that these were liable, not only to be rent
A VORACIOUS COD. 63
and shattered, but to be swept away by " ocean-monsters"
imprisoned in the mesh-work ; when the fishermen adopted
the plan, now universally pursued, of " long-line " fishing.
The depths to which these lines are sunk varies with the
time of year, being from five to twenty fathoms during
the season of shore-fishing, which begins in April ; and
from thirty to forty fathoms when the crews follow the
fish as they recede from the shore, and continue to take
them at these great depths until December, when winter
arrests their energy. In spring the traders approach the
banks as early as practicable, with the view of securing a
good station ; and as soon as the vessels have cast anchor,
the surrounding waters literally seem alive with the boats
sent out to procure bait. Various kinds are used, but,
owing to the voracity of the cod, all succeed; it will
swallow not only every kind of fish and shell-fish, whole
or in fragments, fresh or salted, but even bits of wood or
red cloth.
In reference to this voracity, Mr. Badham tells a
curious story. A fish, which once on a time furnished
the University of Cambridge with a religious feast, was
the occasion of a tract entitled Vox Piscis, or the Book
Fish, containing three treatises, found in the belly of a
cod in Cambridge market, Midsummer Eve, 1626. It is
said that this learned fish was caught in Lynn Deeps,
and carried to the Vice-Chancellor by the beadle on the
discovery of a book within it. As it made its appearance
at the Commencement, the very time when good learning
and good cheer are expected, it was quaintly remarked
that " this sea-guest had brought his book and his car-
cass to furnish both." But, as Badham observes, it is
to be hoped the learning he brought in his belly was
(502) 5
64 " ORDER is HEAVEN'S FIRST LAW."
not so out of season as he himself must have been at
midsummer !
In spite of the rivalry and contention between the
fishing-crews, they all adhere rigidly to certain bye-laws
devised for the common good. Among these it is pro-
vided that the man who catches fewest fish, a point
easily settled by counting the tongues, shall clean the
deck, and throw the heads overboard; and to avoid a
task so cold and so fatiguing, the tars are all eager to
anticipate each other, and to apply themselves as early
as may be to the morning's work. No sooner has a fish
been hooked and hauled up and sometimes, in his greedi-
ness, he is caught by two fishermen at once, when he falls
to the lot of him who hooks nearest the eye the captor
removes the tongue, and hands him to a second operator
(in French, the decolleur), who passes him on to a third.
He, cutting open the body, and cleansing it of the liver
and intestines, puts him into the hands of the trancheur,
that he may remove with his exceedingly sharp knife the
ribs and upper part of the vertebrae, and then either split
him open from the head to the caudal fin, and dress him
a plat ; or else from the gills to the anal fin, a la rond.
Next, having been carefully sponged and dried, he is
handed over to the salter, who rubs the body with one-
sixth of its weight of salt, and then gives it over to the
last man, who arranges all the carcasses in rows, and
finally packs them in barrels.
The first part of these complex operations is described
by Lacepede " with the precision of an historian describing
the execution of some state prisoner." He says:
" L'eteteur saisit d'abord la morue, en place a faux
la tete sur le bord de la table, la cerne avec un couteau a
IMPORTATIONS OF COD. 65
deux tranchans, nomme couteau a eteter ; quand la morue
est decollee, 1'eteteur enleve toutes les entrailles, et ayant
fini son operation il pousse le corps & 1'habilleur, qui le
saisit de la main gauche et qui tient de la main droite le
couteau & lidbilhr, dont les fonctions consistent a 1'ouvrir
depuis la gorge jusqu'a 1'anus."
All the fish, however, are not salted ; stock-fish are
simply dried in the sun, and a considerable quantity are
brought to Europe alive in welled vessels.
Stock-fish, a name also given to ling and haddock when
similarly cured, are so called, either because they are
stretched across transverse sticks in the drying, or because
they are as hard as a stick, and require to be bastinadoed
before they are dressed.*
The supplies of cod poured into our British markets
we have no means of estimating ; but some years ago a
calculation was made of the quantity sold in Billingsgate
in the course of a year, which may afford the imaginative
reader a starting-point for any computations he may feel
inclined to indulge in. Of live cod, it was reckoned that
400,000,- weighing 4,000,000 Ibs., were annually disposed
of; of dried salt cod, 1,600,000, weighing 8,000,000 Ibs. ;
and of barrelled cod, 15,000 barrels, each containing 40
fish, and weighing in the whole 4,200,000 Ibs. We may
assume that these figures have of late been largely ex-
ceeded ; and if the reader remembers that extensive sup-
plies are sent direct to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Hull, and
Liverpool, he will find occasion to marvel at the immense
extent and productiveness of the cod-fishery.
The wealth of Newfoundland lies in the surrounding
* Badham, "Ancient and Modern Fish-Tattle," p. 343.
66 VALUE OF THE FISHERIES.
waters, which annually yield rich harvests to its bold and
experienced fishermen. Especially do they furnish an
apparently inexhaustible resource in their supplies of cod;
and, accordingly, the cod-fishery employs the greater num-
ber of the population. Some idea of its value may be
gained from the fact that the annual average export for the
last twenty years has amounted to one million quintals, or
hundredweights, realizing fully 900,000. But even these
figures do not sufficiently illustrate its extent, for they do
not include the quantity about 150,000 quintals used
every year in Newfoundland itself, nor the vast haul of
the French, Nova Scotians, Canadians, and Americans,
who constantly resort to the Newfoundland banks. Pro-
bably, the total would in this case rise to 1,650,000
quintals, equal in value to 1,485,000. And then we
must add the value of the oil extracted from the liver of
the cod-fish, which, estimating the yield at 1,250,000 gal-
lons, would be 200,000.
Such figures may well astonish the reader ; but his as-
tonishment will increase when he is told that, notwith-
standing this enormous annual drain a drain which has
continued for upwards of two centuries the supply
seems inexhaustible ; and that while the whale and seal
fisheries have largely declined, while the herring-fishery
is subject to considerable variations, the cod-fishery shows
no symptoms of diminution, and annually responds with
recuperative energy to the demands made upon it.
We have already glanced at the various processes em-
ployed in the capture of the cod. The Newfoundland
fishermen adopt the hook and line, the seine-net, the
bultow, and the American trap-net.
The seine does not differ from that employed in other
FISHING WITH THE SEINE. G7
quarters. It is neither more nor less than a large net,
which is flung into the midst of a shoal of fish when op-
portunity offers. It can be used only near the shore, or
some convenient place for hauling it in. The moment the
"finny spoil" is entrapped, both ends of the seine are
brought ashore and made fast, and the fishermen haul in
the bottom until it touches the ground, so as to enclose
the fish completely, and prevent their escape. They are
then taken out of the net with all possible speed, split
open, salted, and packed in barrels; these operations
being effected generally on a kind of stage or platform
erected for the purpose, but sometimes in the fishing-boat.
The net varies in size from 70 to 120 fathoms long, and
from 50 to 100 feet deep, according to the character of
the locality in which it is used. An average haul
amounts to about 200 quintals ; but in the largest seines,
under favourable circumstances, as many as 1000 have
been collected.
Some experienced fishermen strongly object to the em-
ployment of the seine, on the plea that its use in any
locality has the effect, after a time, of driving away the
fish ; and they point to places formerly celebrated as the
haunts of immense shoals which the cod have of late years
deserted. But if the cod have been spirited away, it is
not perhaps the seine that should be censured, but its
accompaniments the noise and motion of the men as
they pass to and fro, and the throwing overboard, or from
the stage-heads, of the entrails and heads of the fish after
they have been split and headed. At all events, the
seine is so simple in its use, and so remunerative, that it
will not 136 abandoned except under strong legislative
compulsion.
(iS riii " i;i i i.>\\ " ruot i
Til*' NP\\ I'.Min.ll.in.l li-.heimpii. hnXVOVOV, .1 1 P P \ PP.-. h n-'J \
partial to tlio lionk and lino l'li.-\ ilh forth in tluur \voll
l>ml( I'.MI .. . -iMM.ilh MI ie\\ . .-I (PII (it (\\pl\p. lu( soiUC
i MM.", -.in- l\ Thp I-. M( pinpl.'N .-.I r. 111 I lu (Mi l\ p. M ( of
i ion, IIPI i in", i hen , Mp.-l.in. UP\ i i IIP Mpu.l. .ni.l later
in the Near lioi i IIP- .. nn l-'i-.li I Im-, p.m--,h( are Mipp
M.'l III >|lllll(\ (<> (ll.>',.< .MpllllC.l l'\ (lu> .Clll.' . t.M ll (llP
laHi-r :r..\ \\luMi .1 lai'H'O li.inl in nia.l\ iniii-li i>!' ( lir
linli till, into .1 von imlitVownl -,MI.IIIUM bofoi^ n own
MI. '.I r.li.M,-. ;in.l OOnMO(|U(>Ut>ly, >\ IUMI riiic.l. \\ill
I'll.- " l'iil(.\\ " pnuvss >!' li'.lnn- 1 . ni.ix ! (lin-. ilt^HOrilHHi
SovtM'ill '.li.Ml pi.\(-. !' Imp .HP .ill.irlip.l (,> ;i KMI-; \\\\c .t(
llllPI \ :ll'. .'I I- Mil I.' .M-'Ill Ip.'l l\> (ln-.(> -.Ih'll plPPPS
liookN .11,- l.i-.ipnp.l . .in.l \\ltpn (|IPN IIMNP lu-.-n I'.ntp.l. (lip
\vlu>lo npparnt'ti*. ^tli.ii r-, dip " l>nl(>\\ "^ r. .hcppp.l into
Iho \\alor, and allowed to .siid;. IMip-im? Imp-., \\uli
indu-.i(p its pp-.iii,Mi. .iti.l pr,\ idp .1 tpi>!\ nu-iii-. pf
(.ikui" s u up \\|UMI \\anlod. On llo ot^lolrttHl NP\\
Ipiuull.ind b.ink-- (lip lul(p\\ [fl .ilnip-.i p \plu-.i \ c\\ .i.lppu-,1.
;inl i( m\.ni.il'U -.I-PUI v; (lie liu.v.l an.l lai .,-, i li-.li \\\
ppinipn i-. pui forwtinl, di.il t' no lanK li-.liin:; \\ PI p pM
united i\\c -.lipie I'r.lnn..; \\p-uld l>e unu'h UI.M p pi pfil .il>le .
l>u( n\an\ I'r.luM'iupu Pin(pud (!:( (lie (i-.h p.uij-Jit on (\\c
1. inks lo a dilV.MPUl lauulx . .1-- K NN.M,-. I'IPIII llio-.p
,iii"li( on (In* '.lioips. :uid \\onld in no en.
dp-.pi( (lipn (rM.lidon.d " fot^liu^ jMound-. " I'lus c. pro
Ivd'U IMU-. for duMp P. in l>p no donl>( (lia( (i-.h in dipn
hptep of i '\ M-ned l'\ (i\ ( -.l IM\\ s
ot ' m-.( me( o v-u-.toni riie(i->lur \\ h leli t'n\pien(
(he lauK-. .--> ('ioin .(> up (p
THE SUMMER SHORE-FISHERY. 71
American and Canadian being the smallest, and the
French the largest. On arriving at the fishing-field they
drop anchor, using hemp instead of chain cables, and des-
patching their boats to lay down and bait the bultow.
The Americans and Canadians, when loaded, proceed
to the sea-ports of Nova Scotia or Newfoundland to dis-
charge their cargoes, after which they return to the
banks, generally making three trips in a season. The
French, if they fish on the northern part of the banks,
make for that part of the French shore which begins at
Cape St. John, the northern headland of Notre Dame
Bay ; those fishing further south proceed to the Mique-
lon Islands, which, by treaty, were reserved exclusively
for the French fishermen.
The first appearance of the cod-fish is made early in
May, and the fishing season lasts until November, when
the shoals pass away into deeper waters for their winter
habitat. But on the north-west coast of Newfoundland,
and particularly in the vicinity of Cape Kay, the fishery
is carried on " all the year round," and even in the winter
is of a very profitable character.
The summer shore fishery is prosecuted in skiffs, punts,
and the so-called " western boats." The punts do not
venture far from land ; and as their crew consists only of
" a man and a boy," it would not be safe for them to do
so. The skiffs are generally decked, well-equipped, and
capable of riding out a tolerably severe gale. They carry
two to four men. The " westera boats " are manned by
seven to twelve veteran " salts," and usually fish with
the seine. They belong principally to Conception Bay ;
and, as a recent writer informs us, they proceed from the
bay to the south and south-west coasts, always bringing
72 " A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE."
to their homes their catch when their boat is loaded, and
returning again to any place where they may find the
best fishing. They prosecute their laborious avocations
until the month of July, when, after leaving the fish to
be dried and salted by their wives and families, they
make all sail for the Labrador coast to join in the herring-
fishery. Whether a " life on the ocean wave" is quite so
joyful and pleasurable as the poets represent, may well be
doubted ; but it is assuredly the life to which these hardy
and adventurous fishers devote themselves. It is their
custom, we may add, to dispose of the day's catch with
undeviating regularity, all hands setting to work to split
and salt the fish, and stow them away in the hold. " Car-
pe diem " is a motto for which they have a great admira-
tion. Cod-fish always " cure" most satisfactorily when
split and salted as soon as possible after being caught.
Every hour's delay injures their quality.
The fish are generally allowed to remain in salt for
fully ten days, then washed, and afterwards dried on the
beach or on hurdles, small boughs, or sticks. Fish dried
on hurdles, or boughs, are always the best, the wind
passing freely over and under them, and drying them
thoroughly. The wind, it should be observed, is more
effectual than the sun as a " desiccating agent ; " and,
indeed, in days when the wind is not blowing, the hot
sun injures the fish burning it up, and destroying its
succulent properties. The fish-curing process is much
influenced, therefore, by the weather. With warm,
westerly winds it may be finished in a week; often it
takes much longer.
We have already spoken of the method of extracting
the oil, which adds so considerably to the value of the
THE NEWFOUNDLAND FLOTILLAS. 73
fish. The common cod-oil of commerce, we may mention
here, is obtained from the liver, which, when the fish
has been split, is taken out, stowed in puncheons, and ex-
posed to the heat of the sun. The oil, as it distils, is
drawn off into casks, and sells at about 2s. 6d. to 3s. per
gallon. Cod-liver oil, so highly esteemed as a thera-
peutic, is procured by a cleaner and more costly process.
The livers, after being carefully washed, are subjected to
the action of steam or boiling water ; and the oil then
given forth is filtered through bags of different textile
materials, until it is perfectly clear and free from any
extraneous admixture. This oil is worth about 6s. per
gallon.
An extensive cod-fishery exists along the Labrador
coast, and in the month of June a flotilla sails from the
Newfoundland bays St. John's, Conception, Trinity,
and Bonavista to take part in it. The vessels compris-
ing it range from the smack of 30 tons to the schooner
of 180 or 200, and the crews necessarily vary in numeri-
cal strength. As they frequently take with them their
wives and families, it is not uncommon for one of the
larger vessels to have as many as two hundred souls
on board. Nor are the women and children useless.
While the men catch the fish, and split, and wash, the
women head, and salt, and dry it. They do not all be-
long to one crew. A fishing crew, or gang, or company
the reader may choose which term he likes consists, at
the most, of nine or ten men, assisted by three or four
girls, or it may number only two or three men and one
girl. Consequently, several crews or gangs are included
in the complement of each vessel. A crew is under the
74 ON THE LABRADOR COAST.
direction of a head man, called a " planter," who provides
all the supplies necessary for the voyage. His hands are
generally sharers in the speculation, and are remunerated
by one-sixteenth or one-twelfth of the haul made by the
seine-net which is used in the early part of the season
and by one-half of the catch, when the hook and line are
employed. The planter provides boats, nets, hooks, lines,
bait, salt, and provisions, and also defrays the expense of
smoking the fish. He gets all the oil, which is con-
sidered to pay for the salt, and eleven-twelfths, or there-
abouts, of the haul, and one-half of the catch in the boats.
He also receives from each fisherman 20s. to 60s. as
berth-money. On the other hand, he pays the wages of
the boys and girls ; and it seems evident, when his ex-
penses and risks are taken into the account, that he does
not fare so well as his men.
These details we borrow from an interesting article in
the Scotsman; and the writer, who is apparently well
informed, adds that the sharemen often make consider-
able wages, as much as .73 in some seasons, and sel-
dom less than 35. The men engaged to split and salt
the fish receive from .18 to 27, and their foreman if
the post is not taken by the planter himself from 28
to 40. The old men and boys are paid from 12 to
18, and the girls from 4 to 10 ; the period of service
extending from early in June until the 31st of October.
The Labrador cod-fish is not equal in quality to that
caught in the Newfoundland waters. It does not cure
so hard, and is less nutritious; hence its price is from
2s. 6d. to 5s. per cwt. under that of the Newfoundland cod.
Many of the fishermen of Trinity, Bonavista, and Notre
Dame bays, carry on the Newfoundland shore-fishing
DISPOSAL OF THE SPOILS. 75
until July, and then sail for the Labrador coast, where
the spoil is most abundant in the fall of the year. These
men preserve their catch in salt, and bring it home to be
washed, dried, and cured.
Towards the end of October, when the dark shadows
of approaching winter rapidly gather over the sombre
"Labrador coast, and the huge ice-fields accumulate in the
northern waters, the fishing-fleets forsake their stations,
and steer for the various harbours of Newfoundland to
which they belong.
From Labrador a great quantity of fish is exported to
the European markets, according to the demand. The
"hard dry cured" goes to Spain, Portugal, Italy, and
other parts of the Mediterranean basin ; the softer and
rich "full fish" to England and Scotland. The fish not
thus got rid of, and the cod-oil, are brought to Newfound-
land, where they are sold to the merchants, and shipped
off at favourable opportunities.
Most of the medium -sized and best-cured fish is sent to
Brazil in " drums," each containing 128 Ibs. To the West
India Islands and Demerara it is despatched in large
casks, each containing 480 Ibs., or in "drums" of the
same weight as those sent to Brazil. To British and
European ports the fish is shipped " in bulk." and makes
a "good, safe, and buoyant cargo."
A considerable stock of fish is kept in hand until after
the close of the year, and then exported to Roman
Catholic countries, so as to reach the markets before the
Lenten season begins, when the demand is necessarily
very active. Thus the Roman Catholic custom of eating
salt fish in Lent proves a source of profit to the Protestant
fisher-folk of Newfoundland.
76 THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES.
Fish-cargoes vary greatly in extent, according to the
burden of the vessels employed in the trade. To Brazil
they range from 2400 to 3500 drums ; to the West Indies
from 350 to 600 casks ; to England and Spain, and the
Mediterranean ports, from 2500 to 5000 quintals. Nearly
all the cod-liver oil finds a market in England.
The fish and fish products exported from Newfound-
land in 1873 were of the value of 7,569,497 dollars, or,
in round numbers, XI, 5 15, 000. We are referring here
to their value in Newfoundland ; their value in foreign
markets it is difficult to estimate, from the great differ-
ences existing in price, and the variations of the demand ;
but allowing that the trader was content with a profit of
one-fifth, the total realized would be 1,800,000. Pro-
bably it is no exaggeration to say, if we include the local
consumption, and the captures of the French and American
fishermen, that the Newfoundland fisheries add to the
wealth of the civilized nations engaging in them an annual
sum of 3,000,000.
We have omitted to mention a portion of the cod-fish
which figures in the island's exports namely, "cod- roes."
What, the reader will ask, can be made of these 1 We
answer : the roe is pickled, barrelled, and exported almost
entirely to France, where it is in great demand for ground-
bait in the sardine-fishery. Here a digression is neces-
sary. We shall have to speak of sardines in due course,
but we may record that no fewer than 13,000 boats on
the coast of Brittany are employed in the capture of
sprats, young herrings, and young pilchards, which are
duly cured and tin-cased as sardines. It is estimated
that 10,000,000 of the well-known hermetically sealed
tin boxes are annually sent from Brittany to all parts of
NORWAY AND THE FAROE ISLES. 77
the world. This fact will enable the reader to form a
conception of the vast quantity of cod-roe required as
bait for the immense number of so-called sardines these
boxes must contain; and he will not be surprised to
hear that the French expend a yearly sum of .80,000 in
its purchase. It is a curious reflection, that the sardines
we discuss with so much relish at our breakfast-table, in
London or Edinburgh, were caught off the romantic coast
of Brittany with cod-roe bait brought from the shores of
Newfoundland !*
The cod-fisheries of Norway are very extensive. The
Loffoden Islands, in the winter, are the centre of a really
important campaign, vigorously carried on by the stal-
wart descendants of the Norsemen against the ill-fated
Gadidse. Upwards of 3000 boats and 16,000 men are
engaged, and the produce reaches nearly 20,000,000 of
cod-fish a large proportion of which are despatched to the
British markets.
On the coast of Faroe an important cod-fishery has
been thriving for many years, and the Shetlanders alone
send thither a fleet of between fifty and sixty smacks and
schooners ; well-formed boats, built and equipped on the
most improved principles, and manned by no unworthy
descendants of the old Norse Yikingir. Each smack
carries a crew of about fourteen men ; so that the Faroe
fishery employs about seven hundred and fifty Shetland
seamen, besides a large number of men, women, and boys
profitably engaged in curing the fish at home. The fish-
* A considerable portion of the roe thus used is imported, however, from
Norway.
78 THE SHETLAND FISHERMEN.
ing-season begins early in April, and ends about the
middle of August ; during which time each vessel gene-
rally accomplishes three trips to Faroe. The fishing-
ground is either "on the coast," that is, in the bays, and
in the channels which intersect the archipelago, or " on
the bank," a famous resort for cod, about sixty miles
south-west of Faroe. This bank is about forty- five miles
long by thirty broad.
The fish are caught on " hand-lines," of two hooks each,
baited with various kinds of shell-fish. The " buckies,"
as those chiefly in use are called, are dredged before the
smacks leave Shetland, and preserved alive in small
perforated boxes, hung alongside the boat, or at all events
kept in a position that allows the free passage of salt-
water. Some of the smacks, however, are furnished with
wells, which has been found a capital arrangement for
keeping the " buckies " in good condition, as well as for
carrying the cod alive to market. But Dr. Cowie states
that it is only on rare occasions, as at the end of a season,
when there are other reasons for sending a welled smack
to a southern port, that live cod are sold. " The ordi-
nary practice is to gut, split, and wash the cod as they
are caught, and stow them in the hold amongst salt.
They are further cleaned, scrubbed, pressed, and ulti-
mately dried on the beach, after the smacks return
home." We are inclined to believe, however, that a
greater preference is every year being given to welled
smacks, and that the quantity of live cod sent to the
markets is constantly on the increase.
There are three kinds of fisheries pursued by the hardy
Slietlanders : the deep sea or ha'ag, to which we are now
alluding, the coast, and the herring, the last being al-
THE SHETLAND FISHERMEN. < 9
most entirely in the hands of Dutch vessels. As for the
coast fishery, it lasts throughout the year. But the great
nnd all-important fishery is that which centres in the cod.
We need not repeat the details already given, but some
account seems desirable of the fishery carried on at a
distance of from twenty to forty miles from the Shetland
coast. The boats engaged in it are not so large as those
which fish off Faroe. They are Norway yawls, with
eighteen feet of keel and six feet beam, and manned by
no more than six men. Each has between seven and
eight miles of line and one thousand hooks. The lines
are set in the evening ; and if the first haul is not success-
ful, they are generally baited again, and a second venture
is made. Sometimes the men remain out for a couple of
nights living upon oat-cakes and water, or, occasionally,
on fish and potatoes.
When the fish are brought to shore, they are handed
to the curer, who weighs and keeps an account of the
spoil. Then they are split up and boned ; washed in
sea-water ; and put into a vat, with alternate layers of
salt. After a couple of days they are taken out, washed
a second time, and piled into stacks for a day or two.
Next they are spread out on the open beach until
thoroughly dry, after which they are stored up in air-
tight sheds, to be shipped for market when opportunity
offers.
These light yawls are ill-fitted to brave a heavy storm,
and therefore seldom a season passes without some sad
tale of disaster. And when a boat is lost, the calamity is
all the more severe because its crew are usually members
of the same family. Ah, little do we " who sit at home
at ease " think of the suffering experienced and the peril
(502) G
80 ABOUT THE HADDOCK.
confronted by the brave men who go down to the deep in
ships !
The HADDOCK (Gadus, or Morrhua ^Eglefinus) enters
more largely into general consumption, perhaps, than even
the cod, and its flesh is more digestible, more nutritious,
and of far superior flavour. It is what we should call a
sociable or cosmopolitan fish, for it figures on the table of
the artisan or peasant as well as on the splendid board
of the wealthy Apicius ; and it is as abundant in Ameri-
can as in European waters. Observe, however, that it
keeps to high latitudes, and is found neither in the Baltic
nor the Mediterranean. It frequents our British coasts
in immense numbers, though different species appear at
different points, and all are not of equal excellence. Those
caught on the east coast and in Dublin Bay bear away
the prize for " good eating." Owing to over-fishing, the
haddock is not found so near the shore as of old, but vast
shoals still inhabit the deep waters, and are caught both
by trawl-nets and lines.
The haddock, like the cod, has three dorsal and two
anal fins, and a bar-
bule at the point of
the lower jaw. It
is brown on the
back, silver-white
on the belly ; the
lateral line is black,
THE HADDOCK.
and behind each of
the pectorals is a black spot, the two sometimes extend-
ing so far as to meet on the back. An absurd legend
attributes these spots to the finger and thumb with which
" FINNAN HADDIES." 81
St. Peter held the fish when he took from its mouth the
tribute-money ; as if a marine fish, like the haddock,
would be found in the fresh-water lake of Gennesaret !
Formerly it was believed of the haddock, as of the
herring, that it was a migratory fish, which appeared
periodically in immense shoals about mid- winter j but it
is now known that it frequents certain localities in the
deep waters, and draws nearer the coast at the approach
of its spawning-season. It is said, but we cannot ascer-
tain on what ground, that in stormy weather it refuses
every kind of bait, and retires for shelter among the
marine plants of the ocean-bed in its deepest parts.
The haddock is not a large fish : its usual weight is
about five pounds. Enormous quantities are converted
into " Finnan haddies," a luxury of the breakfast- table
which is popular in every civilized country. Genuine
Finnans, however, that is, haddocks smoked by 'means
of peat-reek, are, unhappily, limited in number, and the
British householder is compelled to feast upon inferior,
but, sooth to say, very palatable imitations.
To make the trade a profitable one, says Mr. Bertram,
they are cured by the hundred in smoking-houses built
for the purpose, and are smoked by burning wood or
sawdust which, however, does not give them the proper
gout. In fact, the wood-smoked Finnans, except that
they are fish, have no more the genuine flavour than Scotch
marmalade would have if it were made from turnips in-
stead of bitter oranges. Fifty years ago it was different ;
then the haddocks were smoked in small quantities in the
fishing villages between Aberdeen and Stonehaven, and
entirely over a peat fire. To the peat-reek they owed the
peculiar flavour which secured their popularity. The
82 A BREAKFAST DAINTY.
fisher-wives along the north-east coast used to pack small
quantities of these delicately cured fish into a basket, and
give them to the guard of the "Defiance" coach, which
ran between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and the guard
brought them to town, confiding them for sale to a brother
who dealt in provisions \ and it is known that out of the
various transactions which thus arose, individually small
though they must have been, the two made, in the course
of time, a handsome profit. The fame of the smoked fish
spread far and wide; so that cargoes came to be despatched
by steam-boat ; and now the much-coveted edibles are
carried by railway to all parts of the country, the demand
being so great that, in order to meet it, almost any kind
of fish is substituted for the original haddie, and various
devices are adopted to imitate the colour and flavour.
Good smoked haddocks of the Moray Firth or Aberdeen
cure cannot be obtained' at the present time, even in
Edinburgh, under the price of sixpence per pound.*
The Finnan haddock obtains its distinctive name from
Findon or Finnan, a small fishing-village in the parish of
Banchory-Devenick, about six miles to the south of
Aberdeen. Here the curing process was first adopted,
or else was executed so dexterously as to secure a special
celebrity for the fish sent out for sale from this port.
At the magnificent coronation-feast of Katherine of
Valois, celebrated on the 24th of February 1420-21, a
feast which, according to Fabyan, was " all of fish, for,
Lent being entered upon, nothing of meat was there,
saving brawn served with mustard," figured stewed eels,
and bream of the sea, and crayfish, lampreys, roasted
* Bertram, " Harvest of the Sea," p. 290.
ABOUT THE WHITING.
83
porpoises, carp, turbot, tench, and, before all and above
all in delicacy and digestibility, whiting.
The WHITING (Merlangus vulgaris), which well deserved
to adorn a royal banquet, is one of the most valuable
of the Gadidse, and, fortunately for English fish con-
noisseurs, it abounds on our British coasts. Not much,
however, is known of its natural history. It deposits its
84 THE COAL-FISH AND THE POLLACK.
spawn in March, and the eggs appear to occupy about
forty days in hatching.
The whiting differs from its congeners in having no
barbule on the nether jaw, and in its slenderer form,
which adapts it for the swift pursuit of its prey at a
greater elevation from the sea-bottom. Its head and
body are compressed ; the deepest part is at the vent,
which is opposite the middle of the first dorsal fin ; the
upper jaw projects slightly beyond the lower ; both
jaws have long sharp teeth, and there is a triangular set
of teeth on the palate. The scales are small. There are
three dorsal and two anal fins. On the back the colour
is a uniform dusky yellow, paling on the sides ; the belly
is silvery white, to which circumstance, or to the deli-
cate whiteness of the flesh, is due the name of the fish,
whiting.
To the same genus as the whiting belong the CoAL-FiSH
and the POLLACK. The former (Gadus carbonarius) is
nearly black on the upper parts of the body. It attains
the length of two or three feet, and is remarkable for its
voracity ; is rather coarse as food, but is much used in
northern countries both fresh and salted, or dried. It
abounds on the British coasts. In Scotland it is known
as the sethe or saithe, and its fry as podleys, sittocks, and
cuddies. We have caught them in large quantities in the
western lochs, from August down to November, using the
rod and almost any kind of bait. They are scarcely worth
the trouble, however ; but the fishermen take them for
the sake of the oil obtainable from the liver.
The Pollack (Merlangus pollachius), known in Scotland
as the lythe, is far superior in flavour to the coal-fish,
ABOUT THE HAKE. 85
especially if caught young. It is readily taken with
artificial flies, the best being a bit of white worsted or a
white feather tied to a common bait-hook. It has a
longish body, a long under jaw, a forked tail, and three
dorsal fins.
We have no space to descant on the LING (Lotu molva),
another of the Gadidse, which is highly valued both fresh
and salted ; * or the DORSE (Morrhua callarias) ; or the
BIB or POUT (Morrhua Insect)', nor is it necessary, since
their characteristics differ little from those of the cod, and
they are captured by the same means. But we must de-
vote a few lines to the HAKE (Merlucius vulgaris), if it be
only to express our regret that so valuable a fish is not
better known, or, at all events, better appreciated. It is
a denizen of our British seas; and fine specimens are
caught off the Devonshire coast, where, from the havoc
it accomplishes among the herrings and pilchards, it is
called the " herring hake." It is generally taken by lines
or by trawling, and is frequently dried and salted under
the general name of " stock-fish."
The hake has no barbules, but carries two dorsal fins
and one anal. It is sometimes identified with the ancient
sea-fish asellus that is, the donkey-fish, of which Pliny and
^Elian record such wonderful stories; but, more probably,
the sea- tench (Phycis Mediterranea) should have that
honour.
The hake, like all the Gadidse, is gregarious. His
greediness is excessive, and he will demolish a dozen
clupeans, or a young codling, or one of his own kind, in
an incredibly short period. He is found in the Mediter-
* The burbot, or coxey-flsh, is a fresh-water ling.
86 PLEURONECTS, OR FLAT-FISH.
ranean, and figures conspicuously in the fish -markets of
Naples, and in Irish waters he appears in immense shoals.
Gal way Bay is called the " Bay of Hakes." In Mount
Bay, Cornwall, forty thousand have been caught in a
night.
We now pass to the Pleuronectidce, or flat-fish. These
consist of two distinct classes : in one, as in the skate, the
body is flattened downwards or vertically ; in the other, as
in turbot, plaice, sole, flounder, it is compressed from side
to side. They are designated Pleuronects, or side-swimmers,
because they usually move through the water on one of
their flat sides. The genera are numerous, and these are
unequally distributed in different parts of the globe, and
in greater or less variety, according to the latitudes,
diminishing towards the north. In. England, according
to Yarrell, there are sixteen species ; in the parallel of
Jutland and the islands at the mouth of the Baltic,
thirteen ; on the coast of Norway, the number is reduced
to ten ; at Iceland, to five ; whilst Greenland possesses
three species only.
We shall give, in our description of the Pleuronects, the
first place to the regal TURBOT (Rhombus maximus), which
has always enjoyed a distinguished gastronomic reputa-
tion.
Need we describe it ? Is there any one ignorant of its
peculiar appearance ? Will not all our readers be aware
that it has (as, in truth, its Latin appellation signifies) a
rhomboidal body, with a dorsal fin commencing immediately
above the upper lip, and stretching almost to the tail-fin ?
THE TURBOT-FISHERY. 89
Do they not know that its eyes are generally on the left
side ? a peculiarity which, however, does not seem to in-
convenience it. It is not an elegant fish, judged by the
usual laws of harmonious proportions ; but then its flesh is
so delicious, that the epicure readily pardons its deficiency
in this respect ! It attains a considerable size, in fact,
an aldermanic size, very appropriate in a fish so much
esteemed at aldermanic banquets ; frequently it weighs
seventy, eighty, or ninety pounds. On our English and
Scottish coasts it is very plentiful our markets being
largely supplied from the sand-banks lying between our
eastern shores and Holland. It is also known in the
seas of Greece and Italy.
The Dutch turbot- fishery begins about the end of
March, a few leagues to the south of Scheveling. As the
season advances the fish proceed northwards, and in April
and May are found in great shoals on the banks called
the Broad Forties. Early in June they swarm around
the crumbling shores of Heligoland, where the fishery
continues to the middle of August, and then terminates
for the year. At the beginning of the season the trawl-
net is principally used ; but on the occurrence of warm
weather the fish retire to deeper water, and the fisher-
men must then have recourse to the line.
The turbot was well known to, and highly valued by,
the ancients, who thought their banquets incomplete un-
less it " smoked upon the board." Horace alludes to its
size and costliness :
" Grandes rhombi patinaeque
Grande ferunt una cum damno dedecus."
" Great turbots and late suppers lead
To debt, disgrace, and abject need."
90
ABOUT THE SOLE.
And we read of one purchased by the Emperor Domi-
tian, the size of which almost defied the skill of the im-
perial cooks ; they did not know how to dish it up !
The reputation enjoyed by the SOLE (Solea) is well
deserved, for its flesh is succulent, savoury, and easily
digested. Moreover, it is available for the bill of fare
throughout the year, except for five or six weeks in
February and March, its spawning-time.
It is of an oblong form, with a rounded muzzle,
WHERE SOLES ARE POUND. 91
which almost always projects beyond the mouth ; the
said mouth being twisted to the side opposite to that on
which the eyes are situated namely, the right ; though,
by the way, individuals are occasionally found with both
eyes and mouth on the left. The teeth are very small in
both jaws ; there are pectoral fins on each side ; the dorsal
and anal fins extend to the tail, but do not join the tail-
fins.
The common sole inhabits all the European seas, except
the most northern. Its average weight is one and a half
to two pounds, but some individuals bulk to five, seven,
and even nine pounds. The upper side of the body is of
an almost uniform dark brown ; the under part, white.
It is a ground fish, and therefore caught by trawling.
It frequents the sandy bottoms round the coast, feeding
011 the smaller Crustacea, and on the spawn and young
of various kinds of fish.
Soles have a very extensive range. You may take
them at the Cape of Good Hope ; in the seas of Japan ;
off the coast of North America ; and in the Mediterranean.
And though sea-fish by birth, they will live and wax fat
in fresh water, frequently ascending rivers to a consider-
able height.
They were well known and equally well appreciated in
days of old. According to the Greeks, they made suitable
sandals for the ocean nymphs, who, when thus shod, had
certainly soles to their feet. One of the epigrammatists,
describing a banquet, says the slaves
Served up those slippers of the foamy sea
Which agile Nereids, sent on errands fleet,
Apply protecting to their tender feet.
Eai/SaAa 6' av Trape^xev aeiyej/?) aQo.va.rawv'
JPouyAwcro-oi', 05 eyatev ei> aA/ij) /uop/uupouafl."
92 BRILL AND PLAICE.
And it would seem that the ancient cooks, like the
modern, fried them :
"The cook brought forth upon a spacious dish
Hot frizzled soles those all-surpassing fish
Skilfully browned, and wafting through the room,
While sputtering still, their rare and rich perfume."
They were also served under the name citharus in an
appetizing sauce. They figured as one of the side-dishes
at Hebe's nuptials; an amateur, "cithari sciens," sings
their praises cooked in a compost of cheese and oil, when
they are exquisite, etcrtv aKoXacrroL ; and Archestratus, in
his poem on " Good Cheer " (Hedypathy), says, to the
same purpose, they can hardly be served too elaborately.*
BRILL (Rhombus vulgaris), which we ought to have
mentioned in connection with its cousin-german, turbot,
is, like the sole, in season all the year round. It
resembles the turbot in appearance, but is not so broad,
has a soft dorsal fin, is of a reddish sandy-brown colour
on the upper part, and seldom exceeds eight pounds in
weight. Though often passed off upon the unwary for
turbot, it is far inferior in flavour.
It is said that in London alone upwards of 35,000,000
of plaice are sold every year. PLAICE (Platessa vulgaris),
a species of flounder, is a broad flat fish, found on sandy
and muddy banks on most parts of the British coasts, as
well as on those of continental Europe. It feeds on worms,
molluscs, small crustaceans, and young fishes ; attains an
average weight of five to seven pounds ; and is taken
both by trawl-nets and lines. The upper part of the
* Badham, "Ancient and Modern Fish-Tattle," p. 366.
ABOUT THE FLOUNDER. 95
body and the fins are of an olive-brown colour, marked
with numerous large bright spots of orange.
The FLOUNDER (Platessa flesus) is readily distinguished
from the plaice by a row of small tubercles on each side
of the lateral line. Its greatest breadth, excluding the
fins, is about one-third of its whole length. It is found
in comparatively shallow water, with muddy or sandy
bottom, on our own shores, and on the coast of almost all
Europe ; thriving equally well in perfectly salt, brackish,
or perfectly fresh water. In Sweden it is known by the
name of flundra ; in Scotland, by that of fleuk, or fluke.
He is a greedy and audacious fish, and the best time for
taking him is at early dawn, when he prowls about in
quest of a morning meal :
" He that intends a flounder to surprise,
Must start betimes and fish before sunrise."
Franks, quoted by Badham, says of the Flesi : " These
fish are bold as buccaneers, of much more confidence than
caution, and so fond of a worm that they will go to the
banquet though they die at the board : they are endowed
with great resolution, and struggle stoutly for the victory
when hooked; they are also more than ordinarily difficult
to deal with by reason of their build, which is altogether
flat, as if it were a level. The flounder, I must further tell
you, delights to dwell among stones ; besides, he is a great
admirer of deeps and ruinous decays, yet as fond as any
fish of moderate streams ; and none beyond him, except
the perch, that is more solicitous to rifle into ruins, inso-
much that a man would fancy him an antiquary, con-
sidering he is so affected with reliques."
(502) 7
96
THE DAB AND THE HALIBUT.
The DAB (Platessa limanda) is of the same genus. It
may be distinguished from the plaice and flounder by its
more uniform and
lighter brown col-
our, its rougher
scales, and the
greater curvature
of the lateral line.
The fishermen on
the Fife coast call
it the " salt-water
., Hl! ~B. fluke." It is found
on all the sandy
parts of our coasts, but in deep water ; and it never
ascends the rivers. There are five species.
The HALIBUT or HOLTBUT (Hippoglossus vulgaris), one
of the largest kinds of Pleuronects, abounds in the northern
seas of Europe (except the Baltic) and America, and is
plentiful in British waters. It is a bold, strong fish, and
requires good tackle to hold it. Individuals have been
captured measuring nearly eight feet in length, but we
ourselves have never seen them exceeding five feet ; and
of these the flesh is coarse, and, we should think, not
nutritious. The Greenlanders, who have stronger stomachs
(ilia dura) than Britons, value the halibut exceedingly.
They embark in their light kajacks, and spear them with
great dexterity; or fish with hook and line, after the
fashion described by Crantz :
" At certain seasons the Greenlanders catch great
numbers with large fish-hooks, fastened to whalebone
* Crantz, "History of Greenland," i. 92, 93.
THE GREENLAND HALIBUT-FISHERY. 99
or sea-gut thongs from a hundred to a hundred and
twenty fathoms in length ; the largest are four feet
and a half to six feet in length, about half as broad,
and a full span thick ; they weigh from a hundred to two
hundred pounds and upwards." The Norwegian halibuts
are said to be so large that a single one, when salted, can-
not be contained in a barrel. They have a smooth skin,
white below, and speckled with dark gray on the back ;
the eyes are larger than those of the ox, and furnished
with a kind of eyelid ; the mouth is not ]arge, but has a
double row of sharp teeth, bent inwards. In the gullet
are two pointed gills, besides those in the mouth. Close
to the head two small pectoral fins are inserted ; and two
longitudinal fins descend from head to tail. The pecu-
liarity of this genus is, that one side appears to represent
the back, and the opposite side the abdomen. Both the
eyes are always situated on one side of the head ; some
species having them on the right, others on the left side.
They swim laterally, with that side in which the eyes are
seated uppermost. Their principal food is crabs, and on
that account they generally reside in deep water. Their
Hesh is coarse and lean, but white and well-tasted, and
has a large quantity of delicate fat, especially under the
fins. " Of this fat," says Crantz, " the inhabitants of the
north make raf which is cured by smoke ; and they cut
the lean flesh into long slices, which they dry in the air,
and eat raw; and this they call rebel. The remainder is
salted, and laid up for winter. The Greenlanders, how-
ever, cut the whole into small slips, and dry them in the
sun."
CHAPTER III.
THE SCOMBERIDJi:.
JIN" connection with our food-supplies, it may be
assumed that the Scomberidce family among
fishes rank next in value and importance to
the Gadidse and Clupeidse. They belong to
the sub-order Acanthopteri, in the great order of the
Teleostei ; an order which includes the larger majority of
fishes popularly so called that is, fishes with a well-
ossified internal or endo-skeleton.
The Scomberidae are all distinguished by the smooth-
ness of their body, which is covered generally with small
scales, and often very richly and brilliantly coloured ; by
the largeness of the tail-fin, and the power-fulness and
muscularity of the tail. The sides of the tail, it should
be remarked, are frequently carinated, or keeled, and
armed with sharp-keeled scales. The front spines of the
anal fin are usually detached, and sometimes those of the
first dorsal fin ; while the second dorsal fin is often re-
presented by numerous finlets, as in the mackerel.
To the Scomberidae, which are all marine, belong the
tunny, the mackerel, the sword-fish, the bonito, the alba-
core, and the seir-fish. We shall attempt a brief descrip-
ABOUT THE TUNNY.
101
tion of them, and of the methods adopted for their cap-
ture, in the order in which they are here put forward.
The TUNNY (Scomber thynnus) has been called the "fish
of many names ; " an appellation it will be considered to
have deserved by readers familiar with the old zoologists,
who designated it, according to their individual fancies,
thynnis, pelamys, sarda, auxis, xanthias, triton, thusites,
ckeladonias, melandrya, synodon, and the like. Its now
THE TUNNY.
accepted name of " tuimy " comes from the Greek
through the Latin tkynnus, and may be traced to the verb
6vw, "to bound furiously;" in allusion, perhaps, to the
violent motions of the fish when persecuted by its parasite,
the marine oestrus, a kind of bot-fly, or parasitical insect.
The tunny is distinguished from the mackerel by the
following characteristics : Its first dorsal fin continues to
its second, while in the mackerel an interval occurs be-
102 SOME FAMOUS TUNNIES.
tween the two ; further, it is of considerably larger size ;
and, finally, its body is fashioned like a wedge. There
are some noble fellows among the tunnies ! Aldrovandi
records the particulars of a monster which measured thirty-
two feet in length, and sixteen feet in girth at its broadest
part ! We may be pardoned a little scepticism in reference
to this colossal scomber : but Pennant speaks of one, caught
off the coast of Inveraray, which weighed a hundred and
forty pounds ; and Atti positively affirms that specimens
have been caught of eighteen hundred pounds weight.
Those weighing a hundred pounds are called by the Sicilians
scamperri ; their mezzo tunno, or half-tunny, varies from
one hundred to three hundred pounds. For the table, how-
ever, your fish should not exceed twenty to thirty pounds ;
otherwise, what you gain in quantity you lose in quality.
Galen, a good authority, includes amongst fish of hard
fibre whales, dolphins, seals, and large old tunnies ; and
pronounces the last as almost equal to either of the others
in indigestibility, though he acknowledges its greater
palatableness. But tunny varies in flavour according to
the locality in which it is caught. The best is found off
the coasts of Sicily and Provence, though the principal
tunny-fisheries of the ancients were carried on at Byzan-
tium and off the shores of Spain. Archestratus, a Greek
epicure of renown, who travelled over the world " for his
stomach's sake," has left it upon record, to benefit pos-
terity, that the tunny of Constantinople, Carystium, and
Sicily are not to be despised, though those of Hippo-
nium, in Italy, are superior in merit ; while he has pane-
gyrized the Samian specimens as ineffably good, and only
fit to be put upon Jupiter's table, or his own.*
* Badham, "Ancient and Modern Fish-Tattle," p. 206.
AN ANCIENT RECIPE. 103
Among the ancients, the part of the fish most relished
was the belly; and, from a Greek epigram, it would seem
to have fetched a very high price :
" Bass, conger's head, and tunny's under side,
Are luxuries to slender means denied."
Athenaeus recommends it ev /ATTTTODTCO that is, stufled
with onions, and some other of the more acrid condi-
ments, to which, for indigestibility, our goose and onions
must be a light dish. The Ligurians, says Jovius, as
quoted by Badham, eat it under the name of " azemi-
num," stewed in oil and Corsican wine, with pounded
pepper and chopped onion ; a capital recipe, if there were
not too many known already, for nightmare. " All the
carcass was salted and pickled, and sold under various
names. The best part for pickling was the belly, already
mentioned as the best part fresh. The next in esteem
was the ' omotarichum/ or pickled shoulder ; lastly came
the dry parts, ' cybias, melandrias and urseas : ? the first
and last were lumps, generally in cubes, cut out of the
back or tail ; the other, yet served in oil by dirty stewards
on board Mediterranean steamers," may be described as
" like veneers of mahogany in appearance, and tasteless
as any wood."
The tunny is a handsome fish in appearance ; its back
is of a deep lustrous blue, like the tint of polished steel ;
its belly flashes all over with silvery gleams.
It is very voracious in its habits ; particularly partial
to sardines, pilchards, and mackerel ; not sparing even
its own species the cannibal ! But, by a just law of
compensation, it is not spared in its turn by the shark or
the sword-fish, to say nothing of its prime enemy, Man.
104 SUPPOSED MIGRATIONS OF THE TUNNY.
From a very early time, tunny-fishing has been a source
of wealth to the riverine peoples of the Mediterranean. It
was esteemed so important in its influence on the national
interests, that the Greeks, before embarking in it, endea-
voured to secure the good- will of their deities. They
offered a tunny as a sacrifice to Neptune, imploring him to
preserve them from the disastrous "joint-stock operations"
of the sword-fish ; and if the expedition proved success-
ful, they renewed the sacrifice as a token of their grati-
tude. It must be admitted, however, that a couple of
fishes was hardly enough to bribe the favour of Poseidon.
Naturalists formerly believed in the migrations of the
tunny, as they did of the herring. It was asserted that
the shoals which teem in the Mediterranean entered its
waters in the spring season through the Strait of Gib-
raltar; that then they divided into two great bodies, one
of which followed the coast-line of Africa, and ascended
as far as the Bosphorus the other skirting the shores of
Spain, France, and North-western Italy, passing between
the islands of Elba and Corsica, and halting in the waters
of Sardinia to deposit their spawn.
These migrations, however, were absolutely imaginary.
It is now known that the tunny always inhabits the
same region, simply changing its position according to
the season of the year now advancing towards the
coast, and now retiring into deep water.
The ancients resorted to various devices for the capture
of this famous fish. One way, and a very direct one,
was, according to Aristotle, to spear it as it basked, like
a pike, on the sunny surface of the waves. Another,
which Oppian describes as practised by the Thracians,
PROFITING BY STUPIDITY. 105
consisted in piercing the fish, as they lay in their winter
mud-baths at the bottom of the Euxine, with a short,
thick, leaded log, armed on the under side with a com-
plete arsenal of barbed and serrated spear-heads. This
formidable weapon was slung by a long rope to the bow
of the boat, whence it was hurled headlong, causing ter-
rible execution among the unsuspecting tunny.
" Swift through the gloomy regions of the bay,
The leaded engine lights upon its prey ;
And soon a hundred barbs, in galling chains,
As many victims -hold in writhing pains."
The tunny is noted for its timidity. It is also exceed-
ingly stupid ; a feeling due, we suppose, to its small brain,
which does not exceed 3-7^ of its total bulk. The
slightest noise in the water will so fluster and confound
a whole shoal, as to drive them headlong into the fisher-
men's snares. Taking advantage of this intellectual de-
fect or idiosyncrasy, the ancients, under cover of a dark
night, would row with muffled oars to the spot where the
fish were suspected to be lying. There, a vast apparatus
of mesh-work was run out silently, and the crew pulled
vigorously to one side, until they got in the rear of the
shoal. Then, what a clamour arose ! How they yelled
and shouted ! How they beat the waters with their
oars, and filled the air with a chaos of discordant sounds !
Frightened by the phosphorescent gleam on the surface,
and by the din and clash echoing all around, away dashed
the timid fish in the direction of the net, in whose open
abysses they took refuge as in a secure asylum ! The
clatter being constantly kept up, they made no attempt
to leave their dangerous retreat ; and the crew, rowing
towards the shore, carefully and dexterously towed the
106 TUNNY-FISHING IN OLDEN TIMES.
net behind them, and generally had good cause to rejoice
over a splendid harvest.
^Elian describes another method of tunny-capture.
Some time, he says, before the shoals make their ap-
pearance, the men assemble at various Ovwoo-KOTrela, or
tunneries ; select the most experienced of their number
to the office of thynnoscopus, or tunny-overseer, and build
for him a watch-tower, or station him on a commanding
rocky headland. No sooner does his practised eye discern
the advancing column, than he signalizes to the watchful
crew below the direction in which they are to prepare for
its reception. As they recognize the signal, with " all the
precision of a troop of disciplined soldiers, or a band of
well-trained musicians," the mariners put to sea, each
boat in command of its captain j and with great regularity
and swiftness they shoot their nets in advance of the fish.
In this way a vast hempen wall is flung athwart the course
of the shoal, which, proceeding in a direct line, and never
looking before they leap, are surrounded and captured.
Now-a-days, tunny-fishing is carried on both with the
line and the net. Little is done in the former way ; in the
latter, the practice varies among the French and Neapo-
litan fishermen.
For instance, there is the tonnaire, which may be thus
described :
As soon as the look-out men announce the approach
of the tunnies, a flotilla of boats traverses the sea in the
form of a semicircle, and, throwing out their nets, gradu-
ally make for the shore, contracting the area enclosed by
the nets as they advance, and, consequently, driving the
shoal in front of them. When close to the land, and in
MODERN TUNNY-FISHING.
107
shallow water, they spread out an immense net, closed
at one end ; in this they imprison the frightened, strug-
gling, drifting tunnies, and pour them out in shining
3 lost s upon the beach, where they are straightway killed.
TUNNY-FISHING A LA TONNALRE.
In this way no fewer than two thousand to three thou-
sand quintals are caught at a single haul. The tonnaire,
as it is called, is in vogue upon the coasts of Provence,
and, to some extent, in Calabria and Sicily.
The more complicated process of the madrague is,
however, more generally practised ; and, as Duhainel says,
no other combination of meshes can convey such an idea of
human ingenuity and skill in the "retiary art" as this. So
enormous is the quantity of fish it sometimes secures, that
in the archives of the active little fishing-town of Couil-
loure is preserved the registration of a single- night's spoil
namely, one hundred and sixty thousand tunny, each of
an average weight of 25 Ibs., but many reaching 120 Ibs.
The madrague is, in fact, a vast floating decoy, permanent,
108 THE MADRAGUE DESCRIBED.
and always available for use. By means of nets deeply
sunken with heavy stones, a number of compartments or
chambers is constructed in the sea, and connected with
the shore by a long broad avenue, of a quarter to half a
mile in length, formed by the shore on one side and a
parallel line of nets on the other. The fish unwittingly
sailing along this avenue find themselves " brought up "
at the extremity of a barrier of mesh-work. They turn
to the left, or right, as the case may be, and pass into
the first chamber ; from this, as their numbers increase,
they are necessarily forced through its single opening
into a second enclosure ; and so, on and on they find
themselves compelled to move, until at the end of the
labyrinth they plunge into what is called the " chamber
of death " (camera della morte), a compartment with a
meshed bottom, which, like the mezzanine floor of a
theatre, can be raised at will, and when it is raised brings
with it to the surface a host of unfortunate victims. In
vain do they seek to escape from the indiscriminate
massacre ; they perish by hundreds.
From the reports of independent observers, we gather
that there is something singularly exciting in witnessing
the wholesale capture of a herd of these great black fish ;
more particularly as the Provencals and Neapolitans re-
gard the occasion as a festival, and come out in their gay-
est attire and with their brightest looks ; while musicians
always attend, and mingle their merry strains with the
shouts of the eager fishermen and the applause of the im-
pulsive spectators. The following minute description of a
day's tunny-fishing may, therefore, interest the reader :
* Quatrefages, "Journal of a Naturalist;" Badham, " Ancient and Modern
Fish-Tattle." See also Lace"pSde.
TUNNY-FISHING IN SICILY. 109
It is early morning ; the morning of a bright, glow-
ing August day, whose lustre falls freshly on the blue
waters of the Bay of Palermo, and the cactus-crowned
heights of Monte Pellegrino. We enter our baccarole,
and push forward to the tonnaro, where the madrague
lies, about a mile from shore. All is calm, smooth, and
brilliant to seaward ; and not a ripple vexes the oleagin-
ous surface before us, mapped out, like the ground-plan
of a new town, with floating corks, which clearly indicate
the structure and divisions of the immense decoy. We
pull from end to end of the long enclosure to the first sub-
marine barrier, and gliding over it, row swiftly, between
lines of buoys and floating corks, to the spot whither some
boats in advance of our own have been driving a shoal
of scared and confused tunnies. " Ecco la camera dell a
morte !" exclaim our boatmen, " siamo giunti !" shipping
their oars, and staring down into the depths, as if they
were bent on seeing what scenes were being enacted in
them. But the dark blue waters are impenetrable ; our
men resume their oars ; and in a few seconds we bring
up alongside one of the two barges which guard the
" chamber of death." The other serves as the point
d'appui for the nets.
These boats are filled, as we see, with a crowd of fisher-
men, half naked, with athletic, sinewy limbs, of the
colour of bronze, and dark eyes flashing under Phrygian
caps of brown or scarlet ; some of them hauling in the
sieve-like flooring of the " death chamber," others stand-
ing ready, with iron-pointed weapons, to deal destruction
among the tunnies as soon as they rise to the surface.
But presently a shout is heard : "La pipa, la pipa !"
A sword-fish, or pijm, has entered the decoy with the
110 "LA PIPA ! LA PIPA !"
miserable shoal, and is now in the net. Haul away, my
men, and we shall soon make short work of him ! As
the flooring continues to rise, the pipa swims to the sur-
face, puzzled by such an unusual movement in the
tranquil deep ; and no sooner is he seen than three tre-
mendous vociferations welcome him. Frightened by the
noise, he darts now in one direction and then in another ;
rises to the top, plunges down again ; and, in fact, be-
haves like a pipa clean gone out of his senses. Up he
comes once more, to escape from the mass of tunnies
struggling at the bottom of the net ; makes a swift,
sudden sweep around the enclosure to find an opening,
and finding none, rushes against the -barrier, and with
his long weapon rends the meshes. In vain ; he is now
hopelessly entangled in the wreck, and in a minute half
a dozen harpoons quiver in his body. He struggles
violently in his pain, but blow after blow is rained upon
him; the water around is "incarnadined;" and in less
time than it takes us to tell the story the great scomber
is hauled on board. The shouting grows terrific ; ir-
regular, excited, rapid shouting, such as proceeds only
from an Italian crowd. "Five scudi, my lads, for our
share," ciies one of the leading captors ; and " Bless the
Virgin and St. Anthony," exclaims another, " he has
done but little damage to the net !"
" Now," say our boatmen, " now, signor, we shall pre-
sently see the tunny;" and accordingly, as the movable
floor of the camera della nwrte comes to within a few
feet of the surface, a motley host of large fish, chiefly of
the scomber family, all in violent agitation at the unusual
sights and sounds, dash and splash about, and beat the
waters into foam. The work of slaughter commences,
A GREAT CAPTURE. 113
and still the flooring continues to ascend. The entire
shoal, or host, of tunnies is discovered. Jostled and
pressed one against another, you see these monstrous
fish flinging themselves desperately against the sides of
the enclosure, exposing their black backs besprinkled
with large spots of yellow, or clearing the crimson waters
with their great crescent-shaped fins. In their midst a
few stray sword-fish leap and tumble like frantic gym-
nasts. Intoxicated by the immensity of the spoil before
them, the fishermen ply their weapons with the greatest
animation, until the spectacle becomes one of indiscrimin-
ate butchery. To an English onlooker, less impulsive
than the Italians, it ceases to be attractive ; the contest
between man and the fish is so obviously unequal. But
no relenting weakens the arms of the Sicilian fishermen.
Victim after victim falls under their blows, and is hauled
on board the two barges, until the camera is emptied,
and lowered for the reception of another batch of
prisoners.
We follow the barges to the landing-place, and, dis-
embarking, join the noisy procession which, led by a
couple of drummers, files off to the Mercata Reale, where
we find numbers of great eyeless tunny (the produce of
a still earlier haul) piled up in ensanguined heaps on the
flags. Here, too, are alalongas, whose long pectorals
have been draggled in the mire, with many other large
and curious fish, and the long-bladed heads of two or
three sword-fish fixed on end in the upper part of the
woodwork of the same stalls, while their huge bodies lie
below, cut up into great masses ; and whole hampers of
labridce attract our gaze by their ever-varying and ex-
quisitely beautiful tints.
114
ABOUT THE MACKEREL.
Here we may close our narrative, and dismissing this
coarse and ill-flavoured fish,* pass on to a consideration
of that daintiest and most appetizing of scombers, the
MACKEREL.
A smooth, elongated body, covered with excessively
small scales ; the back of a fine metallic blue, streaked
with black ; the upper part of the head also blue and
THE MACKEREL.
black ; the rest of the body of a pearly or silvery white ;
and the dorsal fins separate, by these signs may the
reader recognize a fish which is truly one of the " trea-
sures of the deep."
Geographically speaking, the mackerel extends over a
very wide range of sea, embracing the whole of the
European and American waters, and stretching as far
southward even as the Canary Islands. It appears off
* There is an American tunny (Thynnus secundo-dor sails], found on the
New York coast and off Nova Scotia, whose flesh is of a much better quality.
It also yields a large quantity of oil. The Albacore (Thynnus albacorus), a
native of the West Indian seas, and the Bonito (Thynnus pelamys), the
Tropical enemy of the flying-fish, belong to the tunny genus. The Medi-
terranean owns two species of bonito, Pelamys Sarda and Auxis vulgaris.
THE MIGRATION THEORY EXAMINED. 115
the British coasts early in the year that is, in January
and February; and individuals are always to be found
in our seas. It was formerly asserted that they passed
the winter in the Icy Ocean, burying their heads deep in
tnud and sea-weed ; that towards the spring they mi-
grated southward, skirting the coasts of Ireland and
Scotland ; that then they poured into the Atlantic Ocean,
and divided into two columns, one of which sailed away
for the Mediterranean, while the other made for the
English Channel. All this is now exploded. It seems
to be true of the mackerel, as of the herring, that it re-
tires usually into the depths of the sea, but rises to the
surface and moves towards the coast as its spawning-
season approaches, which occurs earlier or later in the
year according to locality.
On this point we may quote Mr. Yarrell :
It does not appear, as he remarks, to have been
sufficiently considered by the advocates of the migration
theory, that, inhabiting a medium which does not greatly
vary either in its temperature or productions, locally,
fishes are removed beyond the influence of the two princi-
pal causes which make a temporary change of situation
necessary. Independently of the difficulty of tracing the
course pursued through so vast an expanse of water, the
order of the appearance of the fish at different places on
the shores of the temperate and southern countries of
Europe is the reverse of what would have happened had
the aforesaid theory of migrations been true. " It is a
fact beyond dispute that the mackerel is caught, though
not plentifully, on some parts of our own coast in every
month of the year. We may conclude that it inhabits
all or nearly all the European seas ; and the law of
116
CATCHING MACKEREL.
nature which obliges them and many others to visit the
shallower water of the shores at a particular season, ap-
pears to be one of those wise and bountiful provisions of
the Creator, by which not only is the species perpetuated
with the greatest certainty, but a large portion of the
parent animals are thus brought within the reach of man ;
who, but for the action of this law, would be deprived of
many of those species most valuable to him as food.
For the mackerel dispersed over the immense expanse
of ocean, no effective fishery could be carried on ; but,
approaching the shore as they do from all directions,
and roving along the coast collected in immense shoals,
millions are caught, v/uich yet form but a very small
portion compared with the myriads that escape."
MACKEREL-FISHING.
Mackerel are caught with the line and with the seine-
net, that is, much in the same way as the pilchard. In
fishing with the linej almost any kind of hook may be
used. The great point is to carry the fish to market in
the freshest possible condition, as it speedily deteriorates
A DANGEROUS SHOAL. 117
on removal from its " native element." Welled boats
are largely employed, therefore, in its transit from the
fishing-grounds to the nearest port.
Mackerel are exceedingly voracious, and if one might
believe an anecdote told by Pontoppidan that most
credulous of bishops ! we might suppose that they would
" turn the tables " with a vengeance and prey upon man
himself, if they could secure the chance. He tells a
story of a sailor bathing off the coast of Norway, who
was carried off and almost devoured by a shoal of
mackerel ! At least, he would have been devoured, had
not his comrades succeeded in helping him into the boat,
where he shortly afterwards expired, through loss of
blood, exhaustion, and terror. The Norwegian mackerel,
we suspect, are bolder than the British, if Pontoppidan is
to be considered an authority !
The intestines of the mackerel formed part of the
famous garum, or fish-sauce of the ancients, which, ac-
cording to Galen, was worth two thousand pieces of gold
per quart. From what is known of its composition, a
modern connoisseur would scarcely accept it as a gift.
Another important member of the Scomberidse is the
well-known SWORD-FISH, which frequently attains a
length of sixteen feet, and is armed with an extraordi-
nary weapon for purposes offensive and defensive. This
weapon is none other than a broad, sharp, heavy blade of
bone, hard as steel, and frequently eleven feet long,
forming a prolongation of the upper jaw. Taken in con-
junction with its owner's size, strength, and agility, it
renders him so formidable an adversary even to the
hugest denizens of the salt waters that we need not
118
THE SWORD-FISH.
THE SWORD-PISH.
wonder he was formerly called " the Emperor." * It
might well be supposed that he exercised a kind of im-
perial authority over the inhabitants of the deep. The
ancients seem to have regarded him with a curiosity
which had something of terror in it; and we find Sophocles
exclaiming :
Ap* OVK 'E/8H/V9 TOUT' e^aA/cei/cre i<|>os
...... Syp-iovpyos a*yptos.
What Erinnys, or what evil-doer,
Armed thee, Xiphias, with thy pointed sword?
His temper is as keen as his weapon. He is the most
quarrelsome of ocean monsters, the most pugnacious of
* He may also have been designated "imperatore," in allusion to his power-
ful weapon ; the Roman imperators, in their pictures, being always repre-
sented sword in hand.
AN ENEMY TO THE WHALE. 1 1 9
fishes; whence Ovid, or some other Latin poet,* describes
him as being as unrelenting as the sword he carries
' " Et durus Xiphias ictu non mitior ensi."
We are told, indeed, that nothing alive or dead escapes
his fury; that he attacks, almost indiscriminately, the
larger fish and marine mammals, boats and bathers, and
even, when baffled in his assault, will spend his violence
on the very rocks. If he falls in with a shoal of tunny,
he rushes into their midst, like a wolf among a flock of
sheep, and plunges his "reeking weapon" in rapid suc-
cession in their bleeding flanks. Should any hapless
bather lie in his course, he dashes at him, and runs him
through the body as happened, indeed, some forty years
ago, to a man while swimming near the mouth of the
Severn. But against whales, in particular, his rage is so
excessive, that some authorities have supposed his wild
onslaughts against rocks and ships to originate in an error
of judgment; that they are intended to punish the ocean
leviathan, but have failed in their aim owing to the im-
perfection of vision from which the sword-fish, like other
scombers, suffers.
The sword-fish is described as specially partial to whale's
tongue. At all events, he pursues the huge cetaceous
mammal without intermission. The latter, having only
its tail to defend its colossal bulk, attempts to crush its
assailant with a blow; but the nimble scomber generally
eludes it, darts aside, and swiftly returning, transfixes
the whale with its keen sword ; the " multitudinous
sea," by its " incarnadined waves," quickly reveals the
fatal issue of the fight. Captain Crow, cited by Mr.
* We owe the quotation to Badham.
120 GIGANTIC "SPADAS."
Yarrell, relates that in a voyage to Memel, one tranquil
night, when off the Hebrides, he called up his crew to
witness a curious encounter between some "thrashers"
(Carcharias vulpes), a genus of sharks, and a sword-fish,
leagued together against a whale. No sooner was the
vast back of the monster raised a little above the surface
than the thrashers sprang several feet into the air, and
descending, struck it with their tails, the blows resounding
like the peal of distant ordnance. Meantime, the sword-
fish attacked the whale from below, getting close under
its belly, and attacking it with a vigour and effect that
did not leave the result of the combat doubtful.
Numerous instances are on record of the sword-fish
having transfixed the timbers of a ship with its powerful
blade.
He fights obstinately with the saw-fish and the shark,
and is usually victorious ; but is himself the victim of a
miserable little enemy, a crustacean parasite the penna-
tulafilosa which eats into his flesh, and almost maddens
him with pain.
The spere spada, as the Italians call him, is often found
on a very large scale, and monstrous specimens occasion-
ally visit our own coasts. An individual stranded on the
Essex shore measured ten feet in length, a third of which
belonged to the osseous blade. This, however, was a
comparatively diminutive example ; for several naturalists
speak of Mediterranean spadas which weigh four hundred
pounds, and measure from twelve to fourteen feet ; while
Cuvier supposes eighteen or twenty feet to be within
their range of development. These Anaks of the race,
however, are of infrequent occurrence ; the spadas caught
in the Mediterranean, and exposed for sale in the Sicilian
A CURIOUS DEVICE.
123
fish-markets, averaging from four feet to six. The flesh,
which is much valued by the better classes at Palermo, is
dressed in nearly as many ways as the tunny, but fetches
a higher price. Its fibre is delicately white, and the
round segments, as they lie in rows along the stalls, re-
semble so many fillets of veal; and the resemblance is
equally apparent when they are served at table.
Oppian records a curious device to which the ancient
fishermen resorted for the purpose of entrapping the
spada. They made use of boats constructed like the
^SF^^
CATCHING SWORD-FISH IN THE OLDEN TIME.
sword-fish, with a long prow to resemble its beak, and
painted with the deep colours peculiar to it. The scomber,
which is reputed to be a dull fish, approached these shams
in confidence, mistaking them for new acquaintances of
their own kind, and did not discover the mistake until it
was too late.
" To fishy form, the artistic builders lend
Mimetic fins, and wooden sword protend.
With social joy each xiphias views his friends,
And kindly instincts aid man's treacherous ends.
124 HARPOONING SWORD-FISH.
Anon the crafty boatmen, closing round,
The trident hurl and deal the deadly wound.
The goaded fish, experience bought too late,
Escapes, but oft still battles hard with fate ;
Unvanquished, summons to his instant aid
The oft-tried prowess of his trusty blade ;
Selects some boat, and runs his puissant sword
Full many an inch within the fatal board.
Then held no more, the doughty weapon yields,
And crimsons with his blood the briny fields."
Such is Oppian's story. All we can say is, that, if
true, the spadas were more foolish of old than they are
now-a-days !
In Sicily the sword-fish is caught with the harpoon
after a fashion thus described by Brydone :
A look-out man, perched on the mast of a vessel, noti-
fies to his comrades the first glimpse he obtains of the
spada; the fishermen, who in Sicily, and indeed every-
where else, are much given to superstition, immediately
begin a measured chant, indispensable, in their opinion,
to success. As soon as the spada, enticed by the ditty,
like the dolphin by Arion's music, has come sufficiently
near the boat to be reached by a missile, the skilful har-
pooner flings his weapon, attached to a long coil of cord,
and seldom fails to strike and secure his victim, even
though at some distance. This siren song, the only tune
ever employed on these occasions, is so efficacious, say
the sailors, that the spada cannot retreat while it con-
tinues ; but should the enchanted " sea-monster," before
he is struck with the harpoon, hear a word of Italian, the
spell is instantly broken, the charm dissolved, and down
he plunges into the "vasty deep," whence no further
summons or incantations will again evoke him !
The weapon used by the harpooner is a spear made of
elm, a tough, tenacious wood, about thirteen feet in
THE PALIMADARA.
125
length, and terminating in an iron head measuring seven
inches. It is also provided with a couple of iron oreilles,
or " ears," which move up and down, and consequently
increase the severity of the wound made by the pointed
shaft of the harpoon.
SPEARING SWORD-FISH.
In the Strait of Messina the spada-fishery is also
carried on with the net. For this purpose, the net
employed is about forty feet long and ten feet wide, with
stout, compact, and small meshes, made of the strongest
twine ; it is locally known as the palimadara.
The fishery begins in mid- April, and continues until
the end of June, along the whole Calabrian coast. Later
126 FISHERY OFF THE SICILIAN COAST.
in the year, it begins on the Sicilian coast. Between
two large boats, propelled by lateen sails, the net is
lowered to the bottom of the sea ; and as, under a press
of canvas, the brigantines dart onward, the rushing net
catches up everything it encounters in its course. " I
was present several times at this fishery," says Spallan-
zani, " and I am unable to say what numbers of small
fish fell victims to the barbarous process. Being worth-
less, they were flung back into the sea, but terribly
mutilated, and already dead from the terror they had ex-
perienced in the meshes of the net. I was informed that
at Geneva the practice was prohibited by law ; if so, the
statute was not strong enough to prevent three or four
couples of these brigantines from annually quitting the
Gulf of Spezzia and making for the high seas to pursue
this wasteful mode of fishing. And more : the governor
of the place, who ought to have watched over the execu-
tion of the law, was the first to encourage its infraction,
his acquiescence being purchased by the gift of a sum of
money."
Only one species of the sword-fish is known Xipkias
gladius which abounds in the Mediterranean and in the
warmer parts of the Atlantic, but is not often seen on the
British coasts. Its body is elongated and covered with very
small scales. It has no teeth. There is one long dorsal
fin, but there are no finlets, and the ventral fins are want-
ing. The sides of the tail are strongly keeled or carin-
ated. The tail fin is large and forked. On the upper
part of the body the colour is a bluish-black, on the belly
a silverish-white, but the one blends gradually with the
other.
CHAPTER IV.
THE HERRING.
j]T is almost unnecessary to describe a fish whicli
is so widely known and so generally popular
as the HERRING ; which is a welcome dainty
on the tables of the rich, and a common
article of daily food among the poor. We may note,
however, two or three peculiarities. Its belly is carin-
ated, or keeled, and protected by strong scales, whence we
may conclude that it is " a ground -feeder." Its air-bag
is of unusual size, and its pectoral fin is also very large,
whence we may conclude that it can swim with ease and
rapidity. There is reason to believe that it preys upon its
own young, or upon the roe of its kind, when other nutri-
ment is scarce; but, as a rule, it feeds upon acalephce and
minute crustaceans, as well as upon small fishes. Its lobes
of roe or milt are larger in proportion to its body than
those of any other fish, and its fecundity is remarkable.
It deposits its ova in comparatively shallow water ; always
selecting, with admirable instinct, a locality where they
will adhere with facility, and where the young, when
hatched, will find an abundance of nourishment.
The herring (Clupea harengus) belongs to the mala-
copterous family of the Clupeidce. When alive, its
(502) 9
128
ABOUT THE HERRING.
colours are a glaucous green on the back, and silvery
white on the belly and sides ; when dead, the green
changes into blue, and in a dark place the whole body is
invested with a kind of phosphorescence.
THE HERRING.
The herring inhabits the waters of the Northern
Hemisphere, and is found in every sea from the North
Pole to the 50th parallel of latitude, but it is specially and
particularly a fish of the temperate regions. It is gre-
garious ; and at certain seasons it leaves the deep water
in immense shoals, or banks, of several leagues in extent,
and of an extraordinary compactness, and approaches the
shore. These banks are sometimes so dense that the fish
composing them literally suffocate themselves by thou-
sands in the shallows ; and the nets of the fishermen are
torn asunder by the weight of their capture.
FECUNDITY OF THE HERRING.
129
The track of the herring-shoal is indicated at night by
a bright and continuous phosphoric gleam ; in the day,
by the gulls and other sea-birds which pursue them.
These are not the only enemies of the herring ; the hake,
the dog-fish, the porpoise, and, it is said, the whale and
the shark, consume them in enormous quantities. And
when we reflect on the millions which are caught for the
use of man, we shall own that their fecundity was a wise
PHOSPHORESCENT SHOALS OF HERRING.
provision of Nature. It enables the product to keep pace
with the consumption, as many as 68,606 eggs having
been counted in a single female. We may add that the
females outnumber the males in the proportion of seven
to two.
It was anciently believed that the herring was a mi-
gratory fish, and some of the earlier writers trace with
the most curious particularity the route it was supposed
to follow. Thus they say that the great caravan which
every January starts from the icy regions of the Pole
130 SUPPOSED MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS.
divides into two main branches : of these the right wing
steers towards the west, and arrives in March on the
coasts of Iceland ; the left wing moves eastward, and, in
a certain latitude, breaks up into several shoals. Some
repair to the Newfoundland Bank ; others make for the
coast of Norway, and pass through the Sound into the
Baltic Sea. Others progress towards the northern point
of Jutland, and after remaining there for a considerable
period, rejoin the legions of the Baltic by sailing through
the Cattegat. They keep together for a while, and once
more separate, to repair to the shores of Holland, the
Texel, and the Zuyder-Zee.
The heer, says Pennant, which moves westward, is the
most numerous. Having arrived off the Scottish coast,
it divides into two columns, one of which sails south-
ward to the English waters, and those of Friesland, Zea-
land, Brabant, and France ; the other visits Iceland.
Finally, the scattered shoals meet together in the English
Channel, severely weakened by the immense losses they
have sustained, and disappear in the Atlantic Ocean.
It is added that each shoal or battalion measures five
or six miles in length, and three or four miles in breadth ;
and is led, in the belief of the fishermen, by herrings
(probably the alice and twaite shad) of superior size and
sagacity.
But to this theory we must advance some very forcible
objections. It is obvious, for instance, that if the main
heer, having started in one vast body from the Arctic
Seas, separate in the latitude of Iceland into two columns,
one of which makes for Europe and the other for America,
these two columns should arrive at nearly the same time
on the coasts of the Old and New Continents. But, on
WHEN DO HERRINGS SPAWN? 133
the contrary, the herring-fishery in America does not
begin until April, while in the Firth of Forth it is car-
ried on in winter. Again, the American herring is not
of the same species as the European. The fact is, recent
observation has very clearly proved that the herring is
not a migratory fish ; that different species belong to
different localities, and that their only movement is one,
at certain periods of the year, from the deep waters
towards the shore.
Mr. Bertram is of opinion that the herring exists in
distinct races, which arrive at maturity month after
month. It is well known, he says, that the herrings
taken at Wick in July are quite different from those
caught at Dunbar in August or September ; indeed, he
goes further, and asserts that even at Wick each month
has its changing shoal, and that as one race ripens for
capture another disappears, having fulfilled its mission of
procreation. It is certain that the herrings of these
different seasons vary considerably in size and appear-
ance ; and we know that the herrings of different locali-
ties are marked by distinctive features. Thus the famous
Loch Fyne herring is essentially different in its flavour
from that of the Firth of Forth, and those taken in the
Firth of Forth differ again in many particulars from those
caught off' Yarmouth.
Much discussion has been suggested by the question,
at what periods of the year the herrings spawn. Our
limited space prevents us from entering into details ; and,
moreover, these would be of little interest to the general
reader. It is our business to state the conclusions
arrived at by the best authorities ; and, iiow-a days, there
134 HERRING AND SPRAT.
seems a consensus of opinion that the spawning-seasons
are two, spring and autumn. Taking all parts of the
British coast together, February and March would seem
to be the great months for the spring spawning, and
August and September for the autumn spawning ; but
gravid herrings have been caught in every month except
June and December.
The spawn is deposited on the surface of the stones,
shingle, gravel, and old shells which make up the ocean-
bed, and appears to be hatched within five or six weeks
after deposition. The rate of growth of the young fish is
not exactly known, but we may assume that it reaches
maturity in about eighteen months, and can reproduce its
kind in about three years.
Many trustworthy authorities incline to the opinion
that the sprat (Clupea sprattus) * is not, as some writers
assume, a distinct species of fish, but the young of the
herring. We cannot help thinking, however, that the
specific differences between them are fatal to this hypo-
thesis. For instance, the ventral fins in the sprat begin
immediately beneath the first ray of the dorsal fin, and
not, as in the herring, beneath the middle of it. Again,
its ventral fins have no axillary scales. Its dentition is
different, and it has a serrated instead of a carinated belly.
In truth, the only argument advanced in support of the
hypothesis is based on the circumstance that it is not
common to find sprats full of roe; but this is due to
the fact that they are caught before they are full-grown.
The herring is found under four distinct conditions :
1st, Fry or sill ; 2nd, Matres, or fat herring; 3rd, Full
* Also known as Harengula sprattus.
AN EXTRAORDINARY CATCH. 135
herring ; 4th, Shotten, or spent herring. To the first
denomination belong all herrings under five or six inches
in length. The second class is the best fitted for food
purposes ; and it is unfortunate that the herring should
be taken in any other condition. In the course of three
months the rnatre develops into the full or spawning
herring. At the spawning-season they come together in
immense shoals, and hasten to the " spawning-grounds "
in the shallower and warmer waters of the coast. The
magnitude of these shoals can hardly be appreciated by
one who has not seen them. Sometimes they are driven
ashore in such numbers that the inhabitants of the neigh-
bourhood are absolutely unable to cure them, and the
adjacent markets are completely overstocked. They may
be caught in baskets or buckets, half a dozen at a dip.
On the 16th of October, in the year 1873, an extraordin-
ary influx of herrings took place at the mouth of the
river Exe. As fast as the boats could be unloaded, a
hundred men, women, and children were engaged in
stowing the fish in hampers to be sent by the South
Devon Railway to London for sale. The herrings were
piled on the beach in heaps two feet thick, while many
were floating dead in the water, as the nets had broken
in drawing them ashore. The neighbouring villagers
hastened to the spot with their baskets, and some in
donkey-carts, to secure as many as they were able to
carry off ; a large quantity was taken by the farmers to
be used for manure.
CHAPTER V.
THE HERRING-FISHERY.
j|HE fishing-boats generally start on their ex-
pedition an hour or two before sunset, their
crews consisting of four men and a boy, be-
sides the skipper and owner. Sometimes
both owner and skipper are combined in one individual.
The stores on board do not occupy much space : a loaf of
bread or hard biscuit and a keg of water can be stowed
away in any corner. The sail, a great brown stretch of
coarse and weather-beaten canvas, marked with the
registered number of the boat, is soon hoisted, and away
the fishers go, quickly leaving the shore and its sparkling
lights behind them. There is genuine excitement, we
can assure the reader, in an expedition of this kind, and
whoever visits one of the herring-ports in the herring-
season should make interest with a skipper, in order to
gain an experience of a novel and exhilarating phase of
life. The evening draws in apace ; darker and darker
grows the western sky, as the last pale reflections of the
sunset are lost in the deep clear blue of night. All
around, the waves are dotted with shifting gleams, as the
h erring-boats, rocked by the ripple and sped by the
A NOCTURNAL EXPEDITION. 139
breeze, toss their lanterns to and fro. These gleams are
scattered more and more apart as the little fleet gets
further out to sea, and each bark pursues its independent
route. At last the coast-line is no longer discernible,
and the steady light at the harbour-mouth has vanished.
We tack hither and thither in the solitude ? uncertain
where to take up our position, until our skipper becomes
aware of an oily lustre on the water, and a phosphorescent
sparkle on each undulating crest, which tell of the
presence of the shoal. Then he jumps up, and orders all
hands to work. The other boats, warned by the same
signs, close in around, and the hoarse wailing cries of
the gulls are an indication that they too are coming in
search of booty. " Look alive, my men ! Out with the
sinker !" Overboard goes yard after yard of net, breadth
after breadth, as fast as the men can pay them out, each
division being indicated by a large painted bladder, until
about a mile of " mesh-work," many feet in depth, is let
go ; the further end being shown by the " dog," an
inflated skin of considerable size and the general dis-
position of the nets being traced by a long zigzag
row of bladders, which, as it floats on the waves, and
rises and dips with the motion of the tide, resembles
nothing so much as the " dorsal ridge " of a great sea-
serpent !
And now the crew and their passenger may take a
quiet sleep, " rocked in the cradle of the deep;" or chant
old sea-songs, weird and strange ; or muse on the mysteries
of the sea, and the countless stories of romance and
enterprise associated with it from the time when Jason
and his adventurers embarked in the Argo to the stirring
times when Vasco da Gama led his gilded galleys across
140 " HOME AGAIN."
the unknown waters to "far Cathay;" or they may
watch the first faint coming of the day as the gray light
breaks upon the eastern horizon. The skipper, however,
is on the watch, for as the herring-fleet moves onward with
wind and tide, his nets may become entangled with those
of other fishermen, or be torn by a passing boat. At last
the time comes for hauling in the nets ; the bobbing
down of some of the bladders, and other signs perceptible
to the initiated, demonstrating the welcome fact that our
labour has not been in vain. The men haul in the
swing-rope with a will. The coiled net- work soon
reaches the boat's side. " In with them, men !" Breadth
after breadth is tumbled on board, and the quivering fish,
each flashing like an arrow of silver, are shot to the
bottom of the boat, there to breathe their last feeble
gasp. We calculate our cargo at forty crans ; not an
excessive one, yet by no means to be despised.
And now the sail is hoisted ; the boat's head is put
about, and we steer for the distant harbour. When we
reach the shore, all the lights are out ; the glow of day
is upon the landscape, and illumines the green hills and
the leafy woods and the picturesque outline of the rocky
coast. The quay is thronged with spectators, who wel-
come each loaded boat as it arrives with obvious interest.
But such is not always the cheering spectacle. After a
stormy night, pale faces will be there with anxious eyes,
straining to catch sight of the boat of husband, son, or
brother : the boat, perchance, that never comes ; that
during the darkness has gone down with all on board ;
or that, if it comes, comes with battered sides and canvas
rent and lost nets, a messenger of poverty, suffering, and
want.
VALUE OF THE HERRING-FISHERIES. 141
As a source of national wealth, the herring-fishery is of
signal importance. In Scotland and the Isle of Man it
employs nearly 300 vessels, manned by 1200 men and
boys ; while the total number of boats, decked or un-
decked, is about 10,000, manned by 45,000 fishermen
and boys. Add to these the coopers, gutters, packers, net-
makers, and other labourers, dependent more or less
directly on the herring-fishery, and it would seem pro-
bable that it supports 90,000 persons in Scotland alone.
The value of the nets in use exceeds ,400,000, and of the
herring-boats 300,000.
In England the herring-fishery, it is well known, has
been carried on since the beginning of the eighth century.
In Normandy it commenced before the eleventh. Holland
owes its prosperity in no small degree to this fishery,
which the Dutch have always prosecuted with great
energy. Towards the middle of the seventeenth century
they almost monopolized it, employing in it 2000 boats ;
while it is computed that this single branch of industry
supported 800,000 persons in the two provinces of
Holland and Western Friesland. They have been dis-
tanced, however, by the British fishermen, and find for-
midable rivals in the Americans, Norwegians, and French.
The Scotch herring-fishery is regulated by special Acts
of Parliament, and controlled by a Board, known as the
" Commissioners for the British Fisheries." This Board
allows of no other method of taking the fish than by a
drift-net, " trawling" being illegal in Scotland. The
drift-net is composed of fine twine worked into meshes of
an inch square, and measures 50 yards in length and 33
feet in depth. These nets are joined together, and let
into the water in a straight line, where they are kept
142 LOCH FYNE HERRINGS.
perpendicular by a number of bladders or cork floats,
balanced by a few slight weights of lead. A single boat
will often draw after it a " drift " a series of nets ex-
tending fully a mile in length.
We now proceed to describe the different aspects of the
fishery, as carried on in different localities, premising that
the cargo of a herring-boat is measured by crans, each cran
containing forty-five gallons.
The reputation enjoyed by the Yarmouth herrings in
England, belongs in Scotland to the fish caught in Loch
Fyne, a great arm of the sea which cuts into the west
coast between the Mull of Cantire and the Island of Bute,
striking inland as far as Inveraray, the chief town of the
territory of the Campbells. Loch Fyne herrings, how-
ever, are celebrated " furth of the kingdom." Sam Slick
panegyrizes them as " Glasgow bailies ;" a sobriquet allud-
ing to the circumstance that, of old, the finest specimens
were presented to the Bailie of the River Clyde, locally
known as the " Skate Bailie," by the vendors who dis-
posed of their wares on the Glasgow quay. As early as
836 the Dutch fishermen frequented Loch Fyne in order
to purchase its savoury fish ; and for centuries they traded
largely with the herring, curing such enormous quantities
that many a fortune was built up by its means even in
Amsterdam itself, which, according to the ancient pro-
verb, was erected on herring-bones. It has been pointed
out that this enrichment of the Dutch meant the spolia-
tion of the West Highlanders, who were foolish enough
to look upon the whale-fishery in Arctic seas as preferable
to the herring-fishery in their own waters. Not, says a
writer in Once a Week, that they altogether despised the
THE LOCH FYNE FISHERY. 143
herring ; for it appears that a Lord Breadalbane, in 1590,
received a portion of his rent from a Loch Fyne tenant
in Loch Fyne herrings. At length they became aware of
the full importance of the wealth which circulated to and fro
in their great sea-loch, and undertook the herring-fishery
with so much vigour that they gradually got it wholly
into their own hands, and raised it to the position of a
national interest. In Loch Fyne alone the annual value
of the fishery is computed at .25,000 ; and whoever has
ascended in the lona that most luxurious of river steam-
boats to Ardrishaig, must have seen the large fleet of
dusky boats which are engaged in it.
The waters of Loch Fyne formerly teemed to such an
extent with the herring-shoals, that the Gaelic fishermen
were wont to say the loch was one part water and two
parts fish. We may remark, in passing, that the word
herring alludes to the abundance of the fish. It comes
from the German heer, a legion or army. As many as
20,000 barrels, each containing from 500 to 800 fish, and
each worth about fifty shillings, have been cured in a year
in the Loch Fyne district. In fact, the demand now
exceeds the supply, and the West Highland fishermen
have never any difficulty in disposing of their cargoes.
At the head of the peninsula of Cantire, completely
shut in by bare and rugged mountains, stands the little
town of East Tarbert, with its small but secure harbour
opening into Loch Fyne. A secure harbour when once you
are in it ; but the approach, through broken and sombre
rocks, the resting-places of scores of gulls and gannets, is
so intricate, that no one but a Loch Fyne fisherman could
possibly carry his smack through the labyrinth ! As
Lord Teignmouth says, " The rude outworks of the
(5<W) 10
144 TARBET AND CAMPBELTON.
rocks apparently barring access, the overhanging keep
of the ruined castle, the village, and the innumerable
fishing-boats choking up every nook and crevice, form a
scene singularly picturesque." But what is picturesque
is not always convenient. However, East Tarbert is,
and always has been, one of the chief ports for the Loch
Fyne fishers ; the other, on the west coast of the Mull, is
Campbelton.*
About a hundred years ago Campbelton was of more
importance in this respect than Tarbert ; but as its
whisky-distilleries sprang up its fisheries went down and
though the latter are now prosecuted with considerable
. energy, they have not recovered their ancient prosperity.
In 1863 a company was formed in Campbelton for
* Mr. Black furnishes an animated description of the departure of the Loch
Fyne fishermen. "A fine sight it was," he says, "that setting out of the
herring-fleet in the yellow afternoon, with the bronzed and varnished hulls of
the boats shining like so many spots of brownish-red on the calm blue of the
lake. Here, too, were none of the tattered and pot-bellied fishermen of
Brighton, living on occasional hauls of mackerel and occasional shillings got
from visitors but crews of lithe and stalwart men, big-boned and spare-
fleshed, who plied the enormous oars with a swing and ease that told of
splendid physiques, hard exercise, and tolerably good living. The wind had
entirely gone down, and the various boats that left the harbour in straggling
groups formed a strange sort of picturesque regatta, their oars scarcely troub-
ling that still plain of blue. Here and there a brown sail hung half-mast high,
just in case a slight breeze might be got at the mouth of the bay ; but each
boat had its four enormous oars regularly rising and falling as they all drew
away from us. And we could hear the laugh and jest come across the still
water, as two of the boats would get within speaking distance ; and now and
again a verse of some shrill Gaelic song would float towards us, the notes of it
keeping time to the oars. The further the boats drew out towards the broad
bosom of the loch, the deeper grew their colour under the warm and level
light of the sun, until many of them seemed like rose-coloured buoys placed
far out on the smooth plain. And then, as they reached a line of darker
water on the loch, we could see them, one by one, run up the broad brown
sail to catch the light breeze. And while we sat still and wondered how they
would spend the long and dark night, and what songs would be sung by the
side of the stove, and whether rain would compel them to make the sail into
a tent, and what sort of take they would bring home with them in the cold
gray hours of the dawn, lo ! the boats had disappeared as if by magic." Mr.
Pisistratus Brown in the Highlands, pp. 41, 42.
TRAWL VEKSUS DRIFT-NET. 145
carrying on the herring-fishery, and in their first year
they built and despatched twelve boats, at a cost of <400
each. In May 1863 twenty-seven other boats sailed from
Campbelton for the Stornoway herring-fishery ; and on
the morning of the 3rd of June, says a writer already
quoted,* it was a beautiful sight to see, in that lovely
land-locked harbour, one hundred and forty boats laden
with those silvery gems and phosphoric splendours for
which the herring is so remarkable.
In May 1868, the fleet that sailed from the Cantire port
numbered thirty-six smacks. One of these brought in
thirty maze (a " maze " contains six hundred) of trawled
herrings from six to eight maze being the number taken
with the drift-nets. The best fish were retailed at three-
halfpence each ; then at eight for sixpence with inferior
fish at fifteen for sixpence ; but the profit on these sums
went to the women who sold the fish, as they were pur-
chased from the boats at three shillings and three shillings
and sixpence per hundred.
As to the method of taking the herring, the law has
laid down a very strict rule: the herring must not be
trawled, but taken with a drift-net. Such is the rule, at
least, which obtains in Loch Fyne ; for trawling is allow-
able on the eastern coast of Scotland, and north of
Ardnamurchan Point on the western coast : an anomaly
for which the fishermen do not echo the old cry, " God
bless the Duke of Argyll ! " Yet, in defiance of the
law, trawling is largely practised in Loch Fyne ; and the
steamers convey many barrels of trawled herrings from
Cantire to Glasgow. The trawling is accomplished, as
explained in our remarks on the White-Fish Fishery,
* Once a Week for 1869, p. 39.
146 TRAWL VERSUS DRIFT-NET.
by means of a seine-net, to which a " sole " or bottom
rope is attached ; and it is not so expensive to the fisher-
men as, while it is decidedly more productive (and, some
say, destructive) than, the drift. In Loch Fyne the trawl-
net is managed by three or four boats' crews, who row
round in a circle, immersing the net to a slight depth in
the water, and dragging it until they can join its two
extreme ends, the shoal of fish being swept into the
middle. The slower process of the drift-net, as the reader
knows, requires it to be paid out by the " buss " or smack
in a direct line, its course being indicated on the surface
of the waves by corks, bladders, or " bows " made of
tarred sheep-skins. But then the fish thus caught are
not crushed, pressed, or otherwise injured ; and though
the process is ]ess expeditious and more costly than that
of the trawl-net, it is probably more profitable in the long
run and an experienced purchaser can at once detect the
legal drift-net herring from the illegal trawl-net herring.
Everybody knows that the herring is chiefly caught
during the night, when it approaches nearest to the sur-
face of the water. Its phosphoric properties, or " blaze,"
to use the fishermen's vernacular. render the shoals
visible in the deepest darkness, and give to the rippling
waves a magical appearance of floating, flashing gems.
The fishermen appear to dread what they call " scoroders"
and "buckers" more even than the official police- boat,
which watches the fishing-grounds to prevent any breach
of the legal regulations. The "scoroders" are the jelly-
fishes which block up their nets, and the " buckers " are
large porpoises which tear the nets and prey upon the
herrings.
Though an experienced fisherman seems intuitively to
THE DUTCH HERRING. 147
determine the position of a herring-shoal, lie lias no un-
erring signs to guide him. As his boat glides along,
however, his crew will give a rapid stampede with their
feet, or rattle the anchor, and the noise frightening the
fish, the look-out man knows at once by the phosphores-
cent "blaze" where to let down his net. But the shoal
may drift away too quickly, or its numbers may be scanty,
and it is always a matter of uncertainty whether the net
will return from the depths well or ill loaded.
In Holland the herring-fishery is guarded by very
minute regulations. On setting out for the expedition,
the sailors pledge themselves not to lower a net before
the 25th of June, nor after the 1st of January; nor,
during the fishery, when the herring is in its prime, to
make use of any nets but such as are of the size of mesh
regulated and fixed by Government ; and that they will
adopt every precaution to secure to the Dutch herring its
time-honoured celebrity.*
As the herrings taken differ very much in quality,
even in the same haul, they are carefully sorted, and
rubbed with finer or coarser salt according to their merits.
The salt, which is procured from Spain, is first dissolved
to get rid of impurities, and the solution subsequently
evaporated in the sun ; the crystals thus obtained are of
different sizes : the prime fish are treated with "gros sel"
and the inferior with " petit sel ; " and the greatest care
is taken that the two shall not get mingled. The dimen-
sions of every pickling cask, as well as the seasoning of
the wood, are under the strictest supervision ; and a man,
says Badharn, would be held a traitor to his country who
* Badhara, "Ancient and Modern Fish-Tattle," pp. 324, 325.
148 YARMOUTH HERRINGS.
should put one poor fish in a barrel devoted to the
superior kind, or disobey in the slightest particular a
beneficent code of laws, framed alike for the advantage of
himself and of the world at large : a big official seal
stamped upon each barrel coronat opus, and vouches to
the public that no precaution has been neglected or pains
spared ; and if it should ever happen, which is not within
the range of probability, that a bad barrel bore such a
seal, the national faith of Holland would be considered
irretrievably compromised.
The Scotch herrings, however, are similarly " branded;"
and we are of opinion that their best " brands " are equal
to any which Holland produces. Few herrings equal,
says Badham, and none can surpass in flavour, a " Loch
Fyne fresh ; " whilst for those who like savoury salt pro-
visions, a " Yarmouth bloater " may be recommended in
preference to any Dutch or other foreign bronzed clupeaii
of distinction.
Yarmouth sends one hundred herrings, baked in twenty
pies or pasties, to the Sheriff at Norwich, to be delivered
to the clerk of the Royal Kitchen. The Popes, it is said,
are sagaciously partial to them, and recommend them
strongly to the faithful. Whence the fishermen at Yar-
mouth and Lowestoft are accustomed to drink the follow-
ing liberal toast :
" Here's to his Holiness the Pope, with his triple crown,
With nine dollars each for each cask in the town. "
A very considerable herring-fishery is carried on in
the Hebridean waters, and more especially off Skye,
Barra, and Long Island. At one period the herring
appeared in immense shoals in every loch and bay which
intersect these isles, and the natives caught it in large
LOCH BOISDALE. 149
quantities both for home consumption and exportation.
Now the fishers have to go further out to sea in quest of
spoil, and for several years this branch of industry under-
went a disastrous decline. But of late the attention of
capitalists has been directed to its importance, and the
inhabitants of Lewes and South Uist derive their chief
subsistence from it. Loch Boisdale, a deep inlet on the
east coast of the Long Island, is in the herring-season
a scene of the liveliest activity. At all other times, truth
to tell, it is desolation itself; but when the spring-time
brings with it the silvery shoals, smacks, skiffs, open
boats, and wherries make the narrow waters shady : not
a creek, however small, but holds some boat in shelter.
A small fleet congregates in the far-away misty loch : the
Leven boat, from the east coast, with its three masts
and three huge lug-sails ; the Newhaven boat, with its
two lug-sails; the Isle of Man "jigger;" the beautiful
Guernsey " runner," handsome as a racing yacht, and
powerful as a revenue cutter ; besides all the numberless
fry of less noticeable vessels, from the solid west-country
smack down to the rude-built two-masted Arran wherry.
Swarms of sea-gulls are cradled on the crest of every
wave, though the loch is so incrusted with the oily fishy
deposit that only a strong wind can break up its tranquil
surface. Everywhere on the barren shore and heathery
hill-sides, and on the innumerable rocky islets sprinkled
up and down the inlet, rises the smoke of the fishermen's
encampments. Busy men and women and children,
bronzed with exposure to the salt air, surround the curing-
houses and the inn, while weary fishers are stretched full-
length upon the beach, dreaming away the hours till
nightfall. About three or four o'clock they spring to
150 OUT A-FISHING.
their feet, nimble enough, however, and wide-awake ;
and soon afterwards the herring-fleet melts slowly away
upon the horizon, not to reappear until long after the
hills have welcomed the first rays of morn.
Herring-fishing in Loch Boisdale is practised in exactly
the same fashion as herring-fishing in Loch Fyne, or off
the east coast ; but the reader may not be disinclined to
spend another night in quest of the "silver fish," and
make acquaintance with a west-country smack. We our-
selves have never tried the western waters, but a writer
in All the Year Round, who evidently knows them
thoroughly, gives us the benefit of his experience in a
very graphic and lively fashion, and we propose to avail
ourselves of his narrative :
Imagine yourself, then, on board a west-country smack,
running out of Boisdale harbour with the rest of the fleet.
It is afternoon, and a nice fresh breeze blows up from the
south-west. Crouching in the stern, by the side of the
helmsman, you look around with all the interest of a
novice. Six brawny fellows, in picturesque attitudes,
lounge about the great, broad, open hold, and another is
down in the forecastle boiling coffee. It seems a lazy
business, so far; but wait ! By sunset we have run fifteen
miles up the coast, and are about eight miles east of the
Ru Hamish lighthouse ; many of the fleet are still around
us, and on the waters their shadows brood like birds.
How thick the sea-gulls gather yonder ! Hark ! that plash
ahead of the boat was the dive of a solan-goose. That
the herrings are hereabouts, and in large numbers, you
might be sure, even without the strange, enticing, phos-
phorescent light which travels in patches in the water to
leeward. And now the whole crew dart into sudden
OUT A-FISHING.
151
THE FISHING-SMACK.
activity. The boat's head is brought up to the wind, the
sails are lowered, one man grips the helm, another lays
out the back rope of the net, a third the " skunk " or
body, a fourth stands ready to heave out the buoys, the
rest attend forward, keeping a keen eye open for other
nets, and prepared, should the boat run too fast, to steady
her by dropping the anchor a few fathoms into the sea.
All the nets are run out, the boat is brought bow on,
and the mast lowered, secured, and made all taut and trim
for hoisting at a moment's notice. Then the crew turn in
below for a nap, leaving one to look out on deck ; and
you too turn in, or you sing snatches of old songs, or you
152 OUT A-FISHING.
lie full-length and watch the changes which cross the face
of Night.
As soon as day dawns everybody is again on deck.
All hands are soon busy at work, taking the net in over
the bow ; two supporting the body, the rest hauling
the back-rope save one who hands the net down into
the hold, and another who arranges it from side to side
in such a manner as to preserve the trim of the vessel.
Tweet ! tweet f that thin cheeping sound, not unlike the
call of the bat, comes from the hapless herrings dying at
the bottom of the boat. The sea to leeward, the smack's
hold, the muscular arms of the men, and their quaint attire,
shine like gleaming silver. As many of the fish as possible
are shaken loose during the process of hauling in, but the
rest are left in the net until we make the shore.
Three or four hours pass in this wet and weary work.
But at last the nets are all drawn in, the mast is hoisted
and the sail set, while the cook pro tempore plunges
below to get breakfast. Away we sail for Loch Boisdale.
Our good smack makes excellent progress
"She walks the waters like a thing of life,"
and outstrips many of her comrades, bound as she is for
the harbour-mouth. The anchorage is reached, but the
work is not quite finished, for the fish has to be measured
out in cran baskets, and delivered at the curing-station.
By the time that the crew have got their morning dram,
have arranged the nets snugly in the stern, and have
had some herrings for dinner, it is time to be off again to
the harvest-field. Half the crew turn in for sleep, while
the other half hoist sail and take the vessel out again to
THE FISHING-TOWNS. 153
The aspect of one of our fishing-ports during the her-
ring-season is very singular to the unaccustomed eye.
The place smells of herring, thinks of herring, talks of
herring. Of what importance to its inhabitants are the
contest between Pope and Kaiser, the struggles of the
Revolution in France, or even the banter between
political parties at home, when weighed with the
amount of the " take " of last night, or the prospects of
a good haul to-morrow? These herring-towns, as they
may appropriately be called, are dotted all along the
east coast from Yarmouth to Wick. The herring, be
it remembered, is a native of our British seas, and can
be captured all the year round on the shores of the three
kingdoms. But the fishery is either more abundant on
the east coast, or is there pursued with more activity,
and it is the eastern towns which furnish our markets
with their principal supplies. And so it is to Yarmouth,
D unbar, Buckie, Fraserburgh, Banff, or Wick that you
should go, if you would see the herring-commerce in all
its fulness. Wick is the chief seat of the fishery, and it
is to Wick we shall accompany Mr. Bertram* to gain
some idea of its appearance in the height of the season.
It is morning, and the fleet of herring-boats is making
all sail for the harbour. Everybody in the town is astir ;
there are no idlers ; and everybody seems to have come
down to the pier or beach. Various quaint utterances in
the vernacular reach our ears as the boats arrive, and are
recognized by those interested. " Yon is Sandy Mac-
allister's !" "Hoot awa, man! Alick Macpherson's is
gaining fast upon him !" " Here comes old Donald
Ferguson's ! I ken her by the clout on her old sail !"
* Bertram, " The Harvest of the Sea."
154 A SCENE AT WICK.
But the boats arrive, and drop alongside the quay ; and
in less than an hour we are surrounded by herring.
Herring seems to fill the air, as it certainly occupies the
mind of every Wickian. Yonder we see innumerable
basketfuls being poured into the huge gutting-troughs, and
in another direction basketfuls, also innumerable, are being
carried from the three to four hundred boats moored on
that particular side of the harbour; and behind the
troughs more basketfuls are being conveyed to the
packers. For, as the reader knows, the herring is sent
to market either fresh or cured ; and those intended for
immediate consumption are packed as rapidly as possible,
and removed to the railway station.
All around, the atmosphere is humid ; the sailors are
dripping, the herring gutters and packers are dripping,
the spectators are dripping; everything and every per-
son appears wet and comfortless ; and as you wander
along you splash into lakes and rivers of brine.
Meantime, the bright scaly fish are being shovelled
about in the large shallow troughs with immense wooden
spades, and without ceremony. Strong, dour-looking
men pour them from the baskets on their shoulders into
the aforesaid troughs ; and other stalwart, dour-looking
men dash them about with more wooden spades, and then
sprinkle salt over each new quota as it is poured in, till
a sufficient quantity has accumulated to warrant the
commencement of the important operation of gutting and
packing.
Men are hurrying about with note-books, in which
ever and anon they record mysterious computations.
Carts, filled with dripping nets, convey them to the
" links " and fields to dry. In all directions are piled
AN UNCLEAN BUSINESS.
155
up stacks of herring-barrels, and stacks of billet-wood
ready to be converted into staves for more barrels. The
scene is one of confusion, yet with a certain order in it ;
and of coarseness, yet not without an element of the
picturesque.
WICK HARBOUR DURING TH K FISHING-SEASON.
When a sufficient quantity of fish has been emptied
into the troughs, the process of evisceration (vulgo, "gut-
ting ") commences. This is performed by females, hundreds
of whom in this way contribute to defray the household
expenses and to keep the " bairns " at school. It is an
unclean business, however, to say the least of it, and soon
effects a complete " transmogrification " in the appearance
of the buxom, stalwart females who, prior to the arrival
of the fish, had loitered about the curing-yard in gaily-
156 THE LAST SCENE.
striped petticoats and dashing shawls ; for, of course,
they have now assumed a more suitable attire generally
a kind of oilskin gabardine. Behold them, then, about
ten or eleven o'clock in the forenoon, when the gutting
scene is at its height, and after they have been at work
for an hour or so : their hands, and necks, and busts,
their
" Dreadful faces thronged, and fiery arms,"
their every bit about them, fore and aft, are spotted and
besprinkled over with little scarlet clots ; or as Southey
says of Don Roderick, after the last and fatal fight
" Their flanks incarnadined,
Their poitral smeared with blood. "
See yonder trough, surrounded by a ferocious host, two
of them wearing the weeds of widowhood ! How dexter-
ously they ply the knife ! With a downward movement
they seize the herring, with an upward movement they
throw it into the basket, and the operation is over ! 'Tis
done with lightning-like dexterity by a mere turn of the
hand, and thirty or forty fish are " gutted " before you
have time to count sixty ticks of your watch. These
ruthless widows seize upon the dead herrings as if to re-
venge upon them their lost husbands, who are sleeping
full many a fathom down in the " salt ooze;" and they
scatter about the entrails as if they had no " bowels of
compassion."*
There are fresh herrings and there are pickled her-
rings, and both are excellent in their way, savoury, and,
it is said, nutritious ; but there are also " red herrings "
* We borrow these details from Mr. Bertram, for we confess that, in our
visits to the herring-ports, we have never cared for this scene in the drama.
YARMOUTH CURING-HOUSES. 157
and "bloaters." The latter are prepared at Yarmouth
in immense quantities. The fish are run through the
gills with thin spits, and exposed to the smoke of small
.logs of oak. As they swell during the curing process,
they have come to be called " bloaters." They are more
or less smoked and salted according to the particular
market for which they are designed. They are packed
in barrels, each containing seven hundred and fifty fish.
Yarmouth has long been celebrated for its herring-
fishery ; and, probably, the barrels of salted fish which
caused the Battle of the Herrings in 1429,* came from
this busy port. When the " statute of herrings " placed
the fishery under the control of the Crown, it was then
its principal depot. A century ago it owned 200 boats,
which employed, in one way or another, 6000 persons. It
now possesses double the number.t Each boat or "buss"
carries from 15 to 20 lasts of herrings, each last com-
prising 10,000 to 13,000 fish, and is manned by twelve
to fourteen men and boys. About 10,000 tons of salt
are annually consumed in the curing processes ; and the
quantity of fish sent off by railway exceeds 36,000 tons.
A " curing-house " or " smoke-house " is a large oblong
building, some forty or fifty feet high, without a floor
between ground and roof, and divided above into trans-
verse compartments three or four feet wide, by partitions
of horizontal rails, beginning at about seven feet from
the base of the walls. These open partitions, or racks,
are called " loves," J and support the " speets " that is,
* When the Due de Bourbon was defeated in an attempt to surprise a con-
voy of salt fish on its way to the English camp before Orleans.
t Some of these are employed in the mackerel-fishery and the deep-sea fish-
ing. The capital invested in them is estimated at half a million.
+ Probably from louvres, which they resemble in appearance.
158 RYVING AND SPEETING.
the sticks or laths, long enough to lie across from one to
the other.
The carts arrive with supplies of fresh herrings from
the boats. The fish are thrown into a bricked recess,,
sprinkled with salt, and left " to pickle " for periods
varying from twenty-four hours to ten days. The
shorter suffices for the herrings caught early in the
season, and intended for quick sale and speedy eating ;
the " Straits'-men," which are exported in thousands of
barrels to the Mediterranean, lie longer ; and longest,
the " black herrings," which are famous for their fine,
ham-like flavour. Whatever the kind, the fish are
washed and spitted by gangs of women, whose nimble
fingers hang them one by one, transfixed through gills
and mouth, upon the " speets." These women are called
" ryvers," because they ryve or rend the gills with their
thumbs to make way for the speet ; and a gang of eight
will speet eight lasts a day, each ryver earning about
three shillings and ninepence. As fast as the speets are
filled they are placed, resting by the ends, on the top-
most loves, by men who ascend the racks, until the upper
tier is full ; then the next below is filled ; and so on from
top to bottom, till every compartment is occupied and
all the herrings are hung. Then the fires of oaken .logs
are lighted underneath, and as there is a small space left
between fish and fish, the rising smoke envelops all
alike. The oil speedily begins to drop, and the herrings
turn yellow, orange, red, or black, according to the dura-
tion of their exposure. Bloaters are allowed to hang only
until they bloat or swell. The Straits'-men, and others
that bear close packing, are "struck" that is, taken
down ; and with a skilful movement the packer, dropping
THE FISHING-SEASON. 159
the end of the speet into the barrel, pushes off the her-
rings in the order in which they are to lie, radiating
from the centre, until each barrel contains seven hundred
and fifty, and appears gorged to repletion. Then the
barrel is removed to a press, which packs the fish closer,
and all is .ready for the final operation of " heading up."*
The principal herring-season is during the autumn
that is, from August to October when the seas all round
our coasts are covered with herring-boats, stout, sturdy
barks, each with its single sail, square or " leg-of-mutton"
shaped. At this time every little bay which varies the
outline of our shores sends forth its tiny flotilla. Such
boats as do not belong to a local fishery proceed from the
small "fischar-villages" which are dotted here and there
in the shadow of our ancient cliffs. In fact, says a
Scotch writer, who is deservedly esteemed a standard au-
thority on this subject, wherever an enterprising curer
sets up his stand, there the boats will collect around him ;
and the boats draw there, as by a kind of magnetic
attraction, all sorts of miscellaneous people : dealers in
salt, dealers in barrel-staves, vendors of " cutch," Prus-
sian herring-buyers, buxom lasses from the inland dis-
tricts " to gut," and men from the Highlands desirous of
employment as " hired hands." Itinerant ministers and
revivalists appear on the scene, and deliver occasional
" discourses " to the hundreds of devout Scotch people,
who are always ready to join, to their honour be it said,
in a "diet of worship;" and in this way many a quiet
little village develops into a prosperous town, which in
due time has its railway station, and its provost and
* Walter White, " Eastern England," i. 145-147.
(502) 1 1
160
A GENERAL EXCITEMENT.
magistrates, and everything respectable about it. " As
the chief herring-season comes on, a kind of madness
seizes on all engaged, ever so remotely, in the trade ; as
for those more immediately concerned, they seem to go
A FISHING-VILLAGE.
completely ' daft,' especially the younger hands. The old
men, too, come outside to view the annual preparations,
and talk, with revived enthusiasm, to their sons and
grandsons about what they did twenty years agone ; the
young men spread out the shoulder-of-mutton sails of their
boats, to view and repair defects ; and the wives and
sweethearts, by patching and darning, contrive to make
old nets l look amaist as weel as new ; ' boilers bubble
with the brown catechu, locally called ' cutch/ which is
used as a preservative for the nets and sails ; while all
along the coasts old boats are being cobbled up, and new
ones are being built and launched."
THE SHETLAND HERRING-FISHERY. 161
The Shetland herring-fishery must next engage our
attention. As originally carried on by the Dutch, it
was, for them, an undertaking of truly national import-
ance, and yielded annually a revenue of 3,000,000. A
trustworthy authority asserts, that while it flourished in
their hands they drew from the waters washing the coast
of Shetland not less than 200,000,000. In 1633, Cap-
tain Smith, who was employed by the English Govern-
ment to report on the extent of the Dutch fishery,
recorded that it employed as many as 1500 " herring-
busses," each of 80 tons burden with 20 armed ships,
carrying 30 guns each and a fleet of " dogger-boats" to
the number of 400, each 60 tons burden. Indignant and
amazed that his countrymen could remain
" Shamefully passive, while Batavian fleets
Defraud us of the glittering finny swarms
That heave our friths, and crowd upon our shores,"
he exclaims : " If the king would send out such a fleet
of vessels for the fishing-trade, being in our own seas, and
on our own grounds, and all strangers were discharged
from fishing in those seas, that the subjects of the three
kingdoms only may have it, it would make our king rich
and glorious, and the three kingdoms happy, not one
would want bread, and God would be praised, and the
king loved." His advice, however, which would hardly
approve itself to political economists, was not followed,
and the Dutch continued their fishery. But owing to
the great wars in which Holland was afterwards engaged,
and the rapid decline of her naval power and commercial
pre-eminence, the fishery ceased to be prosecuted with the
same vigour. In 1774, the number of Dutch vessels
engaged in it was only 200. Then came the wars of
162 A SCENE AT LERWICK.
the French Revolution, followed by Britain's paramount
supremacy at sea. British enterprise began to cultivate
the resources that lay close at hand in British waters,
and so it has come to pass that the number of Dutch her-
ring-boats now frequenting the shores of Shetland seldom
exceed forty or fifty.
Yet, though it is no longer possible, as it was of yore,
to cross Bressay Sound on a bridge of busses, the arrival
of the Dutch boats is still an important event in the
annual history of Lerwick. They make their appearance
in June ; and while they remain in port, the Dutch sea-
men spend most of their time on " the wall," as they
term the shore. In face and form they bear a curious
family resemblance the former being Teutonic, and the
latter emphatically " Dutch." A greater variety is observ-
able in their dress; for while some wear a neat striped
cotton blouse, with cloth cap and trousers; and leather
shoes, others wear enormous "sou'-westers," blouses of can-
vas, capacious knickerbockers, or even " petticoats," all
of canvas, and wooden sabots, " clogs," or " chumpers,"
not unlike their own vessels in shape. The streets of
Lerwick present a very animated appearance, when
paraded by these quaint, amphibious creatures, with their
hands everlastingly in their pockets, and their long pipes
everlastingly in their mouths. It is no unusual thing to
see them, in a burst of frolicsome affection, throwing their
arms around each other's burly neck, and shouting a
chorus in praise of " De Vaterland," to the noisy accom-
paniment of a concertina. As a rule, however, they are
peaceable, well-conducted, good-tempered fellows, seldom
the worse for drink, and always careful to give no trouble
to the Queen's lieges.
THE " DUTCHMAN'S RIDING-DAY." 163
During their sojourn in Lerwick they invariably de-
vote a day to the enjoyment of equestrianism. ; and the
'"Dutchman's riding-day," as it is called, presents some
truly amusing features. " Dozens of those Shetlanders
who have horses," says Mr. Kerr, " assemble, steeds in
hand, on a piece of ground above the town, and thither,
too, betake themselves the horsey portion of the Dutch-
men for twopence worth of equestrianism which consists
of a gallop out for half a mile or so and back again. For
the most part women and boys are in charge of the
steeds, with every conceivable kind of halter, from the
decent leather to the old and apparently rotten rope ;
some with saddles and stirrups, some with saddles but
without stirrups, some with an unambitious piece of
coarse cloth or straw mat. Here a great tall fellow goes
up to a very little pony, pays his twopence it is always
prepaid and prepares to mount. But how is he to get
the sabot, with a point like the prow of his own buss,
into the stirrups ? It certainly can't be done. Off go the
sabots a shake is all that is necessary and he gets into
the saddle. At first he grasps only the bridle ; but as
the pace quickens and it soon does that, for he means to
have his twopence worth you see his hand slip round to
the back part of the saddle and take a firm hold. This
is all very well, but the saddle itself is shaky, and the
pony's back short, so he must have more leverage by
grasping the tail. There, now, he's all right ; but the
motion is neither graceful nor easy, and his hat flies off.
This was expected, for the woman or boy in charge fol-
lows behind, for the double purpose of increasing the pace
by whipping, and picking up anything that may be shaken
loose. And now that he gets towanis the end of his rido,
164 DUTCH HERRING-BOATS.
heel, bridle, and lash are pressed into service. One hand
is required to hold on either by saddle or tail, the other
is needed for the lash. How, then, can he dispose of the
bridle? In his teeth, of course, and there he holds it.
On he comes full swing. The road is very rough and
downhill now. His legs are well extended, and he is
making no prehensile use of his knees. This can't last
long. Hallo ! there he's off rolling, with little harm
done.
Such are the amusements of the Dutch fishermen on
shore. At sea their demeanour is much graver ; and it
is to be said in their praise that they keep themselves and
their busses wonderfully clean. The celebrated village of
Brock is hardly more a miracle of neatness than a Dutch
herring-boat ! Each buss carries seventy nets (eighteen
fathoms long), and a crew of fourteen men. The nets
are got on board by means of rollers at the sides of the
ship and of the hold ; and the masts are jointed near the
deck, so that they may be lowered for the purpose of
lying-to when the hauling-in process commences. The
herrings are cleaned and barrelled as fast as they are
removed from the nets ; and when the whole fleet has
barrelled as much as will make a ship's cargo, a yagger is
immediately despatched to the home-port, returning empty
for another load.
It has been justly said that the herring is the same in
all our seas ; that its habits are the same whether it fre-
quents the east coast or the west, collects in the waters
off Shetland, or penetrates into the depths of Loch Fyne.
Yet we know very little about it much less than about
the salmon. Various authorities give widely different
CAPRICES OF THE HERRING. 165
periods for its full development. One says the fish is in
its prime in three years ; another delays maturity until
seven. Others, again, assert that it becomes reproductive
in two. All this is mere guess-work. What is certain
is, that different races are constantly coming to maturity,
and that some of these fish are engaged in spawning in
nearly every month of the year. It is when they are
thus engaged that they fall into the power of man.
When they are not spawning, or not assembling for the
purpose of spawning, they retire to places which the
naturalist knows not of. And then, to perplex us still
further, they are subject, as we have seen, to the most
extraordinary vagaries 1 They haunt a certain locality
year after year, and then suddenly take their leave of it
why, no man knows for a considerable period. Then
they return to it again, as capriciously as they had left
it ; or, in some few cases, they return to it no more.
This strange fit of absenteeism was formerly attributed
to the mode of fishing, but it is now believed that there is
no more connection between the two than between Tenter-
den church-steeple and Goodwin Sands. " Trawling,"
however, was long made the bugbear of the herring-
fishers. As we have described the operations connected
with it, we need say no more than that it is just the
same thing as " seineing," which has been pursued for
centuries on the Cornish coast without frightening away
the pilchards. It began in 1838, and in a few years
became very general ; for as a trawl-net can be had for
50, and a drift-net costs <250, the cheaper method
necessarily obtained the larger number of patrons. About
1846, when the herring grew scarce on the west coast of
Scotland, the "drifters" began to agitate against trawl-
166 A PROLONGED DISPUTE.
ing, and so far succeeded in their agitation that, by an
Act of Parliament passed in 1851, it was declared illegal.
The Act was constantly evaded, however, until about
1861, when fresh measures were put in force for the sup-
pression of the obnoxious system. The drifters gained
their end by loudly declaring that seineing scared away
the shoals, that immature fish were caught, that the
spawning-beds were injured, and that the fish caught
were unfit to be cured. The trawlers, on the other hand,
asserted that their mode of fishing was at once the least
injurious and the most productive, and that it was admir-
ably adapted for a Highland loch or an arm of the sea.
The disputes between the two factions continued so loud
that Government appointed a Commission of Inquiry, who
reported in favour of trawling; and the Acts of 1851 and
1861 were accordingly repealed in 1867. But the drifters
have once more opened up the question ; another Commis-
sion of Inquiry has been appointed ; and what may be the
issue is at present uncertain.
No one, however, who has seen both trawling and drift-
ing, can doubt that the former is the quieter as it is the
more economical mode of fishing ; and we agree with a
recent writer in The Times, that the casting into the
waters every night, at a fishing-station like Wick or
Fraserburgh, of a thousand miles of drift-nets, is quite
enough to alarm the largest shoal of herrings which ever
tempted man's cupidity. The contrast, as he says, be-
tween the capture of a shoal of pilchards at St. Ives and
of a few thousand barrels of herring at Wick^ or Fraser-
burgh, is very striking. We shall describe hereafter the
Cornish seineing ; the ease and quiet with which the
captured pilchards are carried ashore at the leisure of the
ECONOMIC FISHING. 167
captors, or, if need be, left imprisoned for a few days
within the enclosed area of the seine -net. But on the
Scottish coast what a difference ! All is hurry, all is
turmoil ; and everybody seems bent upon doing his
work at a maximum of speed, too often with a minimum
of result. If the herring did not take fright at the
clamour, it would deserve a tribute of admiration as the
calmest and most composed of fish !
Economic fishing, says the writer already quoted, is the
one grand point of the fishery. " To capture as many
herrings as possible, without deranging the economy of
the shoal, ought to be the study of all engaged in the ad-
venture. But economy cannot be very well studied in
such a game of chance as the Scottish herring -fishery,
when the skipper of a boat rushes out his mile of netting
without knowing whether he will be rewarded by the
capture of a single fish. Seineiiig has this advantage,
that the net is not shot on chance. The men of Cornwall
and their imitators on Loch Fyne know that there is a
body of fish on the spot before they commence their
labours. For the last year or two the Scottish herring-
fishery has been wonderfully productive, but the take has
been, on the whole, not commensurate to the extent of
the netting and the number of boats in use. Remarkably
prolific as the herring is known to be, it is feared by
economists that it is still possible to exhaust or so dis-
turb the economy of certain shoals as to render them un-
productive."
The disadvantages of the drift-net are very serious.
The fishermen using it may shoot it twice in a night, and
each time on an unproductive spot. It is only by the
result they can tell whether they have or have not hit the
168 AN INTERESTING FISH.
herring ; whether they have secured a boat-load or only a
single barrel. The fishing is all a lottery. One boat
may not secure sixty fish ; another may be loaded up to
the gunwale. For with the drift-net you cannot obtain
your fish if they do not strike against it, and involve
themselves in its meshes. Now the net may float above
the shoal, or it may have sunk below them, or it may have
been shot at some place where the Clupeidse are not.
Thus, one lucky boat may complete its two hundred crans
in the first week or so of the season, while the others do
not secure fifty all the time the fishery lasts.
The reader, we hope, will now be of M. Lacepede's
opinion, that everything connected with this fish is full of
interest : " Le hareng est une de ces productions dont
Temploi decide de la destinee des empires." He will say,
with Badham, that all men who tar their fingers in the
" clupeaii service " are public benefactors, and the agents
of unmixed good. They add to our food-resources and
our national strength. " Men-of-war and merchantmen,"
writes Sir Roger L'Estrange, " consume men and breed
none ; the collier brings up now and then an apprentice,
but still spends more than he makes ; the only and com-
mon nursery of seamen is this fishery, where every buss
brings up (it may be) six, eight, or ten new men every
year, so that our fishery is just as necessary to our navi-
gation as to our safety and well-being."
CHAPTER VI.
THE PILCHARD, SPRAT, ETC.
il the Clupeidse family belong, besides the all-
important Herring, the Pilchard, or Gipsy
Herring (Clupea pilckardus), and the Sprat,
or Garvie (Harengula sprattus).
By some naturalists the pilchard is referred to the same
genus (Clupea) as the herring; by others to the same
genus (Alausa) as the shad. It is nearly of the same
size as the former,
but thicker, and
with a straighter
back and belly; its
scales are larger
and fewer ; and its
dorsal fin is placed
more to the fore.
The upper part of
its body is a bluish-
green ; the Sides THE PILCHARD.
and belly are silvery white ; the cheeks and gill-covers
tinged with golden yellow, and much streaked ; the dor-
sal fin and tail are dusky. It was formerly supposed to
170 APPEARANCE OF THE PILCHARDS.
be a migratory fish ; but its habits are now known to
resemble those of the herring, and when it approaches
the coast it does so for spawning purposes. It frequents
a lower latitude than the herring, and on the British
coast it is seldom found in any quantity except in
Devonshire and Cornwall. But it occurs in the Atlan-
tic waters of France, Spain, and Portugal, a*d in the
Mediterranean Sea.
The English pilchard-fishery is regulated by several
Acts of Parliament, the first of which dates from the
reign of Elizabeth. The capital invested in it is probably
little less than 1,000,000 sterling. It is principally
carried on during the months of August and September
the fish being caught either with drift-nets or seine-nets,
but principally with the latter. Each seine, or sean,
measures 360 feet in length, and 36 feet in depth.
About the middle of the spring the pilchards rise from
the deep water, and congregate together in small shoals
which, as the season advances, unite into larger ones, and
towards the end of July, or a little later, assemble in one
mighty host. This formidable phalanx, led by the
" Pilchard King," and the most powerful of the tribe,*
advances towards the south-western shores in such vast
numbers as actually to discolour the water, and pursued
by a legion of enemies, dog-fish, hake, cod, and sea-birds.
It strikes the land generally to the north of Cape Corn-
wall, where a detachment, swarming up the north-eastern
coast, constitutes the summer-fishery of St. Ives, while the
main body steers between Scilly and the Land's End, and
spreads as far north as Bigbury Bay and the Start Point.
The spectacle of this vast fish-army, as it passes the
* Couch, " Report of Penzance Natural History Society," 1847.
HOW THE FISHERY IS CONDUCTED. 171
Land's End, is described by local writers in language of
great enthusiasm, and,, unquestionably, must present
many features of interest.
In the beginning of October, the " north coasters" and
" winter fish," as they are called, make their appearance
on the north-east shore of Cornwall, and in such hosts
that no fewer than twelve millions have been caught in a
single day.
The drift-net . and the seine have each their advocates
among the fishermen. The former is employed out at
sea, and only between sunset and sunrise. The seine
fishing is the more general and the more successful, be-
cause it encloses the fish in shoals.
The boats employed in it are three in number : the
seine-boat, which carries the great net, or seine ; the volyer,
or follower, in which the thwart, or stop-net, is stowed ;
and the lurker, under the direction of the master seiner,
whose duty it is to keep a vigilant eye on the movements
of the fish. When the season has arrived, and the ap-
proach of the pilchard hosts is indicated by the gathering
of the gulls and other predatory sea-birds, look-out men,
called huers* are stationed along the cliffs, to watch the
sea until a peculiar red tinge of the water betokens the
presence of a shoal. At the welcome shout of Heva,
heva, hevaf (" found !") a scene of great excitement takes
place in every fishing-village ; the inhabitants rushing
frantically to the shore, and the boats pushing off at full
speed as if for a life-and-death struggle. The rowers
bend to their oars with a will, guiding their boats by the
gestures of the huer. No sooner do they reach the
" happy hunting-ground" than the great seine, which is
* From the French verb huer, to shout.
172 CURING THE PILCHARDS.
usually one hundred and sixty fathoms in length, is let
out by three of the crew, as the boat is rowed softly
round the shoal. With so much dexterity is this opera-
tion performed, that the whole net is often " shot " in less
than five minutes. The volyer, meantime, has kept the
net taut at the other end, and as soon as it is in the sea
both extremities are warped together, and the lurker
takes up its post at the opening, so as to drive back the
fish from the only aperture by which they can escape.
The moment the ends come in contact, the thwart-net is
dropped across, and the seine, being raised cautiously, is
quickly tacked together. Then, if the bottom be free
from rocks, and the water not too deep, the spoil is quickly
secured; and the men proceed at their leisure to count
over the number of their captives prior to drawing the
seine into shallow water.
At low tide, another company of men, called regular
seiners, proceed to effect the operation of " tucking ; "
that is, they remove the fish from the seine into a
smaller net the "tuck-net" and from the tuck-net lift
them lay flaskets into boats which convey them ashore.
When once they are safely landed, the pilchards are
carried in corvels, or wheeled in barrows, to the curing-
cellars, where they are piled up edgewise in great heaps,
each tier, as it is completed, being sprinkled with bay-
salt. We have used the word " sprinkled," but it is
scarcely broad enough in meaning, for the salt and the
pilchards are so thickly accumulated as to form separate
layers, like courses of masonry first salt, then pilchards,
then salt again, and so on. In this condition they are
left to drain for about six weeks, after which they are
thoroughly washed and cleansed, packed in hogsheads
THE PILCHARD IN OLD TIMES. 173
each containing about 2400 fish and pressed together
for the purpose of extracting the oil, which is valuable as
a commercial staple.
It now remains to head up the casks, and they are ready
for exportation. The principal buyers are found in
Italy whence the fishermen's toast. " Long life to the
Pope, and death to thousands." A brisk trade is also
carried on with Spain ; and there, as Fuller quaintly
says, "under the name of fumadoes ('fair maids'), with
oil and a lemon, they are meat for the mightiest don."
About 3500 hogsheads are annually caught and cured,
and of these some 6000 to 7000 are retained for home
consumption.
The ancient Greeks looked upon the pilchard as a fish
unfit for the table ; but the Romans had a more catholic
taste, and ate it with pine-nuts for a relish. The more
important clupea, the herring, was not known either to
Greeks or Kornans. As Dr. Doran jocularly remarks, it
was the Scots who " discovered " this fish, and the Dutch
bought, pickled, and sold or ate them. The story goes
that Charles V., in 1536, ate a herring upon the tomb of
Beuckels, the genius who first taught men how to salt
and cure it, and thereby enriched his country with a new
source of wealth.
The appearance of a " school" of pilchards is a welcome
sight on the Cornish coast, and their threefold value has
been commemorated in a local rhyme
" Meat, money, and light,
All in one night"
which must be of considerable antiquity. " Meat " and
" money" they still supply; but pilchard-oil is now very
little used for "light." There are many better substi-
174 u TUCKING " THE PILCHARDS.
tutes ; and; moreover, pilchard-oil finds a good market at
Bristol, whence it comes forth again under the name
(it is said) of " cod-liver oil." But whether for meat, or
money, or light, the pilchards are always welcome; and
never more welcome than now, when the treasures of the
earth are beginning to fail the Cornishman, and he is
glad to avail himself of the treasures of the sea. Let us
be joyful with the rest, and hasten down to the shore to
see the pilchards "tucked."
The " seines" have been shot before we arrive at the
scene of action, and now close in two circular ramparts
roimd their respective takes. For there are two in hand,
each measuring about 150 fathoms in length, and from
4 to 5 fathoms in depth. Each is carried out in a large
boat, which is attended by a " cock -boat." As soon as
the huers stationed on the cliff give the auspicious signal,
the seine-boat pulls vigorously out to sea, shooting the
seine as it goes, the cock-boat keeping at the other end.
The fish, striking against the net, invariably follow the
seine ; and hence the object of the fishermen is to pull so
far ahead of the "school" as to be able to turn it, and,
by rejoining the cock-boat, complete a line of circum-
vallation. If they succeed in this, the school will be shut
up in about one acre of water, marked out by the corks
which float the upper edge of the net. When the two
boats have joined, the men make a tremendous splashing
in order to drive the fish back, and then haul up and
fasten the two ends of the seine, so as to complete the
circle. Then they proceed with much care and patience
to draw it tighter.
And now, says an eye-witness,* the tucking is begun
* " Pilchards and Pilchard-Catchers," in Blackwood's Magazine, No. DCCVII.
TUCKING PILCHARDS. 175
as soon as possible. Step into that little boat that is
just going out, and you will be in time to see the tuck-
net east. The tuck-net fits inside the now contracted
seine, much as one's two hands, set scoopwise, would fit
inside a small wash-hand basin. At the thumbs are two
" hooks," or foot-ropes ; where the fingers touch is a
" cork-rope ; " where the wrists touch, a " brace," or rope,
which is to be pulled in to the "hooks" as soon as the
loose, baggy end of the tuck has s-unk under the fish. A
boat lies close by the two " hooks," and the fish are kept
away until .the bag is formed beneath them, by the
simple process of bobbing up and down a big " boulder-
stone," Then the bag is lifted, and all its treasures are
emptied out into the boats, the utmost care being taken not
to break the fish, which, unless quite sound, are unfit for
bulking. A tuck-net will hold as many as seven hundred
hogsheads ; but for this reason the men do not care about
lifting more than two hundred at once preferring, if the
take be large, to tuck twice or thrice before they empty
the seine. Sometimes they " miss tuck" that is, the
fish sink, or else escape between the hooks; in which
case they must try again, hoping the weather will keep
calm. Now and then, it is said, a " school " has been
kept in seine till salt for bulking has come over from
France; but occasionally a close-packed "school" will
nearly all get crowded to death if they are kept in too
long.
When the boats begin loading, the spectacle is as at-
tractive as it is curious. The silvery mass flashes brightly
in the sunshine, and heaves and struggles " as if it were
one being, instead of myriads of collective lives." We
have often gazed upon it with interest, and felt something
(502) 1 2
176 A GENERAL EXCITEMENT.
of the excitement which animates the fishers themselves.
Every moment it seems as if the imprisoned host would
extricate themselves from the hands of their captors, as
some struggling fish leaps suddenly back into the water
with a splash. Surely the net cannot endure the strain
put upon it ! Or else the men, strong and brawny as
they are, will lose their hold ! But no ; the thing is
done and, in less time than you would suppose possible,
the scaly victims are heaped into the boat.
On shore, meanwhile, all is expectation. From far
and near the population flock to assist in the profitable
labour. Young and old, miners and " bal-girls," are all
assembled, either to do a little bit of honest " gleaning "
for by standing near an unloading boat; it is easy to
pick a string of " windfalls " out of the water or to earn
a few pence by carrying to the bulkers. The boys who
take the fish along the boulder-pier and up to the yard,
receive threepence each journey ; the girls and women
who supply the bulkers, fivepence an hour. The gulls,
thronging the reefs with dusky wings, are also expectants ;
their share will be the broken fish, and the refuse of those
cleaned preparatory to being salted.
As soon as the first boat reaches land, the work begins.
Boys and men stagger along under loaded baskets. These
are emptied into games, or hand-barrows, which the girls
wheel up to the bulking-houses. Then the bulkers, or
curers, carefully arrange the fish in rows, with their noses
outside, and between each row interpose a good layer of
salt. When the fish are piled up high enough, boards are
placed on the top., and kept down by heavy weights.
Then the oil begins to flow, or rather trickle " virgin
oil," the first outcome, much more valuable than the
" PILCHARD-PIE." 177
thicker fluid afterwards obtained by stronger pressure.
A bulking-house, when filled, presents a remarkable sight,
and with the long tiers of heads, set in salt and pointing
outwards, bears some resemblance to a fairy's wine-bin
in which the precious juice would be stored, we suppose,
in tiny silver flasks. The whole of the " take," however,
is not put in bulk, a portion being kept for local consump-
tion. The Cornishman never eats his pilchard fresh (a
" fair maid" is its then designation) ; but he likes it salt;
and boiled with new potatoes, it makes a savoury, though,
we should think, a not very nutritious dish. Sometimes
pilchard-pie is set before a guest ; and having tasted of it,
we can aflirm that for those who like paste with a spratty
flavour, it is not so bad. We wonder the Cornishmen
don't take a lesson from the fishers of Brittany, and pack
up their pilchards in cases like sardines. Young pilchards
cannot easily be distinguished from sardines, and are sub-
stituted for them on the Brittany coast.
In the fisheries at St. Ives and its neighbourhood the
seine-net is used ; at Newly n, the drift-net is in favour.
The disadvantage of seineing is, that it is limited by certain
conditions the net must touch ground, and the water must
be tolerably smooth ; whereas the drift-net may be fished
in water of any depth, and in defiance of tides. We are
inclined to think, -however, that the fish are taken by the
seine in better condition, as they certainly are in larger
numbers. The mesh of the drift-net is large, and the
pilchard gets its head into it, though its body cannot fol-
low. Hence, when hauled up its appearance is provoca-
tive of laughter, for it is stuck full of " wriggling creatures
caught by their gills," painful for the fish, certainly, but
ridiculous in the eyes of a spectator.
178 SEINE VERSUS DRIFT.
The uncertainty of seineing is very great ; the quan-
tity of pilchards shipped from St. Ives alone, for instance,
has varied within the last quarter of a century from seven
thousand to nearly thirty thousand hogsheads. In 1847,
so large was the catch, that some of the seines had to be
kept in the water a fortnight, from want of sufficient
hands to take up the fish. As a matter of course, the
price is also very variable : fresh fish, from two shillings
a long hundred down as low as sixpence ; fumadoes, or
cured fish, from eighty-five shillings to thirty-five shillings
a hogshead of fifty-two gallons, holding about three thou-
sand fish.
The drifters do not confine themselves to the Cornish
waters. Their well-formed boats may be found on the
Irish coast and in St. George's Channel ; nay, they even
push through the Caledonian Canal into the North Sea.
It is the herring that takes them into these strange
waters ; but they are careful to return in time for the
pilchards.
The scene when the drift-boats come ashore, has all the
liveliness and something of the grotesquenfcss of a panto-
mime, though it is much more serious. We find it so
graphically described by a contemporary writer (in the
immortal Maga), that we cannot do better than transfer
his description to our pages, unaltered :
Not only is everybody busy, but every one is shouting
or screaming (your Cornish are un peuple criard) ; the
jowslers (hawkers), who have driven down from inland,
cracking their whips and yelling out the highest they will
give per hundred ; the wives eager to learn what sort of
take it has been ; everybody pitching his voice at that
sing-song which so baffles the comprehension of the mono-
THE DRIFT-NET FISHING. 179
toning Teuton. There is great fun and no fighting,
though the fishermen occasionally turn sulky, and stand
out resolutely for a certain price. Soon all the country
round will smack of St. Ives. The " crystal clear " where
you were wont to water your horse is surrounded by
half-a-dozen women pulling off the pilchards' heads, and
then dexterously scooping out the insides with their fingers.
" I wish," says our authority, " they would understand
that, put at once ' to pile,' the fish offal makes the best of
manures quite as good as the refuse salt which is so
largely used but that left to lie about, it loses its good-
ness, besides decidedly being ' matter in the wrong place.'
It is a pretty sight," he adds, " to see a company of drift-
boats ranked like a miniature fleet in order of battle. A
line of nets, each some twenty fathoms long, will stretch
three-quarters of a mile. The chief danger to the gear
is from the keels of passing vessels, which are therefore
signalled off by burning a wisp of straw. For drifting,
the sea must not be too clear; sometimes, if you look
down, you can see the net through all its seven fathoms of
depth, gleaming like a lattice-work of fire. At such
times the fish are pretty sure to swerve aside. Two hogs-
heads per boat is a fair take, but a boat has sometimes
taken up twenty hogsheads at one haul. The drifters
always take their lines out with them, and find plenty of
work in capturing the hake, and conger, and pollack,
which are preying on the ' school,' even gnawing off the
fish caught in the drift-meshes. Dog-fish, too, good for
the lobster-pots, are sometimes cauglit in enormous num-
bers : they are so bold that you can catch them with the
hand as they run at the bait ; but beware of the terrible
hook with which their fins are armed."
180 THE CORNISH FISHER-FOLK.
We don't know we can say much more about the pil-
chards. They lie in " bulk," or in store, as we should say,
about four weeks, during which time they give up all the
best of their oil. Then they are washed, and packed in
hogsheads, and pressed again, so as to get rid of all the
remaining oil and pickle. After which they are finally
coopered up, and shipped to Italy or Spain. They are
not smoked, though the Italians call them fumadoes ; but,
after all these processes, they are dry enough to be mis-
taken for smoked fish, and they taste not unlike the dried
sprats which the Dutch send over to our markets.
We might say much about the pilchard-fishermen, for
the Cornish population has characteristics of its own, re-
minding the traveller of the Celtic folk who inhabit the
wild shores of the lochs and bays of Argyllshire. The
dark eye, the thick eyebrow, the look of energy and de-
termination, the lithe muscular frame, the rapid animated
speech, all are contrasts to the leading traits of the slow-
moving peasants of Devonshire or Dorsetshire. They
are very hospitable, these Cornishmen ; frank in their
speech, respectful and yet independent in their manners ;
and animated, most of them, by a strong religious feeling,
which their fathers and grandfathers derived from the
old and fervid Wesleyanism. The men, as a rule, are
sober, and the women chaste ; and the Cornish villages
are seldom disturbed by riotous outbreaks.
We have already endeavoured to make the reader as
wise as ourselves in reference to the true character of the
SPRAT, which we must persist in considering a distinct
species of the Clupeidse, and not the young of the herring.
Sprats, which are really a nutritious and fine-flavoured
ABOUT THE SPRAT.
181
THE SPRAT.
fish, though sadly undervalued by our cooks and house-
wives, abound on the coasts of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex,
and Kent in the winter _ . .
months, and are also
very plentiful in the
Firth of Forth, where
they are known as
(jarvies. The net used
for taking them has
smaller meshes than the
herring-net. Drift-net
fishing is practised, and
also stow-boat fishing
that is, a large bag-net is suspended from two horizontal
beams beneath the boat, at an elevation of six or seven
feet from the bottom, the fishermen being able to keep
the mouth of the net always open by means of ropes from
the ends of the upper beam. When the net is full, the
ends are drawn together, and the booty hauled on board.
Fresh sprats find a ready sale in London, Edinburgh,
and Glasgow ; and there is also a good demand for dried
or smoked sprats. They do duty, too, as sardines, in the
tin cases imported in such quantities from the west of
France ; and the kilkies brought from Riga, and other
Baltic ports, are sprats cured with spices.
The sprat-fishery for sardine-making finds employment
for a number of hands on the coast of Brittany. The
process of curing them may be thus described : After
the fish have been well washed in sea-water, they are
sprinkled with clean salt. The heads are then cut off,
and the intestines removed ; they are again rinsed in sea-
water, and hung up or laid out on willow branches or
182
THE TRUE SARDINE.
wire-work to dry and improve their colour. Finally, for
a brief period they are placed in a pan of boiling oil.
" Out of the frying-pan" is not "into the fire," how-
ever, in the case of the fictitious sardines. They are de-
posited on a grating to leb the oil drain off, and then
packed up in the trim little tin cases which form so
agreeable an ornament of the breakfast-table.
The bait chiefly used for catching sprats is cod and
mackerel roe ; and the French fishermen, it is said, spend
80,000 a year in the purchase of this kind of bait. Fully
thirteen thousand boats are employed on the coast of
Brittany in the sardine trade.
THE SARDINE.
The true SARDINE (Clupea sardina) is a fish of the same
genus as the herring and the pilchard, but is smaller than
either. It abounds in the Mediterranean ; and sardines
preserved in oil, after the fashion already described, are
exported in large quantities from some of the French and
Italian ports. Like its congeners, it moves towards the
THE SARDINE-FISHERY. 183
shore in immense shoals at the approach of the spawning-
season ; and the sardine-fishery on the coast of Provence
takes place in the months of May, June, and July.
Sardines cured in red wine a process practised in the
south of France are called sardines anchoiseeSj or ancho-
vied sardines. Several species of Clupeidse having a
very close resemblance to this favourite species, are found
in different parts of the world.
An important sardine-fishery exists on the coast of
Brittany, and employs about 13,000 boats. But young
herrings, young pilchards, and especially sprats, are made
to do duty as genuine sardines; nor, when cured and
served up in oil, can the difference be easily detected.
The real sardine, however, closely resembles a sparling,
though it is of fuller flavour. All along the coast from
Nantes to Brest, including the magnificent sweep of the
Bay of Douarnenez, the fishery extends, employing nearly
the whole of the maritime population. The type of people
in this part of Brittany is curiously Celtic ; and they have
much more in common with the Welsh in speech and
habits, as well as in physiognomy, than with the rest of
Frenchmen. The men wear a kind of jacket, with a sash
round the waist, and a hat with streamers to it that gives
them the look of newly-enlisted recruits. The women's
costume is picturesque in the extreme ; their tall linen
caps and embroidered muslin skirts rendering them pecu-
liarly interesting to an artist's eye.
The Whitebait, the Anchovy, and the Shad are mem-
bers of the great Clupeidse family. Their fisheries are of
no commercial importance, and, therefore, we can devote
to them a few lines only.
184
ABOUT THE ANCHOVY.
THE WHITEBAIT.
Of the WHITEBAIT (Clupea alba), it seems to be by no
means safe to say that it is either a distinct species or the
young of the herring.
Learned doctors have
been found to argue
on both sides. But
this is clear that it
is a white-sided, green-
backed fish, found in the Thames, the Forth, the Humber,
and other localities, and forced by fashion into a notoriety
which, as an article of food, it does not deserve.
About the ANCHOVY (Engraulis encrasicolus), however,
there can be no mistake. It is distinguished from the
clupea by its more deeply cloven mouth, the greater width
of its gill-openings,
and its more numer-
ous gill-rays. It is a
fish of a rich and
peculiar flavour, about
as long as one's middle
finger, with a sharp-pointed head, a deeply -forked tail,
and large silvery scales which are readily removed.
Though found in the British seas, or, at least, on the
coast of Cornwall, and even ascending as far north as
the Baltic and the shores of Greenland, it prefers the
warmer waters of the Mediterranean, and the genial
coasts of Spain, Portugal, and France. Here, in the
months of May, June, and July, when this fish leaves the
deeps and seeks the shallower waters, an extensive and
profitable fishery is conducted. Night is the time for
anchovy-fishing, and the fishes are drawn near the boats
THE ANCHCTVY.
A ROMAN SAUCE. 185
by the blaze of fires. They are cleaned, salted, and ex-
ported in small barrels.
Anchovy sauce, as a condiment, is very popular on our
modern tables ; and anchovies, it is said, were used by
the Romans in the preparation of their celebrated garum,
a seasoning of which they were strangely fond. Origin-
ally, this would seem to have been a shrimp sauce ; but
it was subsequently made of the intestines of anchovies,
sardines, sprats, or almost any fish, macerated in water,
and saturated with salt. As soon as symptoms of putre-
faction appeared, a little parsley and vinegar were added
and the sauce was complete. The Romans, however,
were fond of " miscellaneous feeding," to judge from the
following directions for preparing the accessories of a
banquet, given in Horace's " Satires," ii. 4 :
" Simplex e dulci constat olivo
Quod pingui miscere mero muriaque decebit,
Non alia quam qua Byzantia putuit orca.
Hoc ubi confusum sectis inferbuit herbis
Corycioque croco sparsum stetit, insuper addes
Pressa Venafranse quod bacca remisit olivee
Picenis cedunt pomis Tiburtia succo ;
Nam facie prsestant. Venucula convenit ollis,
Rectius Albanam fumo duraveris uvam.
Hanc ego cum malis, ego faecem primus et allec,
Primus et invenior piper album cum sale nigro
Incretum puris circumposuisse catillis."
[That is : It is worth while to master thoroughly the qualities of compound
sauce. The simple consists of sweet olive oil ; which should be mixed with
rich wine, and with the same pickle of which the Byzantine jar smells so
strongly.* When this has been made to boil with a mixture of chopped herbs,
and has been allowed to cool, after Cilician saffron has been sprinkled over it,
then do you add besides the oil of the pressed berry of the Venafrum olive.
The fruit of Tibur is inferior in juice, but superior in appearance, to that of
Picenum. The grape of Venucula is good for preserving in jars ; the Alban
is best when thoroughly smoked. On inquiry you will find that I the first of
all men placed round the table on clean dishes this kind of grape, together
with apples, lees, and fish-pickle, white pepper sprinkled through a sieve, and
black salt. ]
* A pungent, malodorous pickle made from the tunny-fish.
186
ABOUT THE SHAD.
THE SHAD.
We turn to the SHAD (Alausa), which differs from the
clupea in having the upper jaw deeply notched. Other-
wise, it closely resem-
bles the herring in form
and appearance, and on
this account, and in al-
lusion to its large size,
the British species is
known among Scottish
fishermen by the name
of the "King of the
Herrings." The Com-
mon or Alice Shad (Alausa communis), which attains
a length of two and even three feet, is found very abun-
dantly in the Severn, and also on other parts of the
British coast. It is a better flavoured fish than the
Twaite Shad (Alausa fuita), which, however, is more
plentiful, especially to the south of the Thames, and in
the Thames itself below Blackwall. It seldom exceeds
sixteen inches in length, and is marked by a row of
dusky spots along each side of the body. Its fishing is
prohibited after June, in order to allow it to deposit its
spawn.
A large species of shad, which is much valued as an
article of food, abounds in the Hudson, Delaware, Chesa-
peake, and other rivers of North America.
CHAPTER VII
THE STURGEON.
"Who has uot learnt, freah sturgeon and ham-pie
Are no rewards for want and infamy ?" POPE.
[THOUGH the STUBGEON, in its general form,
resembles the Squalidse, and in some respects
is allied both to shark and ray, and though
it is little inferior in size the Great or Isin-
glass Sturgeon (Accipenser huso) attaining the length of
twenty or twenty-five feet yet it differs from them con-
siderably in structure and habits. It has an elongated
and slender body, tapering gradually towards the tail ;
the snout is long and obtuse, and furnished beneath, at
some distance from the end, with four long worm-shaped
cirri ; its mouth, situated below and behind the muzzle,
is small and toothless ; and the upper jaw is formed by
the palatal bones. Its pectoral fins are oval, and
medium-sized ; the dorsal are small, and placed very near
the tail ; the ventral and anal are likewise small, and
nearly opposite the dorsal. The tail is slightly forked,
the upper lobe extending far beyond the lower. As for
the general colour of the sturgeon, it may be described as
188
THE COMMON STURGEON.
THE STURGEON.
ashy or sooty on the upper parts, and yellowish-white on
the under ; so that it can by no means claim attention
on the score of brilliancy.
Notwithstanding its strength and size and even the
Common Sturgeon (Accipenser sturio) sometimes measures
eighteen feet from snout to tail it is dangerous only to
those inhabitants of the waters which are unable to de-
fend themselves : such as worms, for which it roots
among the mud like a hog ; herrings, mackerel, ducks
and wild geese; and salmon, too, which, ascending the
rivers at the same time as the sturgeon, are terribly
thinned in numbers by the latter, a fact which originated
the old idea that the sturgeon was the " captain " or
" leader of the salmon."
A MONSTER FISH. 189
Longitudinal rows of bony plates extending along its
body equip it in a famous suit of " harness;" and its
head is as well protected as that of a " mailed knight."
Like Hamlet's father, it is armed
"At point exactly, cap-a-pie,"-
from "head to foot;" and it is further covered through-
out its whole length by five series of strong, large, osseous
tubercles, rounded at the base, and terminated above by
a keen curved point in a reversed direction. Its nata-
tory bladder, which forms one of its claims to the epi-
cure's regard, is of large size, and communicates with the
esophagus through a considerable orifice.
There are at least four different species of sturgeon
distinguished by zoologists ; three of which, the three
largest, frequent the Don, the Danube, and the other
rivers which flow into the Black and Caspian Seas. The
largest of these, occasionally found in the Po, will weigh
as much as three thousand pounds ; and no power under
that of a strong team of oxen can drag the monster from
the river when taken. The common sturgeon is found
in the Baltic and the streams of Northern Europe. It
lives indifferently in salt water and fresh water, lakes,
rivers, and seas. It may be caught in the Mediterranean
or the Red Sea ; and when spring returns to quicken the
glad earth, it finds its way up all the great European
rivers the Volga, Po, Garonne, Loire, Rhine, Oder,
Elbe, and even the secondary streams. Does not Au-
sonius describe the mighty fish cleaving with arrowy
swiftness the cairn waters of the " blue Moselle "?
" Cum tranquillos moliris in amne meatus,
Te virides ripae, te caerula turba natantum,
Te liquids mirantur aqua?, diffunditur alveo
Justus, et extremi procurrunt marline fluctus."
190 AN INTERESTING RECLUSE.
See, stream and shore and azure shoals admire,
As swift they breast the tide,
And part the eddying waters, which recede
To either grassy side.
Sturgeon were caught in the Moselle in 1758. In
1782, two which were taken at Paris were transported
to Versailles, and presented to Louis XVI. As late as
1800 a sturgeon nourished in the fish-ponds at Mal-
maison, which had been captured at Neuilly. These
were common sturgeon, averaging six to eight feet in
length. A fish of this size, taken in the Loire, was
offered to Francis I. during his residence at Montargis.
Sturgeon, like salmon, enter the rivers for the purpose
of depositing their spawn. Their fecundity is marvel-
lous : in an individual weighing only one and a half hun-
dredweight, 1,476,566 eggs have been counted. In oozy
estuaries they thrust their cartilaginous snout into the
mud, and find worms enough to satisfy an appetite
which is never voracious. Sometimes, we are told, one
of these fish will take possession of a particular locality,
and continue in it for years, defying all efforts at its
capture. One of these solitary recluses, says Badham,
long established his quarters at the mouth of a small
river on the Baian coast, and the sailors, do what they
would, could never take it its habit was to retire into
the ground-floor of a submarine villa, and thus success-
fully elude pursuit.
Duly to estimate its commercial value, we must take
several data into consideration ; such as size, number,
extended range, the estimation in which its flesh is held,
and the important preparations made from its swim-
bladder and roe. As to its size, we have shown that
the larger fish weigh as much as three thousand pounds,
USEFULNESS OF THE STURGEON. 191
and attain a length of eighteen to twenty-four feet. The
head alone sometimes yields a tun of oil. As to numbers,
who can calculate the hordes which swarm in the Red
Sea, the Black Sea, and the Caspian, or annually ascend
the principal rivers ? In regard to range, they extend
over a considerable portion of the globe. Then the
sturgeon is the only creature eaten entire. " Beef and
mutton require trimming and paring away superabundant
fat, to say nothing of horns, hides, hoofs, and other un-
eatable appurtenances, reducing the Smithfield beast,
when the cook has to deal with him, to greatly diminished
proportions." But there is no waste about Accipenser
sturio ; it suffers scarcely any diminution in bulk : of its
dainty carcass the whole is edible flesh, blood, cartilage,
ovaries, milt, liver, swim-bladder, skin, fin, tail, and
spinal marrow. There are no bones ; and the only parts
not eaten are the osseous plates which encase, and the
sinews which support, the processes of the back : and
these last are made up into thongs by the Russian and
Asiatic peasantry.
The flesh of the sturgeon is very delicate, and is de-
scribed as resembling veal when roasted. That of the
male fish is the better flavoured, and it was regarded by
the Greeks as a special dainty. The Romans paid the
sturio a kind of worship ; public officers, crowned with
gay garlands and escorted by musicians, bore it, magni-
ficently decorated, in grand procession along the crowded
streets. Cicero recommends it as a more suitable gift
to a sorrowing friend than any book full of the philosophy
of Socrates. At this day, in China, it is reserved ex-
clusively for the imperial table. In the Middle Ages, all
the sturgeon caught in English rivers belonged as of
(502) 1 3
192 " CAVIARE," AND ITS SOURCE.
right to the king. In France, the same privilege was
bestowed by certain charters on the great lords. The
Emperor of all the Russias similarly monopolized it, and
supplied himself, and the crowned heads, his particular
allies, with the white or finest caviare.
The sturgeon is still held in high estimation as an
edible ; but the eggs are more valued than the flesh.
After they have been very carefully selected, they are
washed, and kneaded up with salt and various condi-
ments, to form red or black caviare, which is extensively
used in Russia, Greece, Italy, and France. The finest
caviare is made from the roe of the Accipenser ruthenus,
or Sterlet, and is reserved for the Russian court. The
preparation of caviare forms one of the staple trades of
Astracan, and upwards of four hundred thousand pounds
have been prepared in the Caspian fishery in a single year.
The species which chiefly furnish it are the Osseter
(Accipenser galdenstadtii), the Bielaga or Great Sturgeon,
(Accipenser huso), and the Scherg or Scoruga (Accipenser
stellatus). That it was in favour in England as early as
the reign of Elizabeth, we know from Shakespeare's
allusion : " It is caviare to the multitude." Isinglass is
manufactured to a large extent from the swim-bladder
as, indeed, its name indicates, being nothing less than a
corruption of the German hausen-blasse, or sturgeon's
bladder.
The sturgeon-fishery, according to ancient and modern
writers, is conducted in many ways. When these fish
appear in a river, it seems that you need only run along
the banks, 'rending the air with your shouts, to frighten
them into shallow water, where they necessarily become
STURGEON-FISHING.
193
stranded. With strong cords and a yoke of oxen, you
may then draw them ashore in safety.
On the Garonne, and other French rivers, the fishery
begins in February, and lasts until July, August, or even
September. A large net is dragged between a couple of
boats, each manned by three or four men. As soon as a
fish is caught, a rope is passed across its ears and round
TOWING STURGEON.
its throat, and it is moored to one of the boats. This
process continues until a sufficient number has been cap-
tured, when they are towed to Bordeaux and disposed of.
But the chief seat of the sturgeon-fishery is in Russia,
where there are two seasons, a winter and a spring one.
It begins in January, and is inaugurated with a grand
ceremonial. The day being publicly notified, formal in-
vitations are addressed to all whom it may concern.
194
ON THE ICE-FIELD.
These, before dawn, assemble in the public place, and
nominate a captain ; who, prior to their departure, re-
views the fishermen, and carefully examines the condi-
tion of their equipment. At sunrise a couple of cannon-
shots give the signal for starting, and the sledges dart
away at full gallop, the one which first reaches the
STURGEON-FISHING ON THE ICE.
river-bank being at liberty to select the best position.
Quickly the ice-crust on the waters is broken with pick-
axe and spade ; each fisherman plunges his harpoon into
the crevasse before him, stirs it to and fro, withdraws it
as soon as he feels certain of a catch, and, with the assist-
STURGEON-FISHING ON THE VOLGA.
A SCENE ON THE VOLGA. 197
ance of stout tackle, brings his prey to the surface. A
skilful harpooner will take from eight to ten fish in a
day.
On the Volga they are caught in decoys. A weir, or
embankment, is constructed with piles, in the centre of
which is left an opening into a basin or compartment,
enclosed with nets and osier-hurdles, and provided, like
the madrague, with a movable bottom, which can be
raised, when necessary, by men stationed upon the sum-
mit of the dyke for that purpose.
The sturgeon, swimming up the stream, are brought to
a halt by the embankment. After awhile they find out
the only gap or opening in it, and drift into the prison
beyond, where they indicate their presence by unwittingly
setting in motion a number of small floating buoys, secured
by ropes. The look-out men immediately lower the
hurdles behind their captives, and the fishers proceed to
gather in their harvest. Some are taken immediately out
of the water; others are drawn up the river by ropes
fastened round the head ; but much care and skill are
necessary in thus harnessing the fish to avoid a blow from
the tail, which would knock a man down, and break a
limb or send him overboard.
It is said that a regularly equipped flotilla sails
yearly in the rivers of Astracan to engage in this
important fishery. It starts in the winter, when the
sturgeon hide in the depths and hollows of the
estuaries, hybernating sometimes alone, but more fre-
quently sharing a common dormitory, where, it is said,
they suck in sufficient supplies of isinglass from each
other's bodies to keep them in good condition. The
expedition proceeds with infinite caution, for fear of
198 THE ASTRACAN FISHERY.
alarming the objects of the intended attack, and absolute
silence is maintained on board the boats. When these
have stolen to the winter quarters of the unsuspecting
fish, the crews take in their canvas, and noiselessly lower
their nets. The stupid creatures see the entangling
mesh- work slowly descending, but in their utter simpli-
city do not move a fin. At length the net touches them,
and they stir a little ; but soon becoming used to its
slight pressure, they drift lazily and indifferently towards
the landing-place. When they get near the shallow
water, the fishermen proceed to irritate them, by dropping
a plummet on the heads of the largest, whereupon, in a
state of intense agitation, they rush together, plunge and
rear like " high-mettled racers," and run themselves
aground. There they lie at the mercy of their captors,
who are nothing loath to secure the highly- valued prey.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE EEL-FISHERY.
" Moth. I will praise an eel with the same praise.
Armado. What, that an eel is ingenious?
Moth. That an eel is quick." SHAKESPEARE.
| HE EEL is one of the fishes most extensively
distributed over the surface of the globe. It
is found in the East and West Indies ; it
lives under the ice of Greenland ; it pene-
trates into the interior of the Chinese Empire ; it teems
in the British rivers ; it enjoys every temperate and
tropical climate.
Its reputation is not less extensive than its habitat.
From the most ancient times down to our own day it has
figured on the tables of patrician and plebeian, prince and
peasant, the opulent and the poor. Almost the only
people who refuse to count it among their food-supplies
are the Jews and Egyptians, Moslems and Greenlanders,
and, to some extent, Scotchmen. With these few excep-
tions, the world generally, from the epoch of Aristotle to
that of Darwin, has agreed in bearing unqualified testi-
mony to the merits of this ubiquitous favourite ; and
amidst the caprices of fashion, the endless mutations of
200 THE EEL OF ANTIQUITY.
taste, and the continual revolutions of the culinary code,
the eel has maintained a just celebrity.*
The Egyptians worshipped eels, and so did the Greeks,
but in a different way. " Your idol is likewise my idol,"
exclaimed Antiphonus, a Greek epigrammatist, who nour-
ished about 100 B.C.; "but I don't worship him in the
same manner : you Egyptians reverence him as a deity, I
adore him in a dish ! " " The Egyptians," remarked an-
other profane wit, " are right in esteeming eels above
their other divinities ; for the latter can be gained to
one's side only by prayers and vows, while the former you
secure for a few drachmae." The best eels were eagerly
sought after, and almost as many countries contended for
this distinction as cities for the honour of having given
birth to Homer. The Macedonians asserted that none
could equal theirs ; Sicily protested that hers deserved
the pre-eminence, especially those which came from the
neighbourhood of Syracuse ; Phrygia put in a claim for
profit and laudation ; so did the rivers Euclen and Eloris,
and the Thracian Strymon ; but it seems to have been
admitted that the finest and fattest came from Bceotia.
The Boeotians were not unthankful for their good fortune.
They crowned their eels for sacrifice, threw over them the
usual salted cake, and offered up a devout prayer to the
gods ; after which, we may suppose, the priests and their
attendants enjoyed a glorious banquet.
If the finest eels came from Bceotia, the finest Boeotian
eels came from Lake Copais ; they were sent in consider-
able quantities to Athens, where they found a ready sale.
Pausanias says :t " The fish of this lake differ not in
* Badham, "Ancient and Modern Fish-Tattle," p. 369.
t Pausanias, bk. ix., c. 24.
MODERN EELERIES. 201
kind from those found elsewhere, but the eels are of
large size, and very sweet." The lake is now, according
to Colonel Mure,* a large yellow swamp, overgrown with
sedges, reeds, and canes, through which the river Cephissus
may be distinguished oozing its sluggish path for several
miles. But it is still famous for its eels, which Leake
describes as large, white, of delicate flavour, and light of
digest ion. t
The principal modern " eeleries " would seem to be the
streams at Narbonne and Montpellier, and the Seine near
Elbceuf, in France ; the Elbe, where specimens weighing
sixty pounds reward the industrious angler ; and "Worken,
in Prussia, which sends tens of thousands to England
every year. In England we are all acquainted with
" The Kennet swift, for silver eels renowned ;"
while Ely, or Eel Island, Elmore on the Severn, and
Ellesmere on the Mersey, owe their names to the quan-
tity and quality of the eels found in their waters. The
Cam produces good eels ; and they are also to be taken,
and when taken valued, in the streams of Norfolk and
Lincolnshire. An old couplet says of two localities in
the latter county :
" Ankham eel and Witham pike
In all England is none like."
The eels caught in the Thames and in the water-courses
of Essex are never of large size, but they are tolerably
good eating.
The most fantastic theories have been broached in
reference to the reproduction of eels. One authority
* Mure, " Tour in Greece," i. 227.
t Leake, " Northern Greece," ii. 159.
202 ABOUT THE EEL.
gravely affirms that they are engendered by mud. An-
other, that they spring from the hairs of a horse's tail,
after they have been sufficiently soaked. A third pro-
tests that eels have no other parents than crabs. Pliny
supposed that the old eels committed suicide by rubbing
themselves against rocks, and that out of the pieces and
particles thus detached a new brood issued. Van Hel-
mont, a medieval philosopher, attributed them to the
dews of a May morning; while others have conceived
them to be developed from the various parasites which
infest the gills and bodies of carp, cod, salmon, and simi-
lar fish.
The fact is, the birth of the eel is one of the mysteries
of natural history. And notwithstanding the researches
of naturalists, all we can safely say is that the eel is ovo-
viviparous, and that its young make their appearance
with the genial spring. There is no doubt, however,
about their fecundity ; and wherever they take up their
quarters, they soon accumulate in countless hosts. Spal-
lanzani says that in the marshes of Comacchio nine hun-
dred and ninety thousand were caught in a single year.
In Jutland the fishermen sometimes capture nine to ten
thousand at a single cast of the net. A French writer
asserts that along the banks of the Lower Seine they are
caught by the bucketful ! In the ditches around Rouen
they abound in such numbers, says Pouchet, that the
children amuse themselves by catching the slippery crea-
tures with the hand. We know of a fish-pond into
which half-a-dozen were thrown to stock it, and in the
following year we never laid our night-lines without
securing a satisfactory harvest.
In spring the young eels ascend the rivers in countless
HABITS OF THE EEL. 203
bands, myriads upon myriads in a serried phalanx, which
throws off immense detachments at every ditch and pool :
this migration the French call la montee. In autumn
they descend towards the sea; and you will find them
swarming in thousands in the creeks and channels to
which they are conducted by the barriers and embank-
ments of the fishermen. They prefer to accomplish their
migratory movements at night. Sometimes, when a
failure of their food-supply, or other cause, induces them
to change their quarters, they traverse a considerable
extent of land to reach a suitable locality. Mr. Yarrell
justly says that of this circumstance there can be no
doubt. When grass meadows are wet from dew, he says,
they travel during the night over the moist surface in
search of frogs or their usual food. Some ponds contin-
ually produce eels however desirous their owners may
be to keep them out, from a knowledge of the havoc they
commit among the spawn and fry of other fishes. It
may happen that in other ponds they will refuse to stay-
on account, perhaps, of some obnoxious quality in the
water ; and though again and again introduced, they will
leave the uncongenial locality during the night, and be-
take themselves elsewhere.
During the cold months of the year they remain im-
bedded in the mud ; and large quantities are frequently
taken by eel-spears in the soft soils, and harbours, and
banks of rivers, from which the tide recedes and leaves
the surface exposed for several hours every day. The
sensitive fish, which are unable to endure any sudden
depressions of temperature, and avoid all ice-cold waters,
bury themselves, fully a foot deep or more, near the edge
of the navigable channel, and generally near some of the
204
A TRANSITION-FORM.
many land-drains, the water of which continues to run
in its course over the mud into the channel during the
whole time the tide is out. In Somersetshire, as Mr.
Yarrell remarks, the people know how to find the holes
in the river-banks in which the eels are hybernating, by
the hoar-frost not lying over them as it does elsewhere,
and they dig them out in heaps.
The eel seems to form a connecting link between the
fish and serpent, and probably the abhorrence with which
it is regarded by the Jews is due to its serpentine form.
It has no ventral fins, and its body is covered with a soft,
thick, viscous skin, of which the scales are so minute as
to be almost invisible, whilst they are sometimes wanting.
It belongs to the family or order Murcenidce, which
some naturalists subdivide, according to their characteris-
tics, into the families Synbranckidce, Murcenidce , Anguil-
lidce, CongeridcKj and Opkisuridce. In all these the ske-
leton is without ribs, and the fin-rays are not articulated ;
two features distinguishing them from the Gymnotidce, or
" SLIPPERY AS AN EEL." 205
electric eels, whose ribs encircle the body, and whose fin-
rays are duly jointed. The gill-openings, in the eel, are
remarkably small, and are placed far back, so that the
duct from the air-chamber to the mouth is of considerable
length. Thus the gills can retain their humidity for
some time, and the eel remain out of water without suf-
fering any inconvenience. Hence, too, its respiration is
slow and feeble. This is a characteristic of the reptiles,
to which, in form, the eel is closely allied, and is accom-
panied both in them and in the eel by an extraordinary
tenacity of life, a tenacity which has become proverbial.
We need not believe, however, the story told by Gesner,
of an Englishman who had seen an eel come nine times
alive out of the trail of a raven, absolutely refusing to be
digested ; but, when caught by a sturgeon, it has really
been observed to retreat backwards in the same way.
Its slipperiness has given rise to many a popular adage.
The Latins said, " Anguilla est, elabitur ; " He is an eel,
and he is off ! " As slippery as an eel," is a favourite
comparison for a sly fellow not easily kept to the truth.
And a Latin epigram likens life to this uncertain fish,
which one moment you hold in your hand, and the next
moment it is gone :
"How mobile, fleet, and uncontrolled,
Glides life's uncertain day !
Who clings to it but grasps an eel,
That quicker slips away ! "
The Mursenidse are marine fish; but the Anguillidae
or eels proper, though some of them occasionally pay a
visit to the sea, are fresh-water fish. Their pectoral fins
are of tolerable size, while their dorsal fins stretch down
to and wholly encompass the tail. Groups of numerous
206 HOW EELS ARE CAUGHT.
longish scales, resembling very minute mesh- work, are
sunken in the skin. There are three or four species
found in British waters. The Sharp-nosed (Anguilla vul-
garis, or acutirostris) is the most common. The Snig eel
(Anguilla mediorostris) is best fitted for the table. Its
cervical vertebrae are without the processes found in the
first-named species and in the Broad-nosed eel (Anguilla
latirostris) .
The eel-fishery is conducted in various ways. Weirs
and dykes are erected across streams, with baskets, or
bucks, as they are called, fixed in them, to entrap the eels
in the course of their passage. These bucks are of a con-
siderable size, and shaped like a jar, in the mouth of
which a funnel-shaped osier apparatus, constructed on the
principle of a mouse-trap, is securely fitted. The eels
readily force their way into the interior, but on attempt-
ing to return find the entrance closed against them.
" Eel-pots " are also used. These are made like the bucks,
but are not so strong or large. They are sunk, by means
of stones, in the favourite " runs " of the eels, among the
reeds or near the banks, and in this way scores are cap-
tured. .They are also taken by " night-lines." The
angler provides himself with a long stout line, to one end
of which he fastens a heavy weight, and the other he
secures to a post or stake on the border of the stream.
At intervals of three or four feet he arms his line with
hooks, baited with worms, minnows, or fragments of dead
fish, and then he sinks it in the muddy bottom of the
pond or stream. At early dawn he hauls in his line, and
generally finds himself supplied with a good harvest.
If left too long, however, the larger eels are apt to wriggle
ANGLING FOR EELS. 207
themselves off' the hooks. " Sniggling " is another mode
of eel-capture. Take a rod, or long stick, strongly curved
at the top, and fasten a ring to its extremity ; through
this ring slip a piece of string, one end of which must be
held tightly in your hand. To the other end, on some
stout twine, attach a strong darning-needle, fastening it
by the middle. For bait you secure a large lob- worm,
through which you thrust your needle longitudinally,
with an utter disregard of its feelings, taking care that
only the twine shall emerge from the lob- worm's head.
Having drawn your worm up to the ring of the rod, your
preparations are complete ; and fixing on some hole which
you suspect to accommodate an eel, you thrust the point of
your rod, and the living bait, into it. As soon as you
think the worm has been swallowed, give a gentle twitch
to the string ; and the needle, which, inside the worm,
has gone straight down the eel's throat, being tied by the
middle, is twisted across the creature's gullet or stomach,
and firmly hooks it. This process requires some skill and
more patience ; and, so far as our experience goes, is not
very fruitful in satisfactory results.
Then there is "clod-fishing." You string a good -sized
bunch or cluster of lob-worms to some stout worsted, and
fasten the said bunch to the end of a cord, which is, in
its turn, attached to a rod or pole. Where the eels are
moving, you take up a convenient position, and dropping
your clod into the water, allow it to sink to the bottom.
The moment you feel " a bite," gently and smoothly, but
quickly, draw up your bait. The eel or eels will be found
to have so entangled its or their teeth in the 'worsted as
to be unable to get free. This method is extensively
practised in Holland.
(502) 1 j.
208
A VISIT TO COMACCHIO.
ANGLING FOR EELS.
At Comacchio, near Venice, an immense apparatus, the
largest in existence, and constructed on principles which
show a profound knowledge of the habits of these fish,
provides for their capture on a gigantic scale.
The " lagoon " of Comacchio, lying about two miles
distant from the Adriatic coast, measures one hundred
and forty miles in circumference. It contains several
islands, on one of which is situated the fortified town of
Comacchio. The lagoon is divided into forty basins, or
"fields," as they are locally called, by dykes, and each
basin is connected with the Adriatic by a canal. Through
these canals the fry of the sole, the mullet, and other
fishes, but more particularly the eel, enter the lagoon,
where they are fattened until they attain a marketable
value.
The government of the lagoon is placed in the hands of
the farmer-general, who rents the fisheries from the Italian
Government. The men whom he employs are divided into
brigades ; and their business consists in the construction
AN EEL-CATCHING ESTABLISHMENT. 209
and repair of the dykes, in the management of the flood-
gates at the time of the arrival of the young fish, and the
organization of the labyrinth during the fishing-season.
This brigade numbers about three hundred men. For
police purposes a brigade of one hundred and twenty is
kept, and the general administration is carried on by a
brigade of about one hundred. The islands sprinkled
over the lagoon are termed "farms." Each is occupied
by about twelve labourers, who live in barracks, under
strict discipline, and obey the orders of a master, whose
will, in his own little territory, is absolute, and who re-
ceives a salary of four scudi seventy-five baiocchi per
month, with two pounds and a half of fish, or a corres-
ponding allowance in money, per day. The labourers are
paid a small fixed wage, and a commission on the produce
of the farm. When old and infirm, they are supported
at the expense of the community ; and a similar charity
is extended to their widows and orphans.
They are specially busy, these strange fisher-folk, who
live a life apart from the ordinary work-day world, at
the spring and autumn seasons ; that is, when the young
fry enter the basin, and when the adult eels are impelled
by instinct to make their escape from them.
The canals are left open from the 2nd of April to the
end of June ; and during these three months the young
eels spontaneously quit the waters of the Po and the
Adriatic to enter the lagoon. The stormier the weather,
the greater the influx. Of course, other young fish enter
at the same time, and may be seen on the surface of the
water, or at a very slight depth. The eels, on the con-
trary, keep close to the bottom, and do not show them-
selves ; but the people .of Comacchio have a means of as-
...,,, , , , III,,
' i ' i li. i In i I In 111," , I|MIII<|HII| .,, mill
II " ' ' I" i "I I I II- ..i i .
1.11(1 -"I ' I M ' I- poll I" I I" I- 1 I I I I" I
linn ' i i i ill i.i \ i M,I. , .1-1 1,.
Ill (III! I'MJMI M" III li.il ' I lii i I I.. i iHlllil, lh(|
' I" ' I I", I, I I ,,.. .1 I I,. I,, . I I I,,
ill lip --H ! I.. I I,. ,1 || I,,
I-- I I ml M.I. ..I I I,. I,,. ,1
II"' I'lill dllM I I In . I ||m| I
1 mp! I- -I'm 1 1> mi ii i iii \ ii.i iii .1 111 .1 111 .1 \
I ! II I I , ,11 .. I, M I I ,,!,, I I I,. I ,
""ll" I'll I I.. ., |,.i \ I, ,,|ll\ .lill M, I In
III I'l >i>.| I- I.., . I I,, i, Ill In. I ||<ll > I MM
HMtMt .,!., "I 1 1" Ilij l'i ill priwnw M ln ... 1 1.. ,, |. ,
1 1" \ li'iM h ! I \ . mil "i mil -I i li. I'ullu A " 111 '>'
MID, I I., i. . mil .
II,. h li. . IM, ii ,.| < Inlll -.In,. , , , I I I, ,1 MM l)| ,|u, ,i ^
Hl'l , Mill. I. Ill I.. I, I I I I \ I I,. , , I , M.I M, ,1 I I I, \ I II,, N I 1,1 I
limn . |.. i ,. >,. . II,, it p. ,. i .. , i < i,i, M, i \\ it li
IMM .11, , , ,,,,,,,! II ,I M i ml I ||||| ,i I i,,, ,,! M, | I,.
ll """ I i I I' IK I". I. I In \ I. iv . III. h I.
, , ,l\ | >n lulu i li. . . I. iiiilu . i, IM.I M, mi ,1,1, |,{
.-ill . -I I I,, in i t MUlllolPIl! 111,11,1., i I, i \ , . i,
.,..! id. it i|. i li. ii li. i mi n I M., II, . in , ,i 1 1,, i,,,. Hi Ii.
,,,,1 |i|< H nl M,\ ,1 . . M,|.I on I Ii. i' ,i I ..I .-I li. , i.. ,. I..
I I I" ii I Ii. \ "II- -I III. |'l Ivi ' \\ il ! I I
1,1 II , I M . |...| I )..|| ,,| I I,,
|HM| Tin , ..|. i .1 Inll i . ,M,,|M. I, ,1 M, ,1 ,. -.
iiiil,mimi< I.OMH.I! llrttplltcon I'lingm! iilnlif- oho hhlo nl' i(
I I, || III , |.| I. - UK . . ,,,! I, . I, - I -|M II . ,11,1 III
; M I ., MM,- ,I,M. M,,| I,, I I II, '
! yvltli i M "> li ! " M Ii i , . ii . Ii i Ii. iii i ! ,1 ,li ,-|. ,
I I I
111
(VUIII I I I' III I'-' I I ! I'M
i ... i - .I, Miny
Mil. L I .|.< I il Kill.
- I ii . I . I : . i 1 1 1 1 , . 1 1 . 1 1
i|i . i 1 1.. '
A -.1 1 N, .11 id i|
l,. I-.!, it, !.!.. I ! wood,
>i l> i i.. .11 I, .1. I,- i. in
In Illllnl -.. I In I
Dili I. ">" Kill -I' I ' i
(HI I , |||!|lll! ill I, ||i
i,. I l .il IlK'll M
'l ' i. I ' I In | 'li I'll
I In l,f .! y i|| |'H II ' ' I I ' in
iiunil.' i <-l |.i< ;i of
>|M .1 l> ii"l Ii, .unl (In.
I I,, in I 1,1 , . I. . I . I , I
III "I' Kuril | .1
M,. |,|||l In,,, i
in. I' In -I I I I In .1 I
..I I In in I, ',),. . ,,(.,(
In, -I- I I I , unl i |,|
I I,. HI .,., I In |.ii
'I In III , I . IK/!
ill,). . I. .| |,0 I III |.i ,. .
MI. | .1 y noh'lii'.ij
.ml |,ul .,., (In |.il
'I In. :-|.|l In I. I. II' 'I.
If! I, ,m|. .1 I .. I In olflftll
ill f| ..1,1 -.I I In I
-I II,' I),.
212 THE COMACCHIO FISHERIES.
fire at a proper temperature ; the other superintends
the roasting of the eels, carefully shifting the spits from
a higher to a lower position in front of the fire, until the
fish are properly done, when the spits are taken off by
the woman who lays them aside for the next operation.
This woman also attends to the grease that collects in the
trough below the spits, and stores it in jars for future
use. Besides these fireplaces, a number of furnaces are
fitted with large circular frying-pans, which are under the
exclusive management of men. All the fish for which
the spit is unsuitable are fried in these pans, with a mix-
ture of the grease dropped from the eels and olive-oil.
They are exposed to the air for some time, even in very
warm weather, before being cooked. This operation
renders them fitter for preservation. The eels roasted on
spits, and the fish cooked in the frying-pans, are placed in
baskets of open work to dreep and cool. They are then
packed in barrels of large and small sizes. The packing
is carefully and regularly done, similar to the method of
packing herrings. A mixture of vinegar and salt is
poured into the barrel before it is closed up. The vinegar
must be of the strongest, and the salt employed is gray
rock-salt instead of white salt. Previous to exportation,
the barrels are branded with different letters, according
to the nature of the fish contained in them.
The fisheries at Comacchio date from a very early
period. They did not assume, however, any degree of
organization until 1229. Since that date, the waters
have been dyked out from those of the Adriatic, and the
canals formed which communicate with the Reno and
Volano mouths of the Po, and the Adriatic. They now
A GRAND FESTIVAL. 213
employ a population of about 6000, and the average
"take" may be estimated at 1,000,000 Ibs. yearly.
When any "farm," or company of fishermen, captures
48,000 Ibs. of fish in a single night, a grand festival is
held, in which all the inhabitants of Comacchio partici-
pate.
CHAPTER IX.
THE LOBSTER AND THE CRAB.
" If like a crab you could go backward." SHAKESPEARE.
HE LOBSTER has been happily described as
"a standing romance of the sea:" an animal
whose clothing is a shell, which it casts away
once a year in order that it may assume a
larger suit ; an animal whose flesh is found in its tail and
legs, and its hair in the inside of its breast ; whose
stomach is in its head, and is changed annually for a
new one, which begins its brief career by devouring its
predecessor ; an animal which carries its eggs within its
body until they become fruitful, and then bears them
outwardly under its tail ; an animal which can throw off
its legs when it finds them troublesome, and in a short
time can replace them with others ; and, finally, an
animal whose quick, keen eyes are placed in a pair of
movable horns.
The reader, if he had never seen a lobster, would pro-
bably conclude, from this description, that it was an
altogether anomalous and abnormal creature, living a
ABOUT THE LOBSTER. 217
strange, wild life of its own, and belonging, indeed, to
some singular world of monstrosities in which the ordi-
nary laws of Nature had no control. But, on the con-
trary, it fills its proper place in the scale of animated life ;
its structure is admirably adapted to the conditions under
which it performs the vital functions ; and in its organiza-
tion the same great principles obtain as are apparent in
the economy of all created beings.
The lobster is a crustaceous animal, belonging to the
sub-order Macrura, or long-tailed Decapods. Its scien-
tific name is Homarus vulgaris.
On examining it we see at once that its body is com-
posed of two parts, popularly called the " head " and the
" tail," the latter being jointed and flexible. The so-
called "head" is really composed of both the head,
strictly so termed, and the thorax (or "chest") the two
being wedded into a single mass which naturalists call
the " cephalo thorax." On the other hand, what is
popularly called the "tail" is really the "abdomen."
Along the lower surface of the body are disposed the
feelers, claws, legs, and other appendages; and these,
as well as the entire body, are enclosed in a complete
suit of armour, a strong chitinous (or partly horny)
shell, or ex-skeleton, while the cephalothorax is covered
by a great cephalic shield or plate, termed the "cara-
pace."
Each segment of the body is composed, in the main, of
a convex upper plate, termed the "tergum," which is
closed underneath by a flatter plate known as the " ster-
num " the line where the two unite being extended,
downwards and outwards, into a plate called the " plue-
ron," or " pluera."
218 THE DIFFERENT SEGMENTS.
The somites, or segments, may be described as follows,
beginning at the animal's posterior extremity :
The last segment is called the " telson," and is with-
out appendages. It forms the final articulation of the
abdomen.
To the next segment, or last but one, is attached a
pair of natatory appendages, the " swirnmerets," each con-
sisting of a basal joint which articulates with the ster-
num, and is called the " protopodite ; " and of two diverg-
ing joints, the "exopodite" (which is the outer), and
" endopodite" (which is the inner), attached to the for-
mer. These joints are considerably expanded, so as to
form powerful paddles ; and the outer one, or exopodite,
is divided by a transversal joint.
The third segment carries a pair of "swimmerets"
resembling those already described, except that they are
much narrower, and that the exopodite is not divided.
In the succeeding segment the extremities of the limbs,
or ambulatory appendages, are not simply pointed, but
converted into nipping claws, or " chelae."
The next segment carries a pair of chelate limbs,
exactly like the preceding ; and the next, or sixth, is fur-
nished with appendages essentially similar in structure,
but much larger, and constituting the "great claws."
The next two segments of the thorax, and the one in
front of them, are provided each with a pair of modified
limbs, which are termed " maxillipedes," or " foot-jaws."
These are so modified as to serve as instruments of mas-
tication.
The next two somites, or segments, carry appendages in
the form of jaws, and are termed respectively the first
and second pairs of " maxillae." Each consists, as before,
A COMPLEX STRUCTURE. 219
of protopodite, exopodite, endopodite, and the like; but
the epipodite (or inner branch) of the first pair of max-
illae is rudimentary, while that of the second pair is
large and shaped like a spoon. It is termed the " scap-
hognathite," and its function is to "cause a current of
water to traverse the gill-chamber by constantly bailing
water out of it."
To the next segment are appended the biting jaws, or
" mandibles," each consisting of a large protopodite, and a
small endopodite, termed the "palp" (or organ of touch),
the exopodite remaining undeveloped.
The aperture of the mouth is situated between the
bases of the mandibles, bounded behind by a forked pro-
cess, called the " labium," or " metastoma," and in front
by a single plate, the " labrum," or upper lip.
The next segment sustains the long antennae, or feelers,
each consisting of a short protopodite, and a long, jointed,
and segmented endopodite, with an exopodite which is
little more than rudimentary.
In front of the great antennae we find the " anten-
nules," or smaller antennae, each composed of a protopo-
dite and a segmented endopodite and exopodite, which
are nearly of equal size. Finally, attached to the first
segment of the head are the eyes, each borne upon an eye-
stalk formed by the protopodite. The gill-chamber con-
sists of a great prolongation downwards of the " pluera "
of the thoracic segments, and the gills are attached to
the bases of the legs.
Such is the complex structure of the Common Lobster,*
.which may fairly be regarded as a type of the higher
Crustacea.
* Nicholson, "Manual of Zoology," pp. 205, 206.
220 ARMS AND LEGS.
A few additional details are necessary, however, before
the reader can present it to his mind's eye as it lives,
moves, and has its being. From the enumeration given
above he will have discovered that it possesses eight arti-
culated appendages, which, in popular parlance, are called
" legs ;" and two great claws, which open like a pair of
pincers, are singularly strong, very tenacious in their
grasp, and serrated or toothed like a saw. These are its
" arms." The tail portion of the animal consists of six
joints, or segments, and, as it expands laterally, forms a
powerful instrument of locomotion in the water. The
head, which is very small, is placed between the two
claws, and furnished with eye-stalks which can be pro-
jected or retracted at the animal's pleasure. The mouth,
like an insect's, opens longitudinally, and contains two
teeth for the comminution of its food ; between them
extends a fleshy protuberance shaped like a tongue. The
colour of the shell of the living animal is a beautiful
bluish-black, which is diversified, most fancifully, but
agreeably, by paler spots and clouds.
As regards its digestive system, the alimentary canal
is continued from the mouth in a straight line to the
anus. The spinal marrow is lodged in the thorax. The
stomach is globose, and contains, in the cardiac portion, a
calcareous apparatus for triturating the food, popularly
known as the " lady in the lobster." The liver is well
developed, and consists of two lobes.
The sexes are invariably distinct. The ovary, or place
where the spawn is generated, is situated near the tail ;
and here is found a bright red substance, much appreciated
by the lobster-eater : this consists of a large number of
fry too small for exclusion. From the ovary proceed two
CASTING ITS SHELL. 221
effluent ducts opening at the base of one of the pairs of
the thoracic legs. Through these passages the ova, des-
tined for the future multiplication of the species, descend
to be excluded and arranged under the tail.
The young in their larval state are very imperfect ; nor
is the form proper to the adult attained until after several
moults, constituting a complete metamorphosis, though
one effected by very gradual stages. In a few weeks,
however, their shells acquire firmness and solidity, and
become useful as offensive and defensive armour.
The most remarkable, and, so far as the creature itself
is concerned, the most disagreeable incident in the lob-
ster's life is its annual exuviations. Like the crab, it
sheds its shelly covering every year. Previous to the
change it seems to be sick, uneasy, languid. It ceases
to harrow up the sand and prowl about for prey, and
lies almost motionless and semi-torpid, as if dreading the
impending trial. The new shell is developed in three or
four days, if, during the period of its defencelessness, it
has not fallen a prey to some one of its many enemies or
of its own kind. The additional size which the animal
gains at each occasion of " moulting" is really wonderful;
and not less wonderful is it to see the old coat cast aside,
like a suit of worn-out clothes, while the creature, naked
and soft, awaits, in a sheltered hole or corner, the growth
of its new harness. It is difficult to understand, perhaps,
how it contrives to draw the muscles of its claws out of
their hard, shelly covering ; but it would seem that dur-
ing its sickly state the limb so contracts as to be capable
of being withdrawn through the joints and narrow pass-
ages near the body. During the first year of its age it
changes its shell every six weeks, in the second year
222 FACTS ABOUT LOBSTERS.
every two months, and afterwards about once every
three months, until, at some age as yet unknown, the
moulting process ceases, because the animal ceases to
grow.
The hen-lobster, during the period of exuviation, is
guarded by the male ; and should one male be taken
away, another, before long, will be found in some myste-
rious manner to have replaced it. The lobster becomes
reproductive, it is said, at the age of five years. It is
found with eggs, or " in belly," to use the technical term,
all the year round. The best season for this crustacean
as an edible is from the middle of October till the be-
ginning of May.
It was long disputed whether the lobster was able to
replace a broken limb, or to throw off at its pleasure one
which was so injured as to be useless; but that it pos-
sesses this twofold capacity is now a well-ascertained
fact. We have frequently met with lobsters which have
taken to themselves a new claw ; it may almost always
be detected by its comparative smallness.
Besides the ordinary lobster the Homarus vulgaris
which is found on all the coasts of Great Britain, our
markets are supplied with the Norwegian (Nephrops Nor-
vegicus), which is distinguished by its kidney -shaped eyes
and its pale, flesh colour. The American Lobster (Hom-
arus A?nericanus) has very large claws. The Spiny
Lobster (Palinurus vulgaris), which is often found on
the southern coast, is better known, perhaps, as the
Sea Crayfish. Its body is encrusted with a number of
short spines. It has no claws or pincers, and its antennae
are of singular size. Some naturalists identify it with
the karabos of the Greeks and the locusta of the Romans.
ABOUT THE CRAB.
223
The lobsters found in tropical seas are frequently of ex-
traordinary dimensions, and beautifully coloured as, for
example, the Palinurus ornatus.
THE AMERICAN LOBSTER.
There are Crabs and Crabs ; that is, Sea Crabs and
Land Crabs. With the latter we need not concern our-
selves, though some of the species are in high repute as
table delicacies. The sea crabs are of many kinds :
Painted Crabs, distinguished by the beautiful markings of
their shells ; Hermit Crabs, which roam about the sands
and take possession of the deserted shells of univalves;
(502) 15
224
THE SEA CRABS.
THE HERMIT CRAB.
Sand Crabs, which burrow in the sand, and lie perdu at
the bottom of their excavations ; and Calling Crabs, carry-
ing aloft the enormous claw in whose beckoning gesture
has originated their popular name. The aquatic crabs
and shore crabs in their general organization resemble
the crustaceans already described, and undergo the same
process of " moulting," or exuviation. They are remark-
able for their complex masticatory apparatus. The
mouth is provided with fully eight pieces or pairs of
jaws, which pass the food through an exceedingly short
gullet into a membraneous stomach of considerable size.
This stomach contains certain cartilaginous appendages,
five in number, to which strong, grinding teeth are at-
A PROFITABLE FISHERY.
225
THE CRAB.
tached. As they are placed at the pyloric extremity, or
outlet of the stomach, the food, after undergoing the
action of the jaws, is re-chewed or triturated by the
stomach-teeth, before entering the digestive tube, where
it comes in contact with the biliary fluid of the liver.
The lobster and crab fishery can be conducted without
much capital, and in the intervals of the fishermen's re-
gular employment. The Scotch laird's advice to his son,
says Bertram,* to "be always stickin' in the ither tree,
it will be growin' when ye are sleeping' ' holds good in
lobster-fishing. The " pots," as they are called, may be
* Bertram, " Harvest of the Sea," p. 386.
226 LOBSTER-TRAPS DESCRIBED.
baited and left until a crustacean is enticed into the
snare ; the men, meantime, cruising for bait, or going out
in search of haddock. Or the fishing may be left to the
old men and youngsters of our fishing- villages ; and these,
in the fine days, may be seen watching their lobster-traps
and crab-cages with praiseworthy vigilance.
What is a lobster-trap 1 In appearance it is not un-
like " an overgrown rat-trap ; " and it is constructed of
stout netting fastened over a framework of wood, and
baited with any kind of fish offal or strongly-scented gar-
bage. For the crustaceans are the scavengers of the sea,
and feed upon the foullest refuse.
A number of lobster-pots are sunk in a suitable locality,
at a depth of twelve to twenty fathoms, and connected
by a stout line. When the fisherman thinks his bait has
taken, he pulls off in his boat, hauls in his pots, and
hastens ashore to deposit them in some convenient recep-
tacle until " wanted." The said receptacle is usually an
old chest, perforated with many holes, so as to admit the
water, and secured in a quiet corner of the beach. In
such a receptacle the lobsters can live and ruminate, if
crustaceans are given to rumination.
As for crabs, a line and a bit of raw meat will enable
the amateur to make himself the lawful possessor of any
number. They are caught in large quantities off the
jetties and piers of our sea-ports, being attracted thither
by the garbage which is thrown overboard from the fish-
ing-smacks and homeward-bound vessels.
On the granite-bound coast of Scotland, says Mr. Ber-
tram, the sport of crab-hunting may be enjoyed to per-
fection, and the wonders of the deep studied at the same
time. A long pole with a small crook at the end "will
LOBSTER DEPOTS. 227
draw the crab from its nest; or great fun may be enjoyed
by tying during low- water a piece of bait to a string, and
attaching to the other end a stone. The crab seizes upon
this bait whenever the tide flows, and drags it to its hole,
so that when the ebb recurs the stone at the end of the
cord enables you to track the animal to its hiding-place,
and pounce upon it.
Lobsters are collected and sent to London from all
parts of the coast, being packed in sea- weed and sent in
boxes by railway. At Thames Haven is a famous depot
for the Norwegian and Scotch lobsters. They arrive in
welled vessels, and are kept in large store-boxes, as
already described, until wanted. A considerable trade
in these crustaceans is carried on between the Orkney
Islands and Aberdeen. At Hamble, near Southampton,
the lobsters are kept in a kind of reservoir or store-pond,
about fifty yards square, lined with brick, having a bot-
tom of concrete, and being constantly supplied with a
lively current of sea-water. Here they may be kept as
long as six weeks without suffering any injury, and forty
thousand to fifty thousand can easily be accommodated.
In the wooden boxes they live at such close quarters that
their combative tendencies are easily excited; and to
prevent them from mutilating each other, or repeating
the experiment of the Kilkenny cats, the great claw is
paralyzed by means of a wooden peg run through the
lower joint.
CHAPTER X.
THE SHRIMP AND THE PRAWN.
" Down on the shore, the sunny shore,
Where the salt smell cheers the land ;
Where the tide moves bright under countless light,
And the surge on the glittering strand." ALLINGHAM.
jjVERYBODY is familiar with the SHRIMP,
both in its living condition, when it darts to
and fro in the shallow waters, as if animated
by some internal electricity, and as an edible,
when, after boiling, it assumes a particularly agreeable
flavour, and a not less agreeable colour.
How many millions of this crustacean are devoured at
the breakfast-tables and in the tea-gardens of London
alone, to say nothing of our English watering-places,
where " tea and shrimps " meets the eye at every corner,
or of our larger cities, into which it is now introduced by
the extant facilities of railway communication from all
parts of the British coast, we cannot pretend to calculate.
Think of Greenwich, Gravesend, Margate, Ramsgate,
where nearly all your excursionists are seen provided with
a bag of "shrimps"; think of your sea-side resorts, and
the legions caught and consumed by professional and
SHRIMP-FISHING.
229
amateur shrimp-fishers ; think of the gallons of " shrimp
sauce " prepared by our British cooks j and own that the
task of computation would defy even as expert an arith-
metician as Cassio. In fact, he would be unable to obtain
the data on which any accurate computation must neces-
sarily be based. Enough to know that tens of thousands
of gallons are consumed yearly; and that shrimp-fishing,
therefore, deserves to be included amongst our staple in-
dustries. Yet it would seem to produce no very tempt-
ing return, the wholesale price of a gallon of shrimps not
exceeding threepence or fourpence.
A YOUNG SHRIMPER.
" Shrimping," however, requires no very costly appar-
atus. The net is a simple and inexpensive affair, consist-
ing of a framework of wood, to which is attached a kind
of reticulated pouch or bag ; and this the shrimper, by
means of a long pole, drives before him, as he wades
through the shallow water immediately inshore. No
230 ON THE NORMANDY COAST.
skill is necessary ; an amateur, after an hour's practice,
will catch as many of the agile and graceful crustaceans
as a veteran fisherman. In fact, shrimping is pursued as
a pastime at many of our watering-places. The Rams-
gate holiday people make excursions for this purpose to
Pegwell Bay ; and having caught their shrimps, according
to Mrs. Glasse's famous injunction, boil them, and eat
them. The regular shrimper, however, does not confine
himself to the shallow waters which bathe the sandy
shore, but keeps a boat, and frequents the more distant
sand-banks, where, of course, the shoals are more numer-
ous, and his spoil is greater.
We borrow from a French author an interesting ac-
count of the shrimp-fishery at Chausey, on the coast of
Normandy.
An old boat, turned upside down, at the foot of a
weather-worn crag forms the roof of the fisher's cabin ; it
rests upon four walls of stones rudely piled together, and
embedded in clay for cement. Here, in a space of from
four to twelve feet square, and three feet nine inches
high, sleeps a whole family ; father and mother, sons and
daughters, nephews and nieces, and often too some male
and female friends, attracted by the occurrence of a high
tide. The men fish for lobsters ; the shrimp-fishery, as
less arduous, being abandoned to the women. Armed
with their " putting-nets," and with petticoats looped up
to the knees, and high Normandy caps covering their
unkempt locks, they explore the windings of the sandy
archipelago ; groping under the rocks, and wading through
the pools, and collecting, if they are industrious, as much
as five to six pounds weight in a day. This fishery, how-
THE PUTTING-NET.
233
ever, can be carried on successfully only when the tides
are tolerably high. The total product of the campaign
will not exceed 480 to 750 Ibs. each person.
NORMAN WOMEN FISHING FOR SHRIMPS.
The putting-net "bouqueton," "truble," or "huxenau,"
as it is variously called is made exactly after the fashion
of the net in use among our English shrimp-fishers.
At Saiiit-G-illes-sur-Vic, in the department of La
Vendee, the process adopted is very different. Here the
net employed locally termed a " ret " (from the Latin
rete ?) has no handle, and the opening is circular. It
may be likened to one of the old-fashioned night-caps
with which our forefathers disguised themselves, and
forms a pocket or pouch, twenty to twenty-four inches in
length, and fifty to sixty inches in circumference at the
234 THE FISHERMAN'S REWARD.
mouth, suspended by the framework which keeps it open
to a cord, and ballasted by a stone or lump of lead.
Across the opening is carried a line, baited with fragments
of crabs or heads of sardines.
Provided with four or five of these rets, and with a
coarse canvas bag slung round his neck, the fisherman
starts after sunset or better still, after nightfall on a
shrimping expedition. On arriving at a favourable spot,
where the rocky shore is hollowed out in a labyrinth of
beautiful weedy pools, each one a little world of strange
and wonderful life, replete with graceful forms, and illu-
minated with glowing colours, he sinks his rets at certain
intervals ; allows them to lie untouched for some five or
ten minutes, and then proceeds to capture the crustacean
prowlers attracted to them by the bait. In this operation
he is guided by the dexterity and knowledge which spring
from practice. Much care is required in lifting each
particular net, or it might be made to disgorge its prisoners
too soon. But the experienced fisher raises them with-
out difficulty, and gropes in the interior for his prey,
which he transfers to his capacious bag, lining it with
sea- weed to keep them alive.
Having filled his bag, or the tide having ebbed, he
wends his way homeward, and prepares his shrimps for
delivery to the wholesale dealers. Over a lively fire he
places an iron pot, filled with fresh water, and as soon as
the water boils, pours in his stock of fish, adding about
one pound of salt for every nine pounds of shrimps. After
they have boiled for five minutes, he takes them out,
spreads them on a table, and sprinkles them with salt
water. This process deepens the beautiful rose-red tint
which is so much admired by connoisseurs.
OUT AT SEA.
235
Those fishermen who have boats put out to sea, and on
arriving at a suitable distance from the shore drop anchor,
and proceed to lower their nets all around them ; haul-
ing them in as soon as they think they are tolerably well
filled.
SHRfMP-FISHtNG OUT AT SEA.
Prawns are taken in a very similar manner ; only, in
some localities, the fishermen make use of osier-baskets,
or " pots," like those employed in catching lobsters and
the nets are usually longer.
The Shrimp (Crangon vulgaris) is a genus of crustaceans
of the order Decapoda, the sub-order Macroura, and the
family Crangonidce, allied to lobsters, cray-fish, and prawns.
236
ABOUT THE SHRIMP.
It is so well known, that to describe it would be as super-
fluous as to paint the lily j but shortness of its beak
should be noticed as distinguishing it easily from the
prawn. It is a delicate, almost transparent creature;
endowed with such a wonderful vivacity of motion, that
its leaps and turns in the crystal rock-pool almost defy
observation. When alarmed, it buries itself in the sand
by a peculiar effort of the tail-fin. In length it varies
from two to three inches. There are several species ;
the banded, the spinous, the two-spined, the three-spined ;
but all are fit for the table.
The PRAWN (Palcemon serratus) belongs to the same
ABOUT THE PRAWN.
237
order and sub-order as the shrimp, but to a distinct
family, the Palcemonidce ; and is characterized by the long
serrated beak which
projects from
carapace. It
its
at-
tains a length of
from three to four
inches, and though
not so plentiful as
the shrimp, is com-
mon on our coasts.
It is seldom found,
however, in the
rock-pools. As an
edible, it is more
highly esteemed
than the shrimp, but is not so universally popular.
There are numerous species, all of them very active and
very voracious, and all remarkable for the number of
times they change their skin ; an operation which practice
does not seem to render easier, for, apparently, the work
of exuviation is always accompanied with much distress.
Prawns found in the warm seas of the south are of large
size, and often of brilliant colouring : as, for instance, the
Stenopus hispidus. Their habits are sufficiently curious
to justify greater attention being paid to them than they
have yet received.
THE PRAWN.
CHAPTER XL
THE OYSTER.
" The man had sure a palate covered o'er
With brass or steel, that on the rocky shore
First broke the ooey oyster's pearly coat,
And risked the living morsel down his throat."
flHERE can be no doubt that the OYSTER was
the favourite shell-fish of the epicures of
ancient Greece and Rome. The Greeks pro-
cured it from Pelorus, Abydos, and Polarea ;
the Romans, from Brindisi, the Lucrine Lake, Brittany,
and the shores of Britain. We are inclined to agree with
Dr. Doran, that the latter were hardly worthy of the deli-
cacy, seeing that they abused it by mincing it up with
mussels and sea-hedgehogs, stewing the whole with pine-
almonds and pungent seasonings, and devouring the hetero-
geneous compound scalding. dura Romanorum ilia I
Their digestive powers must have almost approached
those of an ostrich in efficiency. Other Romans, how-
ever, were wise enough to eat them raw, a slave open-
ing them at the table as fast as his master could devour
them ; and the larger the fish, the more the " senatus
populusque Romanus" appreciated them. Not only were
OYSTER-ENTHUSIASTS. 239
they relished as a provocative before the feast, but, during
the feast, whenever the appetite began to flag. The Bor-
deaux oyster would seem to have been in favour with the
emperors ; but the Rutupine bivalve, as caught on the
coast of Kent, was also held in great esteem. It is to a
Roman, Sergius Grata, that we owe the great invention
of an oyster breeding-pond. The wealthy Lucullus had
the sea-water brought to his celebrated villa from the
Campanian coast, and kept his oysters alive in capacious
reservoirs until they were required for the table. It is
said of Yitellius that he devoured these delicious molluscs
all day long. Cicero, the orator and philosopher and
statesman, swallowed them by dozens; Seneca was not
less partial to them ; nor was Calisthenes. If any of our
readers are oyster-eaters, they are in the best of company.
Oyster-enthusiasts have not been wanting in later times.
Louis XI. annually entertained the learned doctors of the
Sorbonne at an oyster-banquet. Shakespeare, who alludes,
with fine poetic sympathy, to "an oyster crossed in love,"
and Cervantes, the creator of " Don Quixote," loved
oysters : so did Helvetius, Raynal, Voltaire, Rousseau,
Danton, Diderot, Robespierre, Dugald Stewart, Hume,
Lord Jeffrey, Pope, Swift, Thomson, Professor Wilson.
Bentley, most erudite of scholars, could never pass an
oyster-shop ; the temptation always enticed him into it.
Napoleon, before a great battle, cleared his perceptions
and strengthened his judgment by partaking of the justly-
celebrated bivalve ; and now-a-days our wits, however
inferior in some respects to their predecessors, are fully
their equals in the matter of oyster-suppers. They have,
however, a great difficulty to contend with : oyster-
suppers now-a-days are costly banquets !
(502) 1 Q
240 " PRECIOUS POWLDOWDIES."
Who does not remember the numerous highly-appre-
ciative allusions to the oyster in Wilson's " Noctes Am-
brosianse " 1 For instance :
" The Ettrick Shepherd (loquitur). As sure's death,
there's the oysters ! O man, Awmrose [Ambrose, the
landlord], but you've the pleasantest face o' ony man o'
a' my acquaintance ! Here's ane as braid as a mush-
room. This is Saturday nicht, and they've a' gotten
their bairds shaved. There's a wee ane awa' doon my
wrang throat ; but, deil a fears, it'll find its way into the
stomach.
" Tickler. They are, in truth, precious powldowdies."*
Take a second example :
" Hech, sirs ! but the month of September's the month
after my ain heart, and worthy ony ither twa in the year
comiii' upon you, as it does, after May, June, July,
and August, wi' its r and eisters. ISTa, that brodd beats
a' ilka shell as wide's my loof, ilka fish like a shot-star,
and the tottle of the whole sooming in its ain saut-sea
liccor, aneuch to create an appeteet in the palate of a
skeleton ! " t
And again :
" I never, at ony time o' the year, hae recourse to the
cruet till after the lang hunder ; and in September, after
four months' fast frae the creturs, I can easily devour^them
by theirsels just in their ain liccor, on till anither fifty ;
and then, to be sure, just when I am beginning to be a
wee stawed [surfeited], I apply first the pepper to a squad ;
and then, after a score or twa in that way, some dizzin
and a half wi' vinegar; and finish aff, like you, wi' a
wheen to the mustard, till the brodd [board] is naething
* Wilson, "Nodes Ambrosianse," i. 272. t Ibid., ii. 98.
PILGRIMS' SCALLOP-SHELLS. 241
but shells There's really no end in nature to the eatin'
of eisters."*
According to an old proverb, " Whoever eats oysters
on St. James's-day [July 25] will never want money." A
recent writer, in explanation, of the saying, affirms that
it is customary in London which we doubt to begin
eating oysters on St. James's-day, when they are neces-
sarily somewhat dearer than afterwards ; so that the pro-
verb may be understood as a jocular encouragement to a
little piece of extravagance and self-indulgence. We are
more inclined to regard it as ironical : the epicure who
can purchase oysters so long before the oyster-season
begins, must needs be a man whose resources will raise
him above want !
In connection with oysters and St. James's-day, we have
the old association of the apostle with pilgrims' shells ;
the scallop-shells which the " palmers " wore in their
caps when bound on a pilgrimage to the shrine of St.
James at Compostella. So says the old ballad :
" And how should I know your true love
From many an other one ?
Oh, by his scallop-shell and hat,
And by his sandal-shoon."
A custom in London, now rapidly dying out, makes
this relation more evident. In the course of the few days
following upon the introduction of oysters for the season,
the children of the humbler classes employ themselves
diligently in collecting the shells which have been cast out
from taverns and fish-shops ; and these they pile up in
various rude devices. By the time that old St. Jaines's-
day [August 5th] comes round, these little structures
* Wilson, " Noctes Ambrosianae," ii. 107, 108.
242 AN ACT OF HEROISM.
are all arranged in fantastic order, with bits of candle in
the interior, to illuminate them at night ; and their archi-
tects sally forth to greet each passer-by with the suppli-
catory salutation, " Please, remember the grotto." It
may not be doubted that we have here a relic of the old
days of pilgrimages and saints, which has survived the
changes of upwards of three hundred years.
Buttes, in his " Dyet's Dry Dinner," published in
1599, says : " It is unseasonable and unwholesome in all
months that have not an r in their names, to eat an
oister." And modern physiological research seems to
have proved that oysters should not be eaten from May
to August, inclusive. In the latter month, however, they
always reappear in the London markets.
According to an old adage, " He was a bold man who
first ate an oyster." How the discovery was made of the
edible qualities of this now famous mollusc, is thus plea-
santly told by Mr. Bertram : *
Once upon a time, he says, a man of melancholy mood
was walking by the shores of a picturesque estuary, and
listening to the murmur of the " sad sea-waves " or, as
Mr. Disraeli would say, of the "melancholy main" when
he espied a very old and ugly oyster-shell, all coated over
with parasites and weeds. Its appearance was so unpre-
possessing that he kicked it aside with his foot ; where-
upon the mollusc, astonished at receiving such rude treat-
ment on its own domain, gaped wide with indignation,
preparatory to closing its bivalve still more closely.
Seeing the beautiful cream-coloured layers that shone
within the shelly covering, and fancying that the interior
* Bertram, " Harvest of the Sea," pp. 342, 343.
THE FIRST OYSTER-EATER. 243
of the shell itself was probably curious or beautiful, he
lifted up the aged "native" for further examination,
inserting his finger and thumb within the valves. The
irate mollusc, thinking, no doubt, that this was intended
as a further insult, snapped its nacreous portcullis close
down upon his finger, causing him considerable pain.
After relieving his wounded digit, our inquisitive gentle-
man very naturally put it in his mouth. " Delightful !"
he exclaimed, opening wide his eyes; "what is thisT'
And again he sucked his finger. Then flashed upon him
the great truth that he had discovered a new pleasure
had, in fact, opened up to his fellows a source of im-
measurable delight. He proceeded at once to realize the
thought. With a stone he opened the oyster's threshold,
and warily ventured on a piece of the mollusc itself.
" Delicious !" he exclaimed ; and there and then, with no
other condiment than its own juice, without the usual
accompaniment, as we now take it, of " foaming brown
stout " or " pale Chablis " to wash it down and, sooth to
say, it requires neither did that solitary, nameless man
indulge in the first oyster-banquet !
Scientifically speaking, the oyster (Ostrcea edulis) is an
acephalous 'mollusc ; so called, because it has no distinct
head, and having no head, can have no brain, though,
singular to tell, it rejoices in a beard.
Having no head, it has no organ of sight, no organ of
hearing, no organ of smell. Nor has it any organ of loco-
motion. It is, therefore, an animal of the simplest
organization ; one might almost say, merely the outline
or rudiments of an animal. However, it has a large and
expansible mouth ; a stomach like a pouch or pocket,
244 INTERNAL ORGANIZATION.
with very thin sides ; intestines ; a good-sized liver, in
the substance of which the said stomach and intestines
are enclosed ; branchiae \ a heart, possessing both auricle
and ventricle, and surrounding the rectum, on which two
great vessels abut, and from which an aortic trunk issues,
divided into three branches one for the mouth, another
for the supply of the liver and digestive organs, and a
third for the remainder of the body.
The blood of the oyster is colourless. The mollusc
adheres to the two valves of its shell by means of a strong
muscle (the " adductor ") situated near the middle of its
body.
But though the organization of the oyster is apparently
imperfect, it is complete so far as it goes, and possesses at
least the indication of organs which, in beings of a more
complex type, serve a loftier purpose, and point out the
beginnings of Nature, enabling the thoughtful observer to
understand her onward course, from the simplest outlines
of animal life to the admirable human machine.
We have spoken of the " mouth " of the oyster ; this is
a kind of trunk or snout, with lips remarkable for ten-
uity ; it lacks both jaws and teeth. The lungs or gills
are foliated coverings extended over the surface of the
body, so as to protect the air necessary to the animal's
existence from the action of the water. These lamelli-
ferm gills are provided with membraneous plates, which
act as capillary funnels, open at the furthest extremities.
The circulating vessels open into muscular cavities, which
play the part of the heart. There is no " foot," locomotion
being accomplished by the alternate opening and closure
of the shells. The animal secures its food by means of
its beard, which acts somewhat after the manner of a rake.
MOVEMENTS OF THE OYSTER.
245
As everybody knows, the oyster is a marine mollusc.
It lives close to the shore, and in comparatively shallow
water ; attaching itself to the rock, to one of its own kind,
or to any object calculated to afford it the support it re-
quires. Here its sole exercise would seem to consist in
opening and closing its valves ; its only pleasure in eat-
A GROUP OF OYSTERS.
ing. Its food is brought within its reach, to some extent,
by the motion of the waves, and is formed of animal mat-
ter held suspended in the water. Though emphatically a
marine mollusc, yet M. Beudant proved, by experiments
made in 1816, that it may be trained to live in fresh-
water streams.
246 VALUE OF THE OYSTER.
The oyster, as food, is wholesome, light, and easily
digested. An eminent French writer has characterized
it as pre-eminently adapted for dyspeptics, from its pecu-
liar success in nourishing and healing a feeble or irritated
stomach. Persons may eat considerable quantities, and
not only not suffer any inconvenient effects, but enjoy
their dinner afterwards, as if their appetite had been
positively stimulated by the introductory repast. We
have not met, however, with any modern oyster-eater
worthy of being compared with Yitellius, who ate four
meals a day, and devoured at each meal, it is said, twelve
hundred oysters ! Certainly, in the annals of modern
gastronomy a Doctor Gastaldi is celebrated for his daily
absorption of thirty to forty dozen ; but the interval be-
tween the Italian physician and the Roman emperor is
very wide indeed.
Oysters begin to sicken about the end of April, and
during the hot months are engaged in depositing their
spawn.
They do not leave their ova, as is the case with many
marine creatures, to be hatched independently ; but pro-
tect them for several weeks between the folds of their
mantle and the laminae of their lungs. Here they remain
surrounded by a mucous matter which assists their
development ; this matter, with its accumulated ova,
gradually losing its fluidity, and changing successively to
a light shade of yellow, gray, brown, and violet ; the last-
named indicating that the embryonic condition of the ova
is nearly at an end. Then comes the happy moment of
release ; and nothing, says a French authority, is more
curious than the spectacle of a bank of oysters at the
ABOUT THE SPAWN. 247
spawning-season. Each adult individual sheds its own
cloud of progeny. A living dust is, as it were, exhaled
from the crowded oyster-bank, disturbing the water, and
communicating to it a dense foggy appearance ; and this
dust gradually spreads abroad, until it is scattered far
away from its focus of production. Unless the " spat,"
as the spawn is technically called, encounters some solid
body to which it can adhere, it inevitably falls a victim
to the voracity of the numerous enemies which prey upon
it. The state of the weather is also an important con-
sideration, as a cold day will kill the spat.
The quantity of spawn produced by a single oyster is
not very accurately known. Some authorities count by
millions ; others estimate the season's product at five or
six hundred thousand. Mr. Bertram says that he has
examined oyster-spawn, taken direct from the oyster,
under a powerful microscope ; he describes it as a liquid
of some little consistency, in w^hich the young oysters,
like the points of a hair, sw r im actively about, in great
numbers, as many as a thousand being distinguishable in
a very minute globule of spat. There can be no doubt,
therefore, of the fecundity of this wonderful hermaphrodite,
but it is much modified by variations of temperature. If
the breeding-season be not mild and genial, the fall of
spat is only partial.
On finally taking leave of the parent
shell, the young oyster is provided with
a locomotive apparatus ; a kind of pad
or cushion, surrounded by vibratory
. YOUNG OYSTER.
cilise, and set in motion by certain
powerful muscles. Hence it is able to swim about freely
in search of a resting-place and this once found, a
248 AN OYSTER'S LONGEVITY.
shelly bottom is best, the pad disappears. But it is a
mistake to suppose that the adult individual is incapable
of progress. Diquemarc says that it can transport itself
from place to place by the simple process of absorbing
sea- water and ejecting it violently from between its
valves. And thus it defends itself against its enemies
among the minor Crustacea ; particularly the smaller
crabs, which endeavour to enter its shell when the
valves are partly open. There is reason to suppose,
moreover, that our favourite mollusc is not altogether so
dull and inert as the earlier naturalists represented it.
Oysters exposed, says Diquemarc, to the daily ebb and
now of the tide, seem aware that they are likely to be
exposed to dryness at certain recurring periods, and con-
sequently retain a supply of water in their shells to serve
their need when the tide is out. This is true, however,
of those oysters only which are found close in-shore.
The longevity of the oyster is another point on which
our information is not very exact ; but many authorities
allow it a " span " of twelve years. The young oyster, at
the end of three days, measures three lines in diameter ;
at the end of a month it is as big as a pea ; in six months
it is as large as a half-crown. In three years the best
oysters are large enough for sale. Such, at least, is M.
Coste's calculation ; but the rate of growth varies in
different localities. The oyster on the Yellette bank does
not acquire its full proportions in a shorter period than
five years ; in the bay of Cancale it comes to maturity in
eighteen months.
There are several oyster-farms in the Thames all con-
ducted on much the same principles. That at Queens-
OYSTER-BEDS IN THE THAMES. 249
borough, in the Isle of Sheppey, is famous for producing
the Milton oysters, which are of good size and excellent
flavour. The Faversham Company is reputed to be the
most ancient in the Thames. There are many beds belong-
ing to private gentlemen. Of these Mr. Allston is the
largest owner; and he employs from forty to fifty vessels
some being merely dredging vessels of eight or ten tons,
and others, smacks of thirty, forty, or fifty tons, which
carry young oysters, for breeding purposes, from Ireland
and the Channel Islands.
The largest and most fertile are those of Whitstable.
They belong to a kind of joint-stock company of fisher-
men, into which there is, however, no other way of en-
trance but by birth, since none but the "freedredgermen"
of the town can hold shares. When a proprietor dies,
his interest in the company dies with him ; but his widow,
if he leaves one, obtains a pension. The public and
private oyster-beds at Whitstable employ upwards of three
thousand hands, and their returns have been estimated at
from 100,000 to 120,000 per annum. The affairs of
the company are regulated by twelve directors, who are
known as " the jury." The area occupied by the " lay-
ings " measures fully a mile and a half square, and from
their long-continued prosperity have received the name of
the " happy fishing-grounds."
The business of the company is to feed oysters for the
London and other markets ; therefore they do not breed
them. They buy the spat or brood in various quarters,
and then lay it down in their grounds to grow and fatten.
Sometimes, it is true, the company's own oysters produce
a spat ; namely, when the spawn, or " fiotsom," as the
dredgers call it, emitted from their own beds chances to
250 THE COLNE FISHING COMPANY.
fall upon their own grounds ; and then the company profit
largely, as they are enabled to save purchases of brood to
the extent of what has fallen. But this falling of the
spat is, to a great degree, accidental. No rule can be
laid down whether the oysters will spawn in any particu-
lar year, or where the spawn may be carried. Of late,
however, the artificial contrivances in use in France and
elsewhere for saving the spawn have been introduced
at Whitstable, and it seems probable that oyster-
cultivation will be conducted there on the most approved
principles.
The system of management adopted by the Thames
companies is very simple. Take, for example, the Colne
Fishery Company. This is superintended by a jury of
twelve, appointed by a functionary called the water-
bailiff; whose appointment, by the way, is in the hands
of the corporation of Colchester. At the beginning of
the season the jurors hold a meeting, take stock of the
oysters in hand, and then agree upon the prices at which
sales may be made during the season. They also settle
the price to be paid to the dredgermen for lifting them,
which is so much per wash the name of a local measure.
The company's foreman apportions to the dredgers their
daily stint; which, of course, varies with the demand, and
ranges from three to twelve wash. The time occupied in
the work seldom exceeds a couple of hours, and the
remainder of the day is at the man's own disposal.
Further, many of these dredgers are good divers, and
thus they secure double employment. The wages of the
professional dredgers are very good; from three to six
shillings per wash. They pay one-fourth of what they
earn for their boat, and divide the rest among the crew.
OYSTERS IN THE FORTH. 251
Of late years there has been a tendency to rise in the
dredgers' wages, as in the wages of all other operatives.
In the Firth of Forth the organization is very defective ;
and though the firth has been rightly described as " one
great oyster-bed," the supply of oysters is far below the
demand, and. what ought to be an important industry
seems in a fair way of perishing. From Inch (island)
Muckra to Cockenzie, the oyster-beds extend over a length
of twenty miles, and range from one mile to three miles
in breadth. The bivalves are of excellent quality ; parti-
cularly those called Pandores, which are obtained off
Prestonpans. It is said that their fine flavour is owing
to the refuse water which escapes from the neighbouring
salt-pans. The beds producing them are now greatly
neglected. From inquiries made quite recently, we can-
not find that any system, of cultivation is pursued, or that
they are under any careful or enlightened management.
Large quantities of the brood are sent southwards to
supply the oyster-beds in the estuary of the Thames.
We agree with a writer in the Cornhill Magazine, that
" the wholesale spoliation now going on at the oyster-beds
of the Firth of Forth is greatly to be regretted, although
we think it is destined to work its own cure, for the beds
once thoroughly exhausted from the over-dredging which
is now going on and it is so great that the oysters con-
sumed in Edinburgh will soon have to be brought from
London will in all probability be given over to persons
to restock on the plan now so popular on the Continent,
and the fishermen be very properly deprived of the chance
of ever again despoiling them." This was written ten
years ago, but as yet no improvement has been effected.
The Firth of Forth seems to have been "intended by
252 IRISH OYSTER-BEDS.
nature," says an enthusiast, for the laying down of
oyster-farms : every inch of the bottom of that estuary
might be lined thick with oysters from Alloa to North
Berwick, and a thousand oyster-farmers carry on a highly
remunerative business.
Turning to Ireland, we find that its people are begin-
ning to recognize the resources of their seaboard, and that
numerous applications have been made of late years for
the formation of oyster-beds on various parts of the coast.
The result has been that some six thousand to seven
thousand acres have been granted by the Fishery Com-
missioners to several persons for the purposes of oyster-
farming. The authority to whom we have already been
indebted remarks, in reference to the Irish oyster-fisheries,
as a curious fact, that although the Irish " natives " had
at one time a very bad reputation, all the great banks
have been cleaned out by over-fishing. Thus, the cele-
brated Carlingford beds, the beds of Sligo, and the banks
of Clare, have been exhausted, owing to the culpable
ignorance of the fishers, who have yearly reaped without
sowing, and yet continued to expect an abundant harvest !
On the famous Tralee beds it is declared to be difficult to
find a shell ; while some of the remaining beds have been
nearly exhausted by the transportation of the young
oysters to the English banks. It is recorded, as the
opinion of a distinguished Thames oyster-farmer, who has
carefully surveyed the Irish coast, that it contains many
excellent spots for the laying down of oyster-beds, and
that a considerable commerce might be carried on, if not
in oysters for consumption, at any rate in brood for the
Thames oyster companies.
From what we have said, the reader will understand
OYSTER-DREDGING. 255
that oyster-farming is an industry which must be regu-
lated by certain fixed principles ; but that, if these prin-
ciples are observed, the supply of oysters may be increased
almost indefinitely, to the great advantage of our food-
resources, and the direct benefit of a large portion of our
coast population. Much has been done in this direction,
but even now a deplorable ignorance prevails on a subject
which is really of national importance ; and people appear
oblivious of the evident truth that the treasures of the sea
require to be as carefully and intelligently utilized as the
treasures of the land !
We now come to the various methods of oyster-fishing.
In some localities this is conducted after a very primitive
fashion. At Majorca divers descend into the water,
armed with a hammer, and detach the molluscs, one by
one, from their resting-places. Obviously, such a process
is adapted only for places where oyster consumption does
not exist on a large scale, and where human labour is
very cheap. In England and France, as in the United
States, the oyster-fishery is carried on by dredging : the
dredge (or drogue) being a kind of iron rake, equipped
with a net, and attached to the stern of the fishing-boat
by a long tow-rope. The oyster-smack presses forward
under full sail ; the dredge harries and sweeps the bank
of molluscs, which, as they are torn from the rocky bottom,
fall into the open net.
To prevent an " oyster-bed " from being exhausted, it is
generally divided into a certain number of zones, each of
which is fished in due succession ; and thus, while one is
being worked, the oysters in the others are enabled to
multiply, and grow to a proper size. Fishing is illegal
(502) ] 7
256 FATTENING THE MOLLUSCS.
during the months of May, June, July, and August, when
the bivalve is depositing its spawn.
When first removed from their habitat, oysters, how-
ever, do not possess in their highest perfection the proper-
ties which are so much esteemed by oyster-eaters; and to
render them fatter, more tender, and more savoury, they
are deposited, before being sent to market, in " parks "
of from three to four feet deep, the bottom of which
consists of sand or pebbles, with gently sloping sides,
and communicating with the sea by means of a channel
or trench which is easily shut or opened. In some
" parks " the water is renewed every tide : in others, only
once or twice a month. The celebrated oyster-parks at
Marennes, Treport, Etretat, Fecamp, and Dunkirk, belong
to the former category ; those at Havre and Dieppe to
the latter.
The period during which the bivalves undergo the
fattening process varies from a few days to a month.
Under certain conditions, they acquire a greenish colour-
ing, as well as that piquant flavour to which the epicure
is so partial.
A French authority M. Yalmont de Bomare appar-
ently supposing that oysters feed upon grass, enunciated
the hypothesis that the colour of the "green oyster" can
be produced only in " parks " freely surrounded by vege-
tation ; an hypothesis which it is quite unnecessary to
examine with any degree of seriousness. Another French
writer M. Gaillon attributes it to a microscopic ani-
malcule, the Vibrio ostearius, on which the mollusc feeds;
but it has been proved that the vibrio is not normally
green, and becomes so only under the same conditions as
the oyster. Bory de St. Vincent thought it arose from
ABOUT OYSTER-CULTURE. 257
the " green matter " of Priestley, which may be detected
in all water exposed to the action of light.
Some authorities have sought for the cause in the con-
fervce and relvce which multiply so rapidly in those " parks"
where the supply of water is not frequently renewed ;
others think that the colouring principle belongs to the soil.
The most likely explanation seems to be that which M.
Coste, the distinguished pisciculturist, has put forward.
He is of opinion that the green oyster owes its peculiar
tint and characteristic flavour to a " disease of the liver."
Such is also the belief of M. Valenciennes; according to
whom, the immediate cause of the discoloration is a
peculiar animal substance, due to a particular condition
of the oyster.
The largely increased demand for this favourite mol-
lusc, and the gradual exhaustion of many of the best
oyster-banks, have led to the adoption of artificial means
of increasing the supply.
The art, or science, of oyster- culture was introduced,
as we have seen, by a wealthy Roman, named Sergius
Grata, who in his time was famed for his epicurean
tastes, and attained the curious title of " master of
luxury." He was something more, however, than a
gourmand, for Cicero speaks of him as " ditissimus,
anio3nissimus, deliciosissimus." It is said of him that
he patriotically asserted the superiority of the shell-fish
bred in the Lucrine Lake ; though, under the empire,
they were less valued than those imported from Britain.
He owed his surname, Grata, or Aurata, either to his
fondness for gold-fish (Auratce pisces), or to his habit of
wearing two very large gold rings.
258 " OYSTER-FARMS " IN ITALY.
From the artificial oyster-beds which this ingenious and
refined gentleman laid down at Baise, he derived a con-
siderable revenue. He had his enemies, however, and
was brought to trial on a charge of having appropriated
. the public waters of the Lucrine Lake to his own private
behoof. He obtained an acquittal ; and we are told that
his advocate, L. Cassius, in the course of his pleading,
observed, that the revenue officers who had interfered
with his client were greatly mistaken if they thought he
would be deprived of his cherished molluscs, when driven
from the Lacus Lucrinus ; rather than endure such a loss,
his client would breed them on the roofs of his houses !
We wish he had essayed the experiment, and succeeded
in it ; for then, perhaps, every householder might now be
growing his own stock of oysters for private consump-
tion.
One of the earliest seats of oyster-culture is Lake
Fusaro, in the south of Italy ; it is the Avernus, the lake
of gloom and desolation, which Virgil has described in
such exaggerated language. It is a black-looking sheet
of water, occupying the crater of an extinct volcano, the
steep and rugged sides of which, rising precipitously around
it, invest it with a strikingly sombre character. It was
probably this circumstance, associated with the sulphur-
eous and mephitic odours which pervade the neighbour-
hood, that induced the Greeks to conceive of it as the
entrance to the infernal regions and the scene of the visit
of Odysseus to the lower world. It measures about three
miles in circumference, and is situated between the
Lucrine Lake and the ruins of the ancient city of Cuma3.
A canal, from eight to ten feet in breadth, and four to five
AT LAKE FUSARO.
259
feet in depth, connects it with the sea. It is now called
the Foce di Fusaro.
The reader will have understood, from our remarks on
the oyster's mode of reproduction, the importance that its
ova or spat should be deposited on some solid object.
This principle was kept in view when Lake Fusaro was
converted into an " oyster-farm."
Upon the bed of the lake, and along its margin, small
pyramidal piles of stones have been erected, on which are
CHAIN OF SUSPENDED FAGOTS.
deposited the young oysters imported from the neighbour-
ing Gulf of Otranto. Each heap is surrounded by a ring
of piles, driven in close to one another, and rising slightly
above the surface of the water. Other piles are set in
long rows, and bound together by ropes, to which fagots
of young wood hang suspended. In the spawning-season,
which begins early in May, the oysters on the artificial
rockeries shed the thousands of spat carefully incubated
260 OYSTER-BREEDING IN ENGLAND.
in the laminae of their lungs and the folds of their mantle.
The suspended fagots arrest the floating ova before they
can be carried away by the waves, and they are thus able
to develop themselves under siiitable conditions of light,
sustenance, temperature, and safety. When the fishing-
season arrives, the piles and fagots surrounding the
beds are removed, and the oysters fit for market are duly
gathered.
Oyster-farms have been established in England for
many years, but it is only of late that oyster-breeding
has been scientifically conducted. The "art" has been
taken up in Ireland, where, indeed, every condition for
its successful cultivation exists. The decay of the Irish
oyster-fisheries was so serious as to excite the attention of
Government, and in October 1868 the Lord-Lieutenant
appointed a Commission, consisting of Messrs. Blake,
M.P., Francis, Hart, and Brady, to inquire how the evil
might be remedied, and what improved methods of oyster-
cultivation should be introduced. This Commission has
led to important results, and it may be hoped that the
oyster-fisheries of Ireland will rapidly increase in com-
mercial importance.
The report of the Commissioners, we may add, contains
much useful matter, and treats of some collateral questions
which deserve the reader's attention.*
For instance, they dwell on the preference given in
France to the green oysters, which leads to the importa-
tion on a large scale of the Essex oysters. Oysters with
green beards, they say, do not owe their colour to copper,
but to their peculiar feeding, and they suggest that the
diatomacese are probably the cause. They point out that
* Report of the Commission, <fec (Dublin, 1870).
SOME IMPORTANT CONCLUSIONS. 261
the warm temperature of the surface of the sea on the
Irish coast particularly adapts it for oyster-breeding ; and
the following conclusions are put forward in a paper by
Professor Hennessy :
" 1. The temperature of the sea on the coast of Ireland
varies within narrower limits than on the coast of Great
Britain; or, in other words, it is more equable -through-
out the year, and also during the summer season, when,
oyster-breeding takes place.
" 2. The temperature of the sea at noon on the Irish
coast, especially on the south and west coasts during the
months of June and July, is, upon the whole, higher than
on the coast of Great Britain, and less than on the west
coast of France.
" 3. This temperature seems to be sufficient for the re-
quirements of oyster-breeding.
" 4. The highest temperature of the seas surrounding
Ireland, and probably also of those surrounding Great
Britain, is during the month of August, and the least
during the month of February."
The Commissioners also publish some conclusions arrived
at by Professor Sullivan in reference to the composition of
the soils of oyster-grounds :
"1. That the influence of the soil upon the breeding
and growth of oysters is complicated by temperature,
especially during the spawning-season ; sudden alterna-
tions of heat and cold, due to currents ; alternations of
depth of water, especially as regards whether the maxi-
mum of sun heat and light concords with low water
during the spawning-season ; velocity of tide, angle of
inclination of shore, &c.
" 2. That the soil of oyster-grounds may be made up
262 RATE OF OYSTER-GROWTH.
of materials of any of the great classes of rocks, are-
naceous, argillaceous, or calcareous, provided they con-
tain
" 3. More or less of a fine, flocculent, highly hydrated
silt, rich in organic matter, which indicates that diato-
macese, rhizopoda, infusoria, and other minute creatures
abound. '
" 4. That the character and abundance of such small
organisms in a locality seems to be the true test of a suc-
cessful oyster-ground.
" 5. And, lastly, that although oysters do undoubtedly
assimilate copper from water where mine-water contain-
ing traces of that metal flows into the sea in the neigh-
bourhood of the oyster-beds, the copper is .chiefly, if not
exclusively, confined to the body of the oyster, and does
not appear to reach the mantle or beard ; that the so-called
green oysters of Essex, Maremies, and other places, on the
other hand, are green-bearded, and contain 110 copper, nor
can the most minute trace of copper be detected in the
soil of the oyster - grounds where such green -bearded
oysters are produced."
The ratio of oyster-growth, an important consideration
in connection with oyster-farms, is thus estimated by a
very accurate and judicious writer : *
While in the spat state, a bushel measure will contain
25,000 oysters. The spawn, when two years old, is called
brood, and while in this condition a bushel-measure will
hold 5500. In the next stage of growth, oysters are
called ware ; and it takes about 2000 of them to fill the
bushel. In the final stage a bushel contains about 1500
* Bertram, "Harvest of the Sea," pp. 367, 368.
COLLECTING " BROOD.
2G3
oysters. Very large sums have occasionally been paid by
the Whitstable Company for brood with which to stock
their grounds, and great quantities are collected from the
Essex side. There a number of people gain a sufficient
livelihood by gathering oyster-brood on the public fore-
shores, and disposing of it to persons who have private
nurseries, or " oyster-layings," as they are) locally called.
UNLOADING THE OYSTER-SMACKS.
Large quantities of spat are yielded by the grounds of
Pont ; a fine open space of water, sixteen miles long by
three broad, free to all comers. Here about one hundred
and fifty boats, each manned by three or four men, are
constantly employed in obtaining young oysters, which
they sell to the neighbouring oyster-farmers, although it
2G4 OYSTER-FARMING IN FRANCE.
is certain that the brood thus obtained must have floated
out of beds belonging to the purchasers.
Extensive oyster-grounds occupy the numerous shallow
creeks and channels of the estuary of the Colne, which, as
early as Drayton's time, was celebrated for its bivalves :
" Think you our oysters here unworthy of your praise ?
Pure Walfleet, which do still the daintiest palates please."
Their fame, however, was established at a much earlier
date, and Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans, all in
their turn, appreciated the Colchester " natives."
In France oyster-farming has attained to the rank of a
national industry, and its shores are studded with fully
seven thousand ostrearia. Upon the He de Re, off
Rochelle, hundreds of beds have been formed within the
last fifteen years. The spat with which the first beds
were stocked was washed upon the island shores, it is
supposed, from some inaccessible natural scalp situated in
the adjoining waters. This fall of spat was first noticed
by a shrewd mechanic, named Hyacinthe Boeuf, who,
about 1858, formed a small "park" within which he laid
down a few bushels of growing oysters. The result was
so encouraging that he proceeded to enlarge his " park,"
and in 1862 he sold out of his own stock as many oysters
as yielded a return of <40. His example was not long
in finding imitators, and "beds" were laid down with
such rapidity, and prospered to such an extent, that in
six years a stock of oysters was accumulated, valued at
upwards of 100,000.
Near the He de Re exists a remarkable mussel-farm,
where the culture of that popular bivalve has been suc-
cessfully carried on for upwards of seven centuries. The
artificial system of growing mussels was accidentally dis-
AN OYSTER-FARM AT ARCACHON. 265
covered by a shipwrecked Irishman named Walton. To
supply himself with food, he made a net to capture sea-
birds, and to fix his instrument of capture securely, he
planted stout stakes or posts in the mud of the fore-shore .
Tn a short time he found that large quantities of mussels,
torn by the tidal action from some natural bed, had ad-
hered to the net fixtures. These in due course matured
into fine-flavoured animals, which were eagerly purchased
by connoisseurs. On this hint the French fishermen
acted ; rows of strong stakes were planted in the Bay of
Aiguillon, which, when interlaced by boughs and branches,
supplied the spat with an excellent resting-place. Thus
sprang up a regular system of mussel cultivation, which
appears to have suggested to M. Coste, the pisciculturist,
some of those ideas of oyster-culture which he was de-
veloping with much industry almost about the same time
that Hyacinthe Boeuf began his successful experiment.
The reports which M. Coste addressed to the Imperial
Government led to its adoption of the oyster-farms as a
source of national wealth, well deserving of State aid and
encouragement.
The most carefully constructed are those established
under the imperial patronage, in the basin of Arcachon,
a sheltered arm of the sea, about thirty-five miles from
Bordeaux.
Arcachon, now a fashionable bathing resort, was, a few
years ago, a small fishing village, celebrated for its abun-
dant supply of naturally-bred oysters. As the scalps, or
beds, were of great extent, it was supposed they could
never be exhausted, and thousands of bushels of capital
oysters were annually sent to all parts of France, as well
as to foreign countries. After these beds had been ex-
266 AN OYSTER-FARM AT ARCACHON.
hausted by over-dredging, Professor Coste took a survey
of the basin, and superintended its conversion into a
gigantic oyster-farm, predicting that the five thousand
acres of ground in the basin, which were suitable for
the growth of oysters, would, after time had been allowed
for their proper development, yield an annual revenue
of c3SO,000, an estimate which has been more than
realized.
There are three Government oyster-beds in the basin
of Arcachon ; these are Lahillon, Grand Ces, and Cras-
torbe.* The first-named was laid down on the most in-
appropriate soil, in order to demonstrate the pursuit of
oyster-growing under difficulties. Its soil was a mere
slime, totally unsuitable for the mollusc ; the enemies of
the animal were superabundant ; moreover, the growth
of many kinds of marine plants was luxurious. To pro-
mote oyster-culture under conditions so unfavourable, so
that the enterprise should be remunerative, was a task
worthy of the enthusiasm of M. Coste. The first thing
to be done was to clear away the slime at such times as
the ground was left dry by the ebbing tide. The vege-
table growth was also removed, and the site, consisting of
about nine acres, was divided by earthen boundaries into
thirty-four squares, each of which was planted with from
nine thousand to thirty thousand oysters. All kinds of
spat collectors were then introduced ; some consisting of
bundles of twigs, others of tiles covered with a thick coat
of cement, and the principal being a wooden structure
formed of planks, to which fagots of branches were at-
tached. At one time the Lahillon nursery contained
* Our description is founded on an article on "French Oyster-Fisheries"
in Once a Week for September 1868, pp. 232-234.
THE " PARK " AT GRAND CES. 267
four hundred artificial spat collectors, in addition to the
natural "culch," or bottom. Oyster-hives were con-
structed, that is, a series of boxes of wood, containing
perforated drawers filled with natural bottom, or culch,
so that when the parent oysters emitted their spawn it
could not escape. The tile system has proved very suc-
cessful, and as many as three hundred oysters have been
stripped off a single tile. The advantage of having tiles
coated with cement is obvious ; as soon as the shells have
grown to the size of a sixpence or a shilling, the cement
is peeled off with the shells adhering to it and the tile
being re-covered with cement, can again be used. It is
stated that as many as ten thousand young oysters may
be retained in the space of a cubic yard.
Of the other Government beds in the Arcachon basin,
that of Crastorbe occupies thirty acres, while Grand Ces
contains twenty -five. All kinds of collecting apparatus
are laid down here just before the spawning-season
that is, from the middle of June to the end of July ;
and these are protected from mud and sea- weed by fences
of various kinds. The oysters, which are all carefully
selected for spawning purposes, are then placed in and
around the various " collectors." When a spawn has
been obtained, the oysters are allowed to develop for a
few months, after which they are gathered from off the
apparatus and set aside to grow in the various depart-
ments of the " park ; " the appareils, being then taken to
pieces, are cleaned and laid aside till again wanted the
best kinds, of course, receiving the preference.
The grand secret, says our authority, of successful
oyster-culture is constant work. It is by unremitting
labour that the dredgers at Whitstable and Essex have
268 THE SECRET OF SUCCESS.
brought the natives that is, the bred oyster to perfec-
tion. They constantly dredge and re-dredge their lay-
ings, separating and classifying the oysters upon each
occasion, changing them to different parts of the ground,
and throwing aside all kinds of enemies and dead shells.
Most of the beds are laid bare by the ebbing tide, and
then the overseers and keepers, who live in floating
houses or miniature arks, turn out to work upon the
farm until the tide comes in again. To each man engaged
are allotted his particular duties ; one superintends the
spat collectors, another gathers in the infant oysters, a
third distributes them over the different " parks." Then
some have it in charge to maintain a constant warfare
against the mud, which is the deadliest enemy of the
young mollusc ; others to collect and remove the sea-
weed; others to assort the stock, and divide it into
batches for market or for the greening and fattening
" claire."
We need only add that oysters are found "all round
the world ; " and some parts of the American continent, as
the Racoon Banks off Florida and Georgia, and the New
York district, are specially famous for their production.
Virginia possesses an area of about 1,680,000 acres of
oyster-beds, containing about 784,000,000 bushels. There
is no fear that the American stock of this highly-appre-
ciated mollusc will be speedily exhausted.
CHAPTER XII.
PEARLS, AND MOTHER-OF-PEARL.
" Orient pearls at random strung."
j]Y a natural transition we pass from Oysters to
PEARLS, these beautiful jewels having been
long associated with the popular molluscs in
the popular mind. Pearls, as well as mother-
of-pearl, are the product of certain molluscs, fresh-water
and marine, such as the pearl-oyster, the pearl-mussel,
the haliotides, and the patellae. The finest, however, are
those obtained from the so-called pearl-oyster, the Avi-
cula, or Meleagrina margaritifera.
This mollusc, like the oyster proper, is a bivalve, and
a lamellibranchiate mollusc of the family Aviculidce. It
owes its generic name, Avicula from avis, a bird to the
peculiarity that, in certain species, the animal, when its
valves are open, presents a vague resemblance to a bird
with outstretched wings. Hence it has sometimes re-
ceived the poetical appellation of " the swallow." It is
usually found congregated in great numbers, attached to
submarine rocks at a considerable depth in all tropical
waters. Pliny affirms that the finest pearls are found in
270 HABITATS OF THE PEARL-OYSTER.
the Indian Ocean ; and his statement still holds good.
The avicula abounds, for example, off the shores of
Ceylon, accumulating in banks of several miles in extent.
It is very plentiful, also, in the Persian Gulf. Of late
years a large number have been drawn from the Arabian
Gulf, being popularly known as Red Sea jewels. Amerigo
Vespuccio, who unwittingly deprived Columbus of the
honour of giving his name to the New World, records
that they were abundant in the regions he visited in the
course of his second voyage. The pearl-oysters are found,
in fact, at Panama in South America, St. Margarita in
the West Indies, the Coromandel Coast, the Sooloo
Islands, the Bahrein Islands, and the Mediterranean.
The avicula is of an oblique, oval form, with a shell
longitudinally ribbed, and marked by concentric folia-
tions which gradually disappear as the animal grows
older. There are about twenty species.
Most of the molluscs, as our readers will remember, are
provided with a fluid secretion which they use to line the
interior of their shells, and to coat the otherwise rugged
material with a smooth, lustrous surface. This is not
only a matter of beauty but of usefulness, since it saves
the soft, tender body of the animal from injurious friction.
The secretion is laid in semi-transparent films of great
tenuity, which, as a whole, are remarkable for their
iridescence, and in some species acquire a sufficient thick-
ness to be wrought and moulded by human skill. The
material itself, in its hardened state, is called nacre, or
" mother-of-pearl."
Now the pearl which is so highly prized as an orna-
ment of rank and beauty is nothing more than a spherical
or rounded fragment of nacre. But whereas the nacre is
PRODUCTION OF THE PEARL.
271
PEARL-OYSTER.
a natural product, and an integral portion of the shell,
the pearl is the result of accident ; and while in one mol-
lusc you may find fifty,
sixty, or seventy of these
beautiful gems, in another
of the same species and the
same variety you may not
find above one or two.
And why] Because the
pearl is the result of the
avicula's effort to remedy
an injury it has sustained
by some fracture of its
shell or by the intrusion of
some foreign body.
If an avicula be wounded in any part of its substance,
if some perforating animal work through its shell, or
some hard, angular body, such as a grain of sand, force
its way between the valves, the mollusc, unable to re-
move the cause of offence, proceeds to cover it with its
secretion. This is deposited in thin films, one upon the
other, and overlying each other without the slightest pre-
tence to regularity; and as the animal grows, so does the
secreted nacre, or pearl, increase in size and iridescence.
The Chinese have turned to advantage this exquisite
arrangement of Nature. They keep a species of fresh-
water mussel, the Unio Hyria, in tanks; and between
the shell and mantle of the mollusc they introduce either
small leaden shot or tiny spherical fragments of mother-
of-pearl. In due time they are regularly coated with the
nacreous secretion, and assume the appearance of pearls
naturally produced.
(502)
272 ANCIENT REPUTE OF THE PEARL.
Such is the actual origin of the product which Pliny
and Dioscorides supposed to be " a drop of congealed
dew," or a rain-drop which, falling into the shells when
opened by the animal, was, by some strange effort on* the
animal's part, converted into a pearl. This opinion,
which prevailed in all Eastern countries, has been em-
ployed by Moore as an elegant simile :
" And precious the tear as that rain from the sky,
Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea."
From time immemorial pearls have been highly valued
for the purpose of personal adornment, or as a sign of
rank and dignity. A tapestry of pearls was one of the
principal decorations of the magnificent hall in which
Ahasuerus received his ambassadors and held his coun-
cils. In very early days the princes of the East enriched
with pearls their garments, their weapons, and their
household ornaments ; and the same custom still prevails.
We read that Tavernier sold to the Shah of Persia, for
the sum of 2,700,000 francs, a pearl which he had bought
at Catifa. They are frequently mentioned in the New
Testament. Our Lord, in Matthew xiii. 45, 46, likens
the kingdom of heaven to "a merchant man, seeking
goodly pearls." Another allusion occurs in Matthew
vii. 6. That they were commonly worn by women, we
learn from 1 Timothy ii. 9 and Revelation xvii. 4 ; and
the value placed upon them may be inferred from the cir-
cumstance that the seer of Patmos, in his Apocalyptic
vision, conceived of the twelve gates of the heavenly Jeru-
salem as twelve pearls.
Both by the Greeks and Romans they were regarded
with singular appreciation. Julius Caesar offered to Ser-
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS. 273
villa, the mother of Brutus, an " Orient pearl " valued at
more than a million of our English sovereigns. Pliny
calculates the worth of the famous pearl which Cleopatra
swallowed in her costly draught at a sum equal to .80,729.
Of course, no such amounts could now be realized. It is
recorded that Pompey possessed a cabinet lined entirely
with lustrous pearls. Pliny also informs us that he had
seen Lollia Paulina, who became the wife of Caligula,
decorate her beauty with four millions' worth of pearls
and emeralds ; they shone about her tresses, her ears, her
neck, her shoulders, and her fingers. In medieval days
they were not less highly prized by the chivalry and
beauty of England and France : by Edward IV., by
Catherine de -Medicis, and Gabrielle d'Estrees j by Queen
Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh, the Earl of Leicester, and
even by the ungainly James I. In our English poetry
allusions to their bright soft lustre are innumerable. In
Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, occurs a fanci-
fully elegant comparison :
" A sea of melting pearl, which some call tears."
And in Much Ado -About Nothing we read that Hero's
wedding-dress of "cloth of gold" was "set with pearls."
Milton includes among the treasures of "the gorgeous
East," " barbaric pearl and gold;" and pictures beneath
the mysterious stairs which led up to the gate of heaven,
"a sea of liquid pearl." In Eden, the "crisped brooks"
went on their winding way,
" Rolling on Orient pearl and sands of gold."
The poet tells us that in the smooth Severn stream,
" The water-nymphs that in the bottom play
Hold up their pearled wrists."
274 SOME FAMOUS PEARLS.
So, too, Tennyson's Mermaid combs her hair under the
" In a golden curl
With a comb of pearl."
And the same poet, when describing the beauty of the
" sweetest lady of the time," in his ballad of good Haroim
Alraschid, speaks of
"A brow of pearl
Tressed with redolent ebony."
Among the largest pearls ever known was one presented
to Philip II. of Spain in 1579. It was equal in size to a
pigeon's egg, was shaped like a pear, and came from Pan-
ama. Its value was estimated at 100,000 francs, or nearly
4000 ; equal, at the present value of money, to 50,000.
" Among the number of pearls yearly offered to the King
of Spain/' says a writer of the last century, " this prince
put aside the most beautiful, and employed them in the
divine service." We may judge of the quantity he thus
employed, from a vestment worn by the image of Our
Lady of Guadaloupe, all the white ground of which was
wholly pearls ; the red and green embroidery being made
up of rubies and emeralds. Well may the chronicler ex-
claim : " There is not in the world any other sovereign
but the King of the Indies who could exhibit so great a
magnificence in his devotion."
A collection of four hundred and eight pearls, valued
at 20,000, formed part of the ancient regalia of the
French crown. We read of a single pearl, belonging to
Sir Thomas Gresham, which was estimated to be worth
15,000. The story runs that he reduced it to powder,
and drank it in a glass of wine to the health of Queen
Elizabeth, in order to eclipse the Spanish ambassador,
IMPROVING ITS QUALITY. 275
with whom he had wagered to give a more costly banquet
than the Spaniard could.
An extraordinary pearl belonged to the late Mr. Hope
of Deepdene. It measured two inches in length, four in
circumference, and weighed eighteen hundred grains.
Great regularity of shape (oval, pyriform, or circular),
a beautiful " water," or a vivid white tint, with brilliant
gleams like those of an opal what jewellers call a bel
orient and a considerable size, are the qualities which
give value to a pearl. And when these are found com-
bined, the ocean-jewel may fairly challenge comparison
with topaz or emerald. Its serious defect is its liability,
from some unknown cause, to a sudden loss of colour.
It is said that the lustrousness of the pearl is greatly
increased if a pigeon is made to swallow it. Redi asserts
that he proved by experiments the efficacy of this ap-
parently absurd device. At the same time, he warns us
that the jewel should not remain too long in the bird's
digestive tube, as in twenty-four hours it loses one-third
of its weight.
This method is adopted in Ceylon, where, according to
the Asiatic Journal, the chicken to which the pearl has
been entrusted for improvement is killed at the expiry of
a minute or two. The friction which it undergoes in the
bird's stomach, and, we suppose, the action of the gastric
juices, are held to account for a result which, we think,
might be obtained by some less barbarous process.
The pearl-fishery now demands our attention.
In Ceylon, the principal locality is a bank about twenty
miles in length, ten or twelve miles from shore, off the
villages of Coiidatchy and Aripo. The season begins
276 THE PEARL-FISHERY.
early in February, and lasts about three months. To
prevent the young pearl-oysters from being destroyed, the
bank is divided into several sections, one of which is
worked every year. The Singalese believe that the
avicula attains maturity in seven years, after which it
expels from its valves the pearls which prove inconvenient
through their numbers.
The boats licensed by the Ceylon Government to carry
on the fishery are open, and vary in size from ten to
fifteen tons burden. At ten o'clock every evening a
gun fires : it is the signal for them to put out to sea ; and
immediately the dusky -winged flotilla makes for the
Government vessel, moored on the bank, which answers
the double purpose of a guard and light ship. Each bark
carries a crew of about twenty men, of whom ten are
rowers and ten are divers. The latter, under the direc-
tion of an adapanaar, are chiefly Tamils and Moors from
Colung, the Malabar coast, and Manaar.
They are now divided into two gangs, five men in each ;
one remaining on board the boats to rest, while the others
descend. For several days previously they have pre-
pared themselves by feeding on the most nutritious food,
and rubbing their body with oil. They also take care to
secure a talisman, consisting of three leaves of the wild
medlar, covered with strange characters ; this, they believe,
is an effectual safeguard against the monsters of the deep.
Each diver is provided with a small net, or basket,
slung round his neck, to receive the products of his labour ;
and of a diving-stone, of about thirty pounds weight,
fastened to the end of a stout rope, which is of sufficient
length to reach the bottom. Placing his foot in the loop
attached to the stone, and filling his lungs with air by a
DIVING FOR PEARLS.
277
deep inspiration, he gives the signal, and is rapidly lowered
to grope among the " dark unfathomed caves " of ocean
for " many a gem of purest ray serene." Immediately he
fills his net or basket with oysters, pulls at the rope, and
is straightway hauled up to the light of day. The process
is necessarily rapid, for the best divers, according to
PEARL-DIVER ATTACKED BY A SAW-FISH.
Lieutenant Wellstead, cannot remain under water longer
than sixty or eighty seconds. The greatest depth to
which they descend is thirteen fathoms, and the usual
depth about nine.
Their work is not without its dangers. Not infre-
quently the diver is attacked by shark or saw-fish, in
278 HOW PEARLS ARE SIFTED.
which event a terrible struggle takes place ; and unless he
is promptly hauled to the surface by his companions, it
does not always end to the diver's advantage. He suffers
also from the pressure of the water, which frequently
forces the blood to his ears, nose, and mouth ; and so
terrible is the exhaustion, that a pearl-diver's career is
invariably a brief one, and prematurely terminated by
disease or death.
When the boats, returning from the fishery, have
landed their cargoes of shells, each owner carries off his
share, which he piles on the shore, that the oysters may
perish and putrefy. In India it is the custom to spread
them out on mats at the bottom of a trench, and then
abandon them to the action of the sun's heat and the
atmosphere. It is not long before putrefaction com-
mences. Then a search is made for those which contain
pearls ; the animal matter is collected and boiled, and the
water carefully strained, so as to recover any pearls which
may have escaped the first inspection. Those which are
attached to the valves, the " clippers," as they are called,
remove with pincers or hammers, and they are used only
for setting. The others, which are usually quite spherical,
are polished, drilled, and threaded. They are first
sorted, however, according to their sizes, by passing them
through a series of copper sieves of different dimensions.
In stringing them, the natives make use of bodkins of
various magnitudes, and are careful to distinguish which
is the best side of each pearl, so as to bring that side
forward in the chaplet.
In this delicate and minute work the Indians and
Chinese excel ; and in one day a man will pierce six hun-
dred large, or half that number of small, pearls. The
PEARL-FISHING IN THE INDIAN SEAS.
TRAFFIC IN " ORIENT PEARLS." 281
medium and smaller sized pearls are threaded on white
or blue silk ; the different threads are fastened together
by a knot of blue ribbon, and they are sold in " masses "
of so many threads.
As no use is made of the oyster-shells, and as the pearl-
fishery at Condatchy is fully two thousand years old, the
reader will understand that an immense bank has ac-
cumulated on the shore, extending for many miles, and
averaging several feet in thickness.*
A very fine bed of aviculas occurs in the Persian Gulf,
stretching from Sharja to the Biddulph Islands. The
depth of water varies from three to sixteen fathoms. The
island of Bahrein despatches three thousand five hundred
boats to this fishery, and the shores of the gulf about eight
hundred. The crews number ten to fourteen hands, and
the whole number engaged in the course of the season
exceeds forty thousand. They live principally upon dates
and fish. They receive no fixed wages, but one-fourth of
the product, which is estimated at 400,000 a year.
The traffic in Oriental pearls finds its principal outlets
in Persia, India, Indo-China, and China. Considerable
quantities also are imported into Europe. The rough
and irregularly shaped pearls are sold in Russia and Italy,
where few women, even of the lowest classes, think their
attire complete without a pearl necklace, t As for globular
or pyriform pearls of tolerable size, they are purchased by
jewellers of every country. Seed-pearls that is, the very
smallest are largely sold in Spain, to be employed in
* Sir Emerson Tennerit, "Natural History of Ceylon," p. 373.
t "Towards twilight the girls put on their better dresses, and comb their
glossy raven hair, heaping it up in great solid braids, and, hanging two long
golden earrings in their ears and necklaces round their full necks, come forth
conquering and to conquer." W. W. Story, "Roba di Roma," i. 180.
282 BRITISH PEARLS.
ecclesiastical decoration ; in the East, they are used in
embroidering garments.
In the Roman period, our British pearls, found in the
fresh- water mussel (Unio maryaritifera) , attained a con-
siderable celebrity, and were much esteemed by the patri-
cian ladies of Rome. These pearls, however, are usually
small and discoloured, and specimens equal to those of
the pearl-oyster are not always forthcoming. Of late
years the British pearl-fishery has been revived in the
Scotch rivers, under the direction of Mr. Moritz linger
of Edinburgh, and with much success. Large quantities
of the elegant pink-hued jewels have been purchased by
the Queen and the ex- Empress of the French, and " Scotch
pearls " are popular among the wealthier classes for pur-
poses of personal adornment. They are found chiefly in
the rivers Tay, Doon, Don, Teith, Forth, Ythan, Spey,
Ugie, and Earn. In the smaller of these rivers the
mussel-beds have been exhausted by over-fishing ; but in
the Tay and the Doon the labour of the fisher is still
fairly rewarded.
It has been truly said that the mode of fishing is " pri-
mitive in its simplicity." No apprenticeship is required to
it ; there is no outlay for fishing apparatus ; there is no
need of skill ; and men, women, and children engage in
it on equal terms. The most tedious part of the work is
preliminary ; namely, to search the river-bed until a collec-
tion of the unionidse is discovered. The numbers at any
single point are never considerable ; but once discovered,
the fisher wades in among them, armed with a large stick,
one end of which has a simple slit in it made by a knife.
This stick he thrusts down among the shells, and brings
CEYLON PEARL-FISHERY.
them up firmly wedged in the slit. He tosses the shells
ashore, and continues his labours until he has collected a
large heap. Then he proceeds to open them, either with
a knife or a sharpened shell ; finding, it is calculated, a
pearl in every fortieth shell, and one pearl in a dozen
being of a kind to bring a profit. The musse' i taken from
a rocky or shingly bed are more productive v f pearls than
those derived from the sand.
Excellent river-pearls, known as " Bohemian," are pro-
cured from the rivers Moldau and Wottowa. A fresh-
water pearl-fishery is also carried on in Bavaria ; and, on
a small scale, in some of the Welsh rivers and in the
north of Ireland.
The avicula is not the only mollusc which yields pearls.
The Bay of Tamblegam, near Trincomale, is the seat of a
fishery, where the shell producing the pearl is the thin
transparent oyster, Placuna placenta, whose clear white
shells are used in China and elsewhere as a substitute
for window-glass. Its diminutive pearls are exported to
the Indian coast to be calcined for lime, which the wealthy
natives affect to chew with their betel. The quantity of
shells taken yearly exceeds six millions.
The Ceylon fisheries occasionally fail through over-
fishing, or the migration of the aviculse in search of food
to some other quarter ; * and it has been proposed to adopt
* Stewart's "Pearl-Fisheries of Ceylon," p. 27. After an interval of ten
years the fishery was revived in 1873. The Ceylon Observer, writing of it, says :
-"This last pearl-fishery is the first that has taken place for ten years, the
oysters having during that period mysteriously disappeared ; and though for
three years an English savant was employed at a salary of 1000 a year, he
proved unable to account for their conspicuous absence. Perhaps out of
compliment to him they have returned to their old spot; at any rate, the
take this year (1873) has reached the important number of one million of
oysters, producing to the Government the respectable sum of 10,000. The
284 CEYLON PEARL-FISHERY.
M. Coste's system of oyster-farming, and establish beds in
suitable localities, so as to guard against the loss of a very
important staple of commercial industry.
oysters generally have been found to be too young to yield good pearls ; and
this being the case, we wonder that they were not at once returned to their
native element, as landing useless ones is certainly a most suicidal policy.
The way in which we are told that a Tamil coolie found one pearl worth 150,
leads us to suppose that the narrator did not place the least reliance in the
rumour which he thought it his duty to record ; indeed, what follows will
show our readers that no such result was at all probable. The fishing-ground
is distant about twelve miles from Silawatorre, and as many as two hundred
boats are engaged in the fishery. These are divided into two fleets, distin-
guished by blue and red flags; and they are engaged for twelve days, this
being the limit assigned for the pearl-diving. On the sound of the gun at
midnight the boats weigh their anchors, and on their arrival another gun
gives them the signal that they are to set to work. There are twenty-three
hands to each boat, and one-quarter of the ' take ' is their share, the remain-
ing three-quarters falling to the rapacious maw of the Government. On this
last occasion very great assistance was afforded to the natives by an English
diver clad in a proper diving-dress, who was able to stay under water for an
hour, and is reported to have walked a mile at a time, and to have indicated
to the super-aqueous confraternity where they could descend with the great-
est advantage."
CHAPTER XIII.
THE MUSSEL.
" Ecce inter virides jactatur mytilus algas." ANTHOLOGTA.
1 HE MUSSEL is a well-known lamellibranchiate
mollusc, belonging to the family Mytilidw :
a family which includes the Sea Mussel,
Mytilus; the Pond Mussel, Anodontu; the
Mulete, or Painter's Mussel, Pina cardium ; and some
other genera. As the Mytilus is the object of an exten-
sive fishery, it requires and deserves description.
Like the oyster, which it resembles in its general
organization, the mussel is an acephalous mollusc and a
bivalve. Unlike the oyster, it attaches itself to its
resting-place by an apparatus of threads, called the byssus,
which is secreted by a special gland. In shape it differs
greatly from the more popular mollusc, for it is longi-
tudinal, with a regular equivalve, and comparatively
smooth shell, pointed at the base, and of a bluish-black
colour. The hinge is without teeth, but the uniting
ligament is located in a deep furrow.
The animal enclosed in this oblong equi valvular case
is elongate, and oval, witli the lobes of its pallium (or
286
ABOUT THE MUSSEL.
"mantle") simple or fringed; the said pallium, which
secretes the shell, being simply an expansion of the dorsal
integument. It does not possess a distinct, differentiated
head; and the mouth is just situated at what may be
called the anterior extremity of the body. It opens into
a gullet, and the gullet into a stomach consisting of a
thin, white, opaline membrane. The liver is large and
well-developed ; the respiratory organs consist of two
larnelliform gills, placed on each side of the body.
A remarkable organ of the mussel is its foot which is
small, and when not in motion semi-lunar, but capable of
elongation until it resembles a kind of conical tongue,
THE MUSSEL AND ITS " BYSSUS." 287
with a longitudinal furrow on either side. It is sub-
sidiary to a special gland ; the gland which, as we have
already said, secretes the tuft of silky threads known as
the "byssus."
It is difficult to imagine what the mussel would do
without its byssus. It constitutes its special advantage
over the oyster; for while the latter is unable to accom-
plish any long or rapid journey, or any continuous
motion, the mussel is free to move about at all times and
in all directions. Attaching its byssus to some fixed
object, it draws upon it as upon a cable, and is gently
carried forward. But not only does the byssus act as a
locomotor, it is also an anchor, and when the animal is
moored by it to rock or pile, it defies the violence of the
strongest currents. Moreover, it can in this way suspend
itself to the face of a perpendicular crag, and keep its
shell to some extent above the surface of the water ; to
which cause the comparative smoothness of its shell is
probably owing.
The mussel seems able to cling to any surface, however
slippery. Put one or two into your aquarium, reader,
and you will soon find them securely anchored to the
glass ; so securely, that to remove the shells you must
rend or sever the threads of the byssus, and these are
about a hundred and fifty in number ! It is a curious
fact that, to bind together the loose stones of the Cher-
bourg breakwater, the French sowed, or planted, tons of
mussels, thus depending on the tenacious and adherent
properties of the byssus.
In almost all the seas of the world the mussel is to be
found, and on the English and Scotch coasts it is one of
the " common objects of the shore." It is used as an
(502) 1 9
288 THE STORY OF WALTON.
edible though the cook needs to be careful in dealing
with so dangerous a mollusc and by the fisher-folk for
bait. You may see the fisherman, and his wife and
bairns, all engaged in the early part of the day groping
among the weedy stones and rocks for the provision which
he must take with him when he sails his boat at night-
fall. Mussels are even purchased for bait, and the sup-
ply, not infrequently, is less than the demand. It is
surprising no one in our islands has yet taken to mussel-
culture, at any rate not on a large scale. They manage
these things better in France. In the Bay of Aiguillon
MII immense mytilicultural farm exists, and has existed
for nearly six centuries, though not, of course, on its
present scale.
Strange to say, the mussel-farm we speak of was
established by the Irishman, Walton, to whom we have
already referred, under the following curious circum-
stances :
In 1236 an Irish bark was wrecked in the Bay of
Aiguillon, a few miles from Rochelle. All the crew
appear to have perished, but the neighbouring fishermen
saved the life of the master, a man named Walton.
Those were days in which men had a hard struggle for
existence, and on the barren shore of the Aunis, Walton
was compelled to support himself as best he could. At
first, he lived principally upon the sea-fowl which, in
countless flocks, frequented the neighbouring marshes.
Growing dexterous through incessant practice, he in- ,
vented a species of net, a " night-net," as he called it,
measuring, it is said, three or four hundred yards in
length by three yards in breadth. This immense stretch
of mesh-work he disposed horizontally, like a screen, along
THE STORY OF WALTON. 289
the beautiful waters of the bay, retaining it in. its posi-
tion by piles driven into the " oozy bed." In the dark-
ness the wild fowl, as they floated with the ripple, came
in contact with "Walton's " engine," and entangled them-
selves in its meshes.
The bay, however, was exceedingly shallow, and, near
the shore, was navigated with difficulty. Something ot
lighter draught than the clumsy French boats was needed.
Walton's ingenuity again came to his assistance, and he
succeeded in devising a flat-bottomed, square-sided craft,
; '
PUXT USED BY MUSSEL-BREEDER.
resembling our modern punts. It had a wooden frame,
nine feet long by three feet broad and deep, the fore-part
of which sloped into the water, like a prow, at a slight
angle. To propel the boat, the puntsman, for we cannot
call him the "rower," knelt on his left knee, bending
forward, with one hand on each side, and used his right
leg as a punting pole.
In his punt-trajects Walton observed that the bay
abounded with mussels, and he observed also that these
were most plentiful on that part of the retaining posts of
290 THE FIRST " MUSSEL-FARM."
his net which were a little above the mud. Further, he
noted that these grew fatter, and were better flavoured,
than their mud-embedded congeners. On this hint he
acted. He began a system of mussel -culture, and teach-
ing it to the fishermen of Aiguillon, he founded a new
and profitable industry. So well-adapted was that system
to its object, that it has flourished down to the present
time with scarcely any modification.
M. Coste, the great French authority on this subject,
very justly remarks that Walton, in developing his idea,
seems to have been conscious of the service he was
rendering to his contemporaries, and desirous that he
should be remembered by posterity, for in every instance
he gave to the apparatus he invented the form of the
initial letter of his name (Y for Yalton). Thus : he
began by planting a long range of piles along the low
marshy shore, each pair forming the letter Y, of which
the apex was towards the sea, while the two limbs
diverged at an angle of 45. The posts were kept nearly
a yard apart ; each measuring about twelve feet in length
that is, six feet above and six feet below the water-
surface and all were bound together with hurdles of
intertwisted branches. The two rows of hurdles formed
what is now called the bouchot. To the unaccustomed
eye the appearance is that of a number of fences, or
basket-work palisades, arranged in the form of acute
triangles.
The bouchot is now-a-days constructed in exactly the
same manner ; but there are so many planted in the little
creek that it looks as if all the sheep-farms of the country
had been deprived of their hurdles ! We believe they
count up to 500 ; that each is from 200 to 250 yards
MUSSEL-CULTURE IN FRANCE. 291
long, and six feet high ; that the piles number fully
230,000 ; and that the fascines supported by them are no
fewer than 125,000. The space thus covered extends
about five miles, from the headland of St. Clemens to the
mouth of the Marans river.
The bouchotier, following the example of Walton,
traverses the muddy expanse of the bay at low water, in
a punt, and with the wonderful topographical knowledge
born of experience, glides in and out of the labyrinth of
hurdles, without making a mistake, even in the darkest
night. He readily finds out his own establishment, and
then attends to the proper condition of his crop, or re-
pairs and renews the wave- worn hurdles. The furrows
ploughed in the mud by the labouring canoe might, when
hardened in the summer sun, render his farming a
laborious task, but for the assistance of a small crusta-
cean, which swarms in the mussel-fields towards the
beginning of May, and in hunting after its prey, the
annelids, completely effaces the ruggednesses and in-
equalities of the muddy soil. This crustacean suddenly
vanishes, about the end of October, in a single night.
Mussel-culture is the prevailing occupation of the in-
habitants of Esnandes, Chavron, and Marsilly.
Sometimes a bouchotier owns several bouchots, and is
quite a man of substance ; sometimes he has but a share
in a bouchot, which he cultivates in common with others,
receiving his due proportion of the profit. The bouchots
are arranged in four divisions, according to their place in
the bay, and are distinguished accordingly as bouchots
du bas or d'aval, bouchots batard, bouchots milieu, and
bouchots d'avant.
The bouchots du bas are those nearest the sea. They
292 AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRY.
are uncovered only during spring-tides, and instead of
being formed, like the others, of basket or wattle work,
consist simply of a row of piles, planted about nine feet
apart, and in what seems the best position for catching
and preserving the* nuissain. or mussel-spat, which is
afterwards transplanted, as we shall see, to the mussel-
farms further in-shore.
We owe to M. Coste a lively description of the in-
dustry supported by this interesting culture.
In order, he says, to supply the distant markets, the
bouchotiers bring ashore their cargoes of mussels, which
the women carry into the neighbouring caves or grottoes ;
there they are cleaned, and packed in hampers or baskets,
which are conveyed in carts or on the backs of pack-
horses, by night, to Rochelle, Rochefort, Angouleme,
Poitiers, Tours, Angers, and Saumur. Ninety carts and
one hundred and forty horses make annually upwards of
thirty-three thousand journeys to these and other towns.
Moreover, forty or fifty boats come from Bordeaux, the
isles of Re and Oleron, and the sands of Olorme accom-
plishing in all some seven hundred and fifty voyages per
annum, and distributing the rich harvest of Aiguillon at
places inaccessible to the horse and cart of the villagers.
A well-equipped bouckot supplies every year, according
to the length of its wings, from four hundred to five
hundred charges. A charge weighs upwards of 300 Ibs.,
and sells for about four shillings. A single bouchot,
therefore, produces a harvest equal in weight to 130,000
or 140,000 Ibs., equal in value to .100; and at this
estimate the whole bay will yield a gross yearly revenue
of <480,000. These figures afford some idea of the
alimentary wealth of the sea-shore ; and both in England
GROWTH OF THE BIVALVE. 293
and Scotland there are numerous parts of the coast where
mytiliculture could be pursued with no less advantage.
Meantime, as M. Coste remarks, the Bay of Aiguillon
remains as a memorial of what may be accomplished by
the efforts of a single individual.
The various processes of the " cultivation " are these :
Towards the end of April the seed (semence) which,
during the two preceding months, has become attached
to the piles of the bouchot du bas, attains to the size of
a grain of flax, and is then designated the nuissain. By
July it has grown as large as a bean, and receiving the
name of cenouvelain, is ready to be transplanted to the less
comfortable pastures of the bouchot batard. The boucho-
tier proceeds to remove it, during low water, by means
of a hook fixed to the end of a pole, and in his punt con-
veys it across the mud to the fences of the bouchot batard,
where, enclosed in bags of old net, it is placed in all the
intervals along the palisades until the different hurdles
are fully covered. This operation is called la batrisse.
The bags are large enough to admit of the development
of the young mussels ; and, moreover, the action of the
water and the atmosphere soon rots them, and they fall
away, leaving the bivalves attached to the sides of the
bouchot.
In due time the mussels grow so large as to touch one
another, and the fences at a distance seem long lines of
blackness; then the mytiliculturist thins the mass, just
as a gardener thins an overcrowded bed of turnips or
carrots. The thinned-out mussels are transplanted to the
empty or partially-covered hurdles of the bouchot milieu,
which at neap-tides is left exposed by the water. In
294 FRESH-WATER MUSSELS.
this second transplantation no nets are used, the large
size of the mussels rendering them unnecessary.
In the bouchot milieu the mussels remain for about a
twelvemonth, after which they pass a short time in the
buchot d'avant ; there they are so near the shore that,
when fully ready for the market, they can easily be
gathered by the hand. They are in the best condition
from July to January. During the spawning-season,
from February to April, they lose their flavour, and ac-
quire a toughness which is anything but agreeable.
Certain localities are famous for the special quality of
their mussels, and they would seem to be of superior
excellence when found in tidal estuaries. This will pro-
bably be due to the nature of their food. A very large
and fine species, the Mytilus choros, is found at Chiloe.
Fresh- water mussels, though allied to the Mytilidse,
form a different family. They have a much larger foot,
which, except when the animal is very young, does not
produce a byssus. Though some of the species are Euro-
pean, most are American, where they abound in the lakes
and rivers, and generally live embedded in mud.
It is supposed they feed upon animalcules, and upon
decomposed animal and vegetable matter. In many the
epidermis is very brilliantly coloured, while the inside of
the valves is coated with a beautiful iridescent nacre.
On the south and east coasts of England are found two
species ; while the Cineo (Alasmodon) margaritifera or
Meya margaritifera, which inhabits the streams of Wales
and Scotland, is celebrated for the pearls it produces.
Of the British pearl-fisheries, however, we have spoken
in the preceding chapter.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE HOLOTHURIA, TREPANG, OR SEA-CUCUMBER.
"What hirlest thou in thy treasure-caves and cells,
Thou hollow-sounding and mysterious main ?" MBS. HEMANS.
E do not suppose that many of our readers will
have seen a " sea-cucumber ; " we are certain
they will not have partaken of one as " an
article of diet." Yet in many parts of the
world it forms a recognized and valued " dish;" and as it
is the object of a not inconsiderable fishery, it will rightly
figure in these pages.
" Sea-cucumber " is the popular appellation for a mem-
ber of the great class Echinodermata (literally, spiny-
skinned), which zoologists have christened HOLOTHURIA.
It has an elongated, vermiform, or sometimes slug-
shaped body, enclosed in a coriaceous skin, frequently
containing calcareous granules or spicules. While some
specimens attain a length of three feet, others do not
exceed a few inches ; and while some are opaque, others
are semi-transparent. The digestive tube extends from
one end of the fleshy body to the other ; the mouth being
29G
ABOUT " SEA-CUCUMBERS.
placed at the bottom of a kind of funnel, and surrounded
by a fairy-like ring of feathery tentacles. Locomotion is
effected by means of tube-feet, which, when present, are
distributed over the body in five rows ; or by the alternate
extension and contraction of the body, as in the worm.
The intestine is long and convoluted, and opens into a
terminal dilatation, termed the "cloaca," which serves
both as an anus and as an aperture for the admission of
sea-water to the respiratory tubes.
THE HOLOTHU&IA.
Many of the holothurias possess so remarkable a degree
of contractility, that, if injured or irritated, they can eject
the whole of their internal organs.
They are found in nearly every sea; often at great
depths, but not infrequently in shallow water. As we
have said, in some parts of the world it is esteemed a
valuable article of food. The Neapolitans consume it
largely ; but it is in China that it obtains the most ex-
tensive reputation. The famous " trepang " is neither
THE TREPAXG-FISHERY. 299
more nor less than " sea-cucumber." In the so-called
" Celestial Empire " it forms the staple of a thriving
fishery and an extensive commerce ; and we are told that
long before New Holland was discovered by Europeans,
the Malays visited its shores to fish for the holothurias
abounding in the Australian waters.
Dumont d'Urville, the French voyager, furnishes an
interesting description of this curious fishery. The two
frigates under his command, the Astrolabe and the Zelee,
had dropped anchor in Raffles Bay ; and there, on an islet,
the scientific officers of the expedition erected an observa-
tory.
In his shore rambles, Dumont d'Urville frequently
noticed, at numerous points, ranges of low walls, con-
structed of dry stones, and arranged in a semicircular form,
but joining one another. He had vainly framed conjec-
tures as to the possible use of these strange constructions,
when a company of Malay fishermen arrived.
Four prahus, carrying the Dutch flag, entered the bay,
and took up their positions at a cable's length from the
French observatory. Their crews then proceeded to land
several large cast-iron caldrons, not less than three feet in
diameter, and these they raised upon the low stone dykes
we have spoken of, which turned out to be intended for
furnaces or fireplaces. Some sheds of bamboo were after-
wards run up ; four bundles being set into the ground
at the corners of a square, and a rude roof rested upon
them.
The owners of the prahus explained to the French com-
modore that, setting out from Macassar towards the close
of October, they fished for the holothurias all along the
Australian coast, from Melville Island to the Gulf of
300 THE TREPANG-FISHERY.
Carpentaria, until driven away by the easterly winds ;
that on their homeward voyage they would revisit every
point of the coast, anchoring in those bays and creeks
which give promise of a successful fishery.
Such a crowd of men, busily labouring at the construc-
tion of their sheds and laboratories, gave to Raffles Bay
an unusual aspect, which soon excited the curiosity of the
savage inhabitants of the mainland. They hastened to it
from every quarter ; most of them reaching the island
by swimming, or by fording the comparatively shallow
channel which separated it from the mainland. There
was but a single canoe, and even that was made of the
bark of a tree, and loosely put together. It was unable
to carry more than three persons.
By nightfall the Malays had completed their prepara-
tions ; and a few remaining to guard the articles conveyed
ashore, the others returned to their prahus.
One of these was visited by Dumont d'Urville. The
keel, he says, seemed solidly built, and the lines of the
boat were not without a certain gracefulness. In the
stowage, however, the greatest disorder seemed to pre-
vail.
Each prahu was provided with a couple of rudders, one
at either end, which could be readily lifted if the boat
ran aground. There were two masts ; shrouds there were
none, but the masts could be easily lowered on deck by
means of a hinge. The anchors were of wood, the cables
of rattan, or gomoton. The crew numbered about six and
thirty; and to each prahu were attached five or six skiffs
or canoes.
On the following day, these canoes were spread all over
THE TRE PANG-FISHERY.
301
the bay, and the fishery began. For success in it the
main requisite seemed to be that the men should be good
clivers, and that they should have a keen eye to detect
the holothurias, which are caught by hand, at the bottom
of the water. The best time for fishing is noon, for the
higher the sun above the horizon, the more easily can the
BOILING THE TKKPAXO.
divers discover their prey. The burning orb poured its
fiery arrows upon their heads, apparently without incon-
veniencing them. Each man, on rising to the surface,
would have one or two sea-cucumbers in his hands, which
he cast into the nearest canoe, and immediately dived
302 BOILING THE TREPANG.
again. When the boats were sufficiently loaded, they
returned to the shore, and others took their places.
The cargo of sea-cucumbers, or sea-slugs, as some
authorities call them, being conveyed ashore, the fish
were forthwith cast into a caldron of boiling sea-water,
and kept constantly stirred, by means of a long pole
moving on a forked branch fixed in the earth, so as to act
like a lever. The trepang, having poured out all the
water it contained, was withdrawn, in about two minutes,
from the caldron. A man armed with a large knife then
cut it open, extracted the intestines, and flung it into a
second caldron, where it was boiled anew, with a very
small quantity of water, and some pieces of mimosa bark.
As the latter produced a surprising amount of smoke, the
object of the second boiling would seem to be to smoke
or cure the trepang for the sake of preserving it. After-
wards, the trepang was placed on the roof of the bamboo
sheds, and allowed to dry in the sun.
At about two o'clock the divers ceased from their
arduous task, and went ashore. In two hours more,
the processes of boiling and curing were completed, and
the Malays hastened to embark their store, and con-
vey on board their caldrons and bamboos. At eight
o'clock in the evening they hoisted sail, and slowly
quitted the bay.
Another centre of the trepang-fishery is the Gulf of
Manaar, on the coast of Ceylon. After being dried, the
trepang is exported to China. There is also a consider-
able export from Manilla. But Macassar would seem
to be the great depot, upwards of 8000 hundredweight
of becke-de-mer, or trepang, being annually sold to the
Chinese merchants, at prices varying, according to kind
THE EUROPEAN HOLOTHURIA.
303
and quality, from two to twenty guineas per hundred-
weight. The Chinese use it for thickening their soups.
The largest European species is the Holotkuria pendosa,
THE HOLOTHURIA PRNDOSA.
which measures about twelve inches in length, but,
unlike its tropical congeners, is of a dull and unpleasing
appearance.
(502)
20
CHAPTER XV.
THE SHARK.
" A blue shark is hanging within the blue ocean. "--SHELLEY.
JJHIRTY-THREE feet in length (we are refer-
ring, of course, to the largest members of the
terrible Squalidse) ; colossal muscular force ;
such a power of rapid motion that it is calcu-
lated the creature, if it rested neither day nor night, could
complete the circumnavigation of the globe in thirty
weeks ; so entire an insensibility to fatigue that it has
been known to follow a ship from Europe to America,
making a thousand circuits of the vessel it escorted ; jaws
of such dimensions, that, when wide open, their circum-
ference is nearly equal to one-third of the animal's whole
length j triangular teeth, sharp and trenchant, and in-
creasing in number with the animal's age \ a skin imper-
vious to musket-balls ; a voracity which seems insatiable,
and an audacity which nothing intimidates ; the ferocity
of the tiger in union with the strength of the cachalot ;
such is the SHARK, the terror of the marine world, the
most formidable monster of ocean !
THE '' OCEAN-PIRATE." 305
It is found in every sea, except in the icy waters of the
Pole. It undertakes the pursuit of a ship, and continues
it with unfailing perseverance, waiting and watching
until, perchance, some unfortunate mariner falls over-
board, or some dead body is consigned to the deep ; wait-
ing and watching with a patience which makes it the sea-
man's horror and specially faithful, it has been remarked,
to its self-imposed mission during the fury of a storm, for
its instinct, perhaps, leads it to count upon the wreck of the
labouring vessel. Even the tumult of a sea-fight has no
terror for it : alas, it knows that in the hour of battle
man is working for the shark !
That ocean-pirate, as Badham expressively calls it,
whose atrocities, though perpetrated, are . not written, in
water, and which, " overwhelmed with cruelty," yet
" comes to no misfortune like other fish ; " whose eyes
swell with fatness, and which does even as it lusts ; rag-
ing horribly everywhere like a wild beast !
From the writings of the ancients, we know that it was re-
garded by them with at least as much dread and abhorrence
as it is by ourselves. At first, when natural history was an
undeveloped science, the different species were not gener-
ally distinguished ; but as the knowledge of men broadened,
and their research extended to the inhabitants of the waters,
it was shown beyond all doubt that, though they agreed
in voracity and destructiveness, they differed in structural
character. There is a curious passage in Pliny, descrip-
tive of a species which would seem to be identical with
the " tope " of the English, the Squalus milandra of the
French, and the Samiola of the Italians. It abounds in
the Mediterranean as well as in the Indian Seas, and in
both regions is much dreaded by seamen, and bathers,
30G AN OLD STORY.
and divers. Here is Pliny's account of it, as translated,
quaintly enough, by Philemon Holland :
" The dyvers that use to plunge down into the sea are
annoyed very much with a number of sea-hounds (Caniculce)
that come about them Much ado they have, and hard
hold with these hound-fishes, for they lay at their bellies
and loines, at their heeles, and snap at everie part of their
bodies that they can perceive to be white. The onely
way and remedie is to make head directly affront them,
and to begin with them first, and so to terrifie them ;
for they are not so terrible to a man as they are afraid of
him againe. Thus within the deepe they be indifferently
even matched ; but when the dyvers mount up and rise
againe, above water, then there is some odds betweene,
and the man hath the disadvantage, and is in the most
daunger, by reason that whiles he laboureth to get out
of the water he faileth of meanes to encounter with the
beast against the stream and sourges of the water, and
therefore his only recource is to have helpe and aid from
his fellowes in the ship ; for having a cord tied at one
end about his shoulders, he straineth it with his left hand
to give signe of what daunger he is in, while he main-
taiiieth fight with the right, by taking into it his pun-
cheon with a sharp point, and so at the other end they
draw him to them ; and they need otherwise to pull and
hale him but softly : marry, when he is neere once to the
ship, unless they give him a sodaine jerke, and snatch
him up quickly, they may be sure to see him worried and
devoured before their face ; yea, and when he is at the
point to be plucked up, and even now ready to go aboard,
he is many times caught away out of his fellowes hands,
if he bestir himself not the better, and put his. own good
HATRED OF THE SHARK. 307
will to the helpe of them within the ship, by plucking up
his legges and gathering his body nimbly togither, round
as it were in a ball. Well may some from shipboard
proke at the dogges aforesaid with forkes ; others thrust
at them with stout speares and such-like weapons, and all
never the neare ; so crafty and cautious is this foule
beast, to get under the very belly of the bark, and so
feed upon their comrade in safetie."
We in England, who rarely see a shark except in a
museum, and when it can no longer do us any injury, can
hardly estimate the intensity of the hatred with which
the monster is pursued by the inhabitants of less secure
shores. The Malayans regard the killing of a shark as
a noble deed, and the killer as a man who has deserved
well of the country ; and even the Italians, who are
chiefly acquainted with the samiola, certainly not the
most dangerous of the race, pour out upon the Squalidae
the full torrents of their wrath. In Mr. Badham's enter-
taining pages, we find a graphic and amusing sketch of
the scene in the fish-market of Palermo, when, on one
occasion, some seamen brought ashore a tope which they
had captured in their tunny-nets.* The mangled corpse
was surrounded by an excited and admiring throng. The
men who had secured the monster, well content with the
results of their night's toil, smoked the pipes of peace,
and told to all who cared to listen the oft-told tale of the
surprising capture. Women, of course, mingled largely in
the crowd ; all, with outstretched fingers, pointing at the
harmless monster, gesticulating and screaming " Bruto ! "
" Scelerato f " " Nerone dei pesci / " with other customary
* Badliain, "Ancient and Modern Fish-Tattle, 1 ' pp. 422, 423.
308 A SICILIAN SCENE.
names of abuse for a shark in Sicily ; everybody was ex-
claiming, everybody exulting over its destruction. "Eccolo,
Bippo ; we have him at last, you see," remarked one of
the crew to a boatswain who had just entered the market.
. " Buono giome a lei ! Good day to you ! I make you
my bow, sir," said the other, gravely doffing his red
worsted cap to the fish. " We are all happy to welcome
you on shore, signor; after this, I fancy, you will not
again intrude into the chamber of death (la camera della
morte)* and make a hole for the tunny to slip through
our fingers eh ? No, my lads ; now we really have him,
and you may mend your nets in security." " Pu Bacco
and St. Anthony !" exclaimed a third; " will you tell me,
sir, where you have put the flannel drawers you snatched
from my felucca, as they were drying on Sunday last, in
less than five minutes after Giuseppe's legs were out of
them t " "Cune maledetto! (accursed hound !) where's my
brother's hand, which you snapped off as he was washing
it over the side of his boat, not a week ago 1 " " Caro
lei ! did you happen to bolt down Padre Giacomo's poodle,
which disappeared so suddenly the day before yesterday,
as he was swimming ashore with his master's stick ? "
"Risponde, Risponde ! answer, answer ! " shouted twenty
eager voices at once. " Gentlemen," said the master
boatman and proprietor of the canesea, " we shall get
more out of him by looking into him than by asking such
questions as these," and forthwith proceeded to cut him
up.
In Ceylon the terror inspired by the Squalidse has in-
duced the growth of a singular superstition. Before the
* See page 108.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SHARK. 309
natives venture into the water, they resort to the aid of
a shark-charmer, whose exorcism is supposed to be an
effectual protection.*
But we must now say a few words on the general char-
acter and organization of the sharks.
As Professor Owen says,t not only are they the most
voracious, but they are the most active and vigorous of
fishes. Like the birds of prey, they soar, as it were, in
the upper regions of their atmosphere, and without any
assistance from a modified respiratory apparatus, and
though devoid of an air-bladder, they contrive to main-
tain themselves near the surface of the sea solely by the
action of their large muscular fins.
With this mode and sphere of life, to adapt still further
the language of our great British naturalist, the gristly
skeleton admirably harmonizes ; and we can trace well-
defined modifications of the digestive and other systems
of the shark by which its body is rendered as light, and
the space encroaching on the muscular system as small,
as might be compatible with those actions. Moreover,
lightness, toughness, and elasticity are the qualities of the
skeleton most essential to the shark ; to yield to the con-
traction of the lateral inflectors and aid in the recoil are
the functions which the spine has mainly to perform in
the act of locomotion, and to these functions its alter-
nating elastic balls of fluid, and semi-ossified biconcave
vertebrae, most admirably adapt it. Had its entire skele-
ton been consolidated and loaded with earthy matter, the
consequent burden would have been wholly at variance
* Sir Emerson Tennent, "Natural History of Ceylon," p. 578.
t Professor Owen, "Hunterian Lectures," vol. ii., lecture 6.
510 A WONDERFUL ORGAN.
with the office the shark is appointed to discharge in the
economy of the great deep.
A very curious feature in the organization of the oceaii-
monster is its eye, though its structure is founded on simple
principles when compared with that of other animals. We
know that most fishes have round, prominent, and as it
were sleepless eyes ; eyes which never close, either in sleep
or at the approach of danger. But in the sharks, at least
in the majority, the exposed surface is rendered oval by
means of an arrangement of the skin above and below the
globe, which, when the fish is in any way imperilled, closes
over the eye, in much the same manner as the eyelids of
birds. The globe itself is supplied with muscles to regu-
late its actions, and its sphere of action is further ex-
tended by means of a contrivance which furnishes a
remarkable instance of the adaptation of an already
existing mechanism to a new use. On examining the
cavity in which the eye of the shark revolves, we find
that the globe, which is the immediate seat of the power
of vision, is lighted from the bottom, on which in other
animals besides those of this great family it rolls, and is
placed on a small platform or plane formed by the top of
a small pillar, whose base is fixed on the osseous circle of
the common ocular cavity; or, in more scientific language,
the pillar we speak of, which inclines slightly forward in
order that it may be accommodated to the direction in
which objects are usually viewed, is an extension or
modification, of the orbitary process of the "sphenoid
bone."
We have alluded to the enormous dimensions of the
mouth of the shark. It is armed with from three to six
rows of compressed, sharp-edged, triangular, and serrated
THE FEMALE SHARK. 311
teeth ; these, which form a crushing apparatus of great
power, are movable at the will of the animal ; they, are
usually laid down and directed backwards, but are raised
when the shark prepares to seize its prey.
The skin of the shark, in most species, is exceedingly
rough, and covered with numerous little osseous tuber-
cles; that of some species yields the substance known as
shagreen.
The males are distinguished from the females in a way
very unlike any that is observable in other families of
fishes ; that is, they are endowed with jointed organs,
attached to the body close to the ventral fins.* These
are popularly known by the name of " claspers." The
females possess no milt or roe, such as we find in the
bony or osseous fishes. They have, however, a something
equivalent, which is often found studded with eggs in
various stages of growth ; and as the eggs escape from
their primitive station, they descend to their proper re-
ceptacle, and there remain until their final development.
Most of the sharks hatch their young within themselves,
though without any adhesion to the organ in which they
lie.
Among the Squalidse belonging to, or found in, British
waters, we may particularize the Neuse Hound or Catfish
(Scyllium stellaris) \ the Rough Hound, or Lesser Spotted
Dogfish (Squale roussette], the Black-mouthed or Eyed
Dogfish (Scyllium melanostomuin) ; the Six-gilled or
Gray Shark (Hexanchus griscus) ; the White Shark
(Squalus carcharias) j Blue Shark (Carckarias glaucus) ;
the Thrasher (Squalus vulpes) ; the Basking Shark, or
* Couch, "British Fishes" (edit. 1862), p. 9.
312 THE BLUE SHARK.
Sunfish (Squalus maximus, Yarrell) ; Cetorhinus maxi-
mus, Gray) ; the Greenland Shark (Segnuus borealis) ;
and the Spinous Shark (Eckinorhinus spinosus, Yarrell).
A few notes upon these remarkable species, so remarkably
named, may prove acceptable to the reader.
Let us begin with the BLUE SHARK, which visits our
coasts in summer and leaves them at the approach of
winter being attracted, apparently, by the pilchards and
herrings. It is held in great abhorrence by the Cornish
fishermen, on account of the injury it does to their nets.
Like its congeners, it has a rapacious appetite, and has
been known to leap out of the water to seize upon a piece
of beef hanging on the quarter of a ship. Our bathers,
however, have no cause for alarm, since it seldom ap-
proaches very near the land or enters harbours. It pur-
sues its prey by sight rather than by scent ; yet it has a
strong objection to things malodorous, and our fishermen,
declare it can be driven away by pouring bilge -water
into the sea in its immediate vicinity.
The average size of the blue shark, so far as our know-
ledge of captures on the southern coast extends, will be
six or seven feet ; but Couch says he has heard of speci-
mens upwards of fourteen feet in length. Our own im-
pression is that those large fish very rarely enter British
waters. It is by no means inelegant in aspect : the body
is round and slender, tapering towards the tail; the colour
of the upper part a bluish-green, or greenish-blue ; that
of the under, white. The pectoral fins are large and long ;
the ventrals, small. The head is rather large in propor-
tion to the body, with a very long and pointed snout.
The tail is deeply bilobate.
ITS REMARKABLE VORACITY. 313
The blue shark is found in almost all parts of the globe.
As it abounds in the Mediterranean, it was known to the
ancients; and Oppian records some illustrative particulars
of its remarkable love for its offspring, which our sailors
agree in accrediting, but our scientific naturalists dis-
believe. Here is the passage : *
"Aye the blue sharks, secure from chasing foes,
Within their widened mouths their young enclose.
Beneath the circling arch they fearless hide,
Though bulky forms drive on the rising tide ....
Of all oviparous kinds that throng the seas,
The fond blue sharks in tender care surpass ....
They rear their fondlings, like some careful nurse,
Observe their motions and restrain their course,
Eye every wave, and show the doubtful way,
Teach where to hunt, and where to find their prey.
When big with secret guilt the waters heave,
They in their mouths their sheltered young receive.
But when the waves at their own leisure roll,
And no fierce robber drives the scattered shoal,
Again the parent's pointed jaws comprest,
By force expel them from their pleasing nest."
We own ourselves as incredulous as the naturalists, and
from a fact so dubious turn to one about which there can
be no difficulty, the creature's greediness. It will eat
pilchards, tunny, herring, mackerel, conger, gurnard, dog-
fish, and never knows when to cry, " Hold, enough ! "
Its tenacity of life is another remarkable characteristic.
An individual was caught with a line, the usual mode
of catching this fish, its liver was cut out, and the
bowels left hanging from the body, in which state it was
again thrown into the sea. But it continued near the
boat of its captors and executioners ; and not long after-
wards pursued, and attempted to devour, a mackerel that
had escaped from the net. Mr. Couch relates an instance
when a fish had been thrown overboard, after the head
* Oppian, " Halieuties," bk. i.
B14 THE WHITE SHARK.
had been severed from the body ; yet for a couple of
hours it continued to swim in various directions.
When taken into the boat a large shark may still prove
a formidable enemy, from the violent blows it is able to
deal with its tail. But this danger may be guarded
against by an immediate amputation of the offending
member.
Owing to its well-known destructive character, fisher-
men are always eager to shorten the race of this fish ;
and, consequently, many hundreds are caught in the
course of a season. It is, however, of very little value,
and yields no other result than a little indifferent oil
from the liver, while the body is used for manure.
We pass on to the terrible Carcharias, or WHITE
SHARK, which occasionally wanders into the British
Channel, but finds a more congenial habitat in the warm
waters of the tropics.
We are not sure but that it should be regarded as the
most formidable of the inhabitants of the deep ; for in
none besides are the powers of destruction so equally com-
bined with a thirst for carnage. With its enormous jaws
it usually snaps in twain any object of considerable size
before swallowing it ; but if it finds a difficulty in doing
this, it hesitates not to pass into the stomach even what
is of enormous bulk : and the formation of its jaws and
throat is well adapted for such an operation. Ruysel
asserts that the whole body of a man, and even of a man
in armour, has been found in the stomach of a white
shark ; * and Captain King records the capture of a
monster which could have swallowed a man with the
* Couch, " Natural History of British Fishes," i. . p. 27.
A PATHETIC 4 STORY.
315
greatest ease.* Blumenbacli reports that an entire horse
has been removed from this strange sepulchre ; and Captain
Basil Hall speaks of one in which, besides sundries, he
found the skin of a buffalo, which, a short time before,
had been thrown overboard from his ship.
THE WHITE SHARK.
It is of this ferocious species that the following stories
are told.
One day, in the North Sea, a sailor lowered himself
into the water for the purpose of swimming to a neigh-
bouring vessel, on board of which was an old comrade
whom he had not seen for many years. On his way he
was encountered by a shark, which, before the eyes of
all the awe-struck crew, made a fierce attack upon the
unfortunate swimmer. At the first snap of his jaws he
carried off a leg, at the second an arm, at the third a
shoulder. By dint of great exertions the seamen suc-
ceeded in rescuing from the shark their comrade's muti-
Captain King, " Narrative of an Expedition in Australia."
316 FISHING FOR A SHARK.
lated body; but as it was lifeless, they were soon com-
pelled to abandon it to the monster, which ceased not to
hover in the immediate vicinity of the vessel.
At Antibes a sailor was bathing near the ship to which
he belonged, when, underneath him, he suddenly dis-
covered a shark. He uttered a piercing cry. His com-
rades threw him a rope, which he fastened under his arms.
He was hauled on board with all possible speed ; but the
shark was still quicker in its movements, and springing
from the water, snapped off a leg with a precision which
the most skilful surgeon could not have surpassed.
It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if the seamen
pursue their dreaded enemy with a vengeance as insatiable
as its own voracity. Certainly, says Captain Basil Hall,
I have never seen the savage part of our nature peep out
more clearly than when a whole ship's company, captain,
officers, and young gentlemen inclusive, shout in triumph-
ant exultation over the body of a captive shark, flounder-
ing in impotent rage on the poop or forecastle. The
capture always affords high and peculiar sport, for it is
one in which every person on board sympathizes, and to
a certain extent takes a share. Like a fox-chase, con-
tinues Captain Basil Hall, it is ever new, and draws
within its vortex every description of person. The
lunarian, busy taking distances, crams his sextant hastily
into its case ; the computer, working out his longitude,
shoves his books on one side: the marine officer aban-
dons his eternal flute ; the doctor starts from his nap ;
the purser resigns the Complete Book ; and every man
and boy, however engaged, rushes on deck to see the
villain die. Even the monkey, if there be one on board,
takes a vehement interest in the whole progress of this
AN EXCITING EVENT. 317
wild scene. " I remember once observing Jacko," says
the captain,* "running backwards and forwards along
the after-part of the poop hammock-netting, grinning,
screaming, and chattering at such a rate, that, as it was
nearly calm, he was heard all over the decks.
" i What's the matter with you, Master Mona ? ' said
the quarter-master. Jacko replied not, but merely stretch-
ing his head over the railing, stared with his eyes almost
bursting from his head, and by the intensity of his grin
bared his teeth and gums nearly from ear to ear.
" The sharp curved dorsal fin of a huge shark was now
seen rising about six inches above the water, and cutting
the glazed surface of the sea by as fine a line as if a sickle
had been drawn along.
" ' Messenger, run to the cook for a piece of pork,' cried
the captain, taking command with as much glee as if it
had been an enemy's cruiser he was about to engage.
" i Where's your hook, quarter-master 1 '
" l Here, sir, here ! ' cried the fellow, feeling the point,
and declaring it as sharp as any lady's needle, and in the
next instant piercing with it a huge junk of rusty pork,
weighing four or five pounds ; for nothing, scarcely, is
too large or two high in flavour for the stomach of a
shark."
The hook used on these occasions is generally about
as thick as one's little finger, has a curvature about as
large as that of a man's hand when half-closed, and
measures from six to eight inches in length, with a
formidable barb. To this potent grappling-hook three or
four feet of chain are attached, a precaution which is
* Captain Basil Hall, "Fragments of Voyages and Travels," Second Series,
i , 206-270.
318 THE FISH AND THE BAIT.
absolutely necessary ; for a voracious shark will sometimes
take the bait so deep into its stomach, that, but for the
chain, it would snap the rope by which the hook is held
as easily as Samson burst the withes of the Philistines !
A good strong line being made fast to the chain, the
bait is cast into the ship's wake. The shark is generally
hungry; but in the few cases where its appetite is indif-
ferent, it sails slowly up to the bait, smells at it, and
turns it over and over with its muzzle. It then sheers
off to the right or left, as if it apprehended mischief, but
soon returns, to enjoy the "delicious" flavour of the
damaged pork.
During these proceedings, the whole after-part of the
ship is so clustered with heads that not one inch of spare
room is visible. The rigging, the mizzen-top, and even
the gaff, the hammock-nettings and the quarters, almost
down to the counter, are thronged with breathless specta-
tors, speaking in whispers, if they venture to speak at
all, or can find leisure for anything but fixing their gaze
on the monster, who as yet is free to roam the ocean, but
who, they trust, will soon be in their power.
It is supposed by seamen that the shark must perforce
turn on its back before it can bite anything ; and, gener-
ally speaking, it does so turn before it takes the bait.
But this arises from two circumstances : one of them
accidental, and belonging to the particular occasion; the
other due to the peculiar conformation and position of its
mouth. When a bait is towed astern of a ship that has
any motion through the water at all, it is necessarily
brought to the surface, or nearly so. This, of course,
compels the shark to bite at it from beneath ; and as its
mouth is placed under its chin (so to speak), it must turn
" PLAYING YOUR FISH." 319
nearly on its back before it can seize the floating dainty in
which the fatal hook is concealed. Even if it does not turn
completely round, it is forced to "slue" itself so far as to
show some portion of its white belly. And no sooner
does the white skin flash on the sight of the expectant
crew than a subdued cry of satisfaction may be heard,
like a distant ripple. No one speaks, however, for fear
of alarming the shark.
Sometimes, just as the bait is flung over the stern, the
monster leaps at it with an eagerness which takes its
body partially out of the water. This, however, is rare.
On such occasions it gorges the bait, hook, and a foot or
two of the chain, without mastication and without hesita-
tion, and darts off with its treacherous prize with such
prodigious velocity and force, that it makes the rope crack
again as soon as the whole coil is drawn out. Generally
it sets to work more leisurely, and seems rather to suck
in the bait than to bite at it. Much dexterity is required
in the hand which holds the line at this moment ; for a
bungler is apt to be too precipitate, and to jerk away the
hook before it has got far enough down the shark's maw.
Our greedy friend, indeed, is never disposed to part with
aught which once has passed its formidable batteries of
teeth ; but the hook, by an abrupt twist of the line, may
fix itself in a part of the jaw so weak as to give way in
the violent struggle which always ensues.
The secret of expert shark-fishing is, to let the voraci-
ous monster gulp down the huge mess of pork, and then
to give the rope a -violent pull; by which means the
barbed point, quitting the edge of the bait, buries itself
in the coats of the victim's throat or stomach. As the
shark does not submit patiently to such an operation, it
(502) 2 1
320
HOOKED AT LAST.
is not well with any person whose foot happens to be
accidentally on the coil of the rope, for, when the hook
is first fixed, it spins out " like the log-line of a ship
going twelve knots."
The suddenness of the jerk with which the monster is
brought up when it has reached the length of its tether
often turns it quite over on the surface of the water.
CAPTURE OF A SHARK.
Then commence the loud cheers, so long, and with so much
difficulty suppressed ! A steady pull is insufficient to carry
away the line, but it sometimes happens that the violent
struggles of the shark, when too speedily drawn up, snap
either the rope or the hook, and so it gets off, to digest
the remainder as best it can. Accordingly, it is con-
USELESSNESS OF THE SHARK. 321
sidered good practice to "play" it a little, with its mouth at
the surface, till it becomes somewhat exhausted. Captain
Hall writes, that during this operation one would almost
fancy the enraged animal was conscious of the abuse
showered down upon it; for, while it turns and twists and
flings itself about, its eye glares upwards with a ferocity
of purpose which makes the blood tingle in a swimmer's
veins, as he thinks of the hour when it may be his turn
to writhe under the tender mercies of his sworn foe !
When the shark is hauled on board, the first operation
always is to deprive it of its tail ; after which it is cut
open, and the contents of its capacious interior are sub-
mitted to public inspection. Of the multifariousness of
these contents we have already given the reader an idea,
and we need dwell no longer on details which are, to say
the least, unsavoury.
The shark, to Europeans generally, is a very useless
prize. They do not care for its flesh, and it has no com-
mercial value. It is true that Athenseus, the old Greek
writer, has penned an eulogium upon it; but his eulogium
does not improve its quality. It is hard and leathery,
except in the case of very young individuals. This does
not prevent the negroes from feeding upon it. They
remedy the hardness by keeping it from eight to ten
days, until it begins to smell badly ; it is then as tender
as anybody could wish. It is also eaten by the coast
population of the Mediterranean, but only when they
have no other choice. The sole endurable portion is, it
is said, the belly; which, after lying in pickle for four-
and-twenty hours, is boiled in water and eaten with oil.
Among the Icelanders the fat of the shark is used instead
of pig's fat ; they eat it with their stock-fish.
322 ITS DESTRUCTIVENESS.
Of the skin, which is very hard, shoes and harness are
made, and the Greenlanders also construct canoes. The
Norwegians eat the eggs of the female, and cut up the
flesh to feed their cattle. The liver, which is of great
size, yields a quantity of oil adapted for illuminating pur-
poses, but far inferior in quality to that afforded by the
whale.
So great is the audacity of the carcharias, that it will
fling itself upon the whales which the hunters have in
tow, and even upon those which are being cut up by the
side of the vessel. It is not without difficulty that the
best-armed men can keep it at a distance. It nearly
always, says a Writer, accomplishes a surprising amount
of destruction before it loses its hold, and will damage as
much as fifteen quintals of fat before it beats a retreat.
Generally it lives upon fish, upon tunny and cod espe-
cially, and upon seals. In default of larger prey, it is
content with cuttle-fish and other molluscs ; and when
everything else fails, it eats shark.
It has been rightly asserted that the shark would de-
populate the seas, but for the difficulty it experiences in
seizing its prey. This difficulty is due, as we have shown,
to the position of its mouth, which is situated some ten
to twelve inches behind the extremity of the muzzle.
Hence it results that the animal pushes before it the
object it wishes to bite. It guards against this incon-
venience by throwing itself a little on one side; but while
it turns, quick as may be its movements, the prey has
sometimes an opportunity of escape. When the prey is
a negro, the latter seizes this moment to invert their re-
spective parts ; profiting by the short interval, he dives
underneath the shark, and rips open its belly. According
THE NEUSE HOUND, OR CAT-FISH.
323
to Dixon, the natives of the Sandwich Islands swim fear-
lessly in the midst of the sharks. Is this because they
are skilful in eluding their attacks, or because the latter
have learned to fear them ?
THE SIIAliK AND TJI.K NfcXiKO.
Of the Gray or Six-gilled Shark, which sometimes
attains a length of eleven feet, we have nothing particular
to relate ; nor need we linger long over the Black-mouthed
Dog-fish, which is common enough in the Mediterranean,
but rare in British waters. In allusion to the singular-
blackness of its jaws, the Italians expressively name HBocca
d' Inferno, or Hell's-mouth. The Neuse Hound is better
known to English fishermen as the Cat-fish. Like the
Rough Hound, it is a ground shark ; so called because it
seeks its prey near the bottom. It feeds on the Crustacea
chiefly, but may be caught by almost any tempting bait.
The young are not hatched within the body, as is the case
with the sharks proper ; but are separately enclosed in
curious leathery pouches, about three inches long, which
324
T1IE FOX-SHARK.
may sometimes be found attached to a stalk of flexible
coral or tuft of sea-weed.
A well-known genus of Squalidse is the Thrasher, or,
as -it is occasionally called, the Fox-Shark or Sea-Fox ; a
llllll Illllillillll
vulpine designation due to a supposed resemblance between
its tail and that of a fox. It was well known to the an-
cients, who, building upon the vulpine analogy of structure,
CHARACTER OF THE THRASHER.
325
endowed it with a foxy character, and attributed to it a
peculiar astuteness. Its more familiar appellation of the
thrasher was given by modern sailors, and alludes to the
manner in which it manifests its remarkable antipathy to
the whale. It lashes the sea with a fury which has been
known to put to hasty flight a bevy of gambolling dolphins;
EGOS OF TilK CAT-FJSH.
and instances are recorded where a sword-fish on the
one hand, and a thrasher on the other, have persecuted a
large whale even to the death, though the terror of the
ocean-mammal is difficult to explain. The thrasher pos-
sesses no weapon of offence except its teeth, and these
326 THE GREENLAND SHARK.
could not harm the whale. Equally unintelligible is the
cause of the thrasher's hereditary antipathy.
Of the Toper, it seems very needful to record that its
flesh is freely eaten for food by the French and Italians.
Passing over the Picked Dog and Spurious Shark, we
come to the Greenland Shark (Scymnus, or Squalus bore-
alis), which was formerly confused with the more formid-
able carcharias. Crantz, who makes this mistake, de-
scribes a specimen which he himself saw,* as measuring
between two and three fathoms in length, with two fins
on the back, and six on the belly; the tail unequally
divided into two parts. Its colour was gray, though in
the water it appeared as white as silver. The skin was
very rough, and used for polishing wood. In the head,
which measured two feet in length, and was shaped like a
truncated cone, the two large nostrils immediately at-
tracted attention. The mouth, a foot wide, was not situ-
ated at the anterior extremity of the head, but a full span
on its under side, in a transverse direction. Five or six
rows of small pointed teeth were ranged in the upper jaw;
the nether containing two rows of fifty-two large teeth,
rather hooked, and extremely sharp ; half of them bent
one way, and half another, so that they resembled a double-
toothed saw, and the Greenlanders formerly used them
instead of that implement.
In Norway and Iceland, adds Crantz, the flesh is cut
into rashers, and dried in the air ; but the Greenlanders
do not much esteem it, and eat it only when it is dry and
semi-putrid.
Dr. Scoresby furnishes a very interesting description
of the animal. Its length he estimates at from twelve
* Crantz. " History of Greenland," i., pp. 93, 94.
THE BASKING SHARK, 327
to fourteen, and its girth at from six to eight feet. Its
colour is ashen gray; it has two spiracles, and five gill-
openings. It is a formidable foe to the Greenland whale,
pursuing it when alive, and preying upon it when dead.
In the former case it bites fragments out of its flesh ;
in the latter, it feasts greedily upon the blubber, and so
rapaciously enjoys its banquet that not even the presence
of man, or a blow from a harpoon, will drive it away.
In the absence of other food it has been known to attack
The Basking Shark,* the last but one of the tribe to
which we shall direct the reader's attention, is popularly
known as the Sun-fish, t and in the Orkney Islands as the
" Hoe-mother."
It attains the length of thirty feet and upwards. For-
merly, it was ranked among the whales; on account,
perhaps, of its comparative amenity and peacefulness of
disposition, and its love of basking in the sunshine on the
surface of the waters. It makes its appearance in the
Firth of Clyde, and along the western coast, about the
end of April or beginning of May ; generally in pairs, or
in small shoals of seven or eight. Its tail is very large.
The colour of the upper part of the body is a dull lead ;
of the belly, white ; the skin on the back is granulated,
like shagreen. In the interior of the mouth, towards the
throat, is a substance resembling whalebone.
A regular fishery is carried on for taking the sun-fish,
on account of the large quantity of oil (as much as nine to
* Now very generally classified as Selachias maximus.
t The reader will remember that it is not to be confounded with the Ortha-
goriscus mola, which is also called the sun-fish.
328 FISHING FOR SHARKS.
twelve barrels) obtained from its liver. The process is as
follows : *
If the end of April is hot, the sun-fish are certain to
show above the water, and remain on the Clew bank
till the end of May. They are found there in great num-
bers, and their large dorsal fin may be seen at a great
distance, as it rises three or four feet out of the water,
while they lie motionless on the surface basking in the
sun. At this time they are easily approached, and struck
with a harpoon ; the boat employed for this purpose ap-
proaches the fish with a man in the bow ready to harpoon
it; the line attached to the harpoon is two hundred
fathoms long, and is coiled up in the bow ; a man stands
by with a hatchet ready to cut it, should it become en-
tangled in running out. When the fish feels the iron, he
dives with a sudden rush, carrying out from seventy to a
hundred and fifty or two hundred fathoms of line ; and
reaching the bottom, it rolls and rubs itself to get rid of
the harpoon.
The fishermen allow it an hour to waste its strength
in these fruitless efforts before they begin to haul in
the harpoon line. They coil up the slack of it again, in
preparation for another rush, and in this way play with
the huge creature, sometimes for eight or nine hours, be-
fore they can bring it to the surface. When it at last
rises, they strike it with two or three more harpoons; and
on these being fixed, they are in a position to haul it
alongside with the harpoon lines. Then they stretch the
fish fore and aft along the vessel's side, and get a rope
round its head, and a hawser round its tail ; after which
they deal two deep cuts, one on each side of the tail, with
* Brabazon. cit. by Conch. "British Fishes," i. 62, 63.
FISHING FOR SHARKS. 329
a hatchet. In its agony, and its efforts to free itself, it
works its tail so hard, as to snap the bone across where
the cuts were made ; they then cut " flesh holes " in the
body of the fish on both sides, large enough to receive a
good-sized rope; and by reeving ropes through these
holes, and hauling tight on the side of the fish next the
vessel, they succeed in turning it over on its back. Next
they split down the stomach, take out the liver, which is
the only part they use for oil, and let the rest of the fish
go adrift. There is no blubber between the skin and the
flesh, as in the whale; but the oil extracted from the liver
is as fine as the finest spermaceti. The liver is generally
two tons in weight, and yields from six to eight barrels
of oil.
These fish are of great power in the water, and if har-
pooned in the shoulder are very hard to kill, often running
away with the whole of the harpoon line. Experienced
harpooneers, therefore, are careful to strike them in the
body near the dorsal fin, rather low down, where it
will go through the intestines, or near the vertebrae to-
wards the tail. They must be struck both with caution
and dexterity, as they will stave in the boat with a
single blow of their huge tail if it veers within their
reach.
The fishermen on the coast oherish a superstition that
the fish will leave the coast if the bodies of those captured
are brought ashore.
This is the largest of the sharks, and of all true fishes ;
so that, partly from its immense size, and partly from its
habits, it was anciently included among the Cetacea.
Pennant, among the moderns, was the first to distinguish
its true affinities.
330 THE HAMMER-HEAD SHARK.
The last of this family which seems to require mention
is the curious Zygaena, or Hammer-head, sometimes
called the Balance-fish. The Greeks named it Zygaena,
or the " balance," in allusion to the shape of its head.
Oppian refers to it as,
" The monstrous balance-fish of hideous shape/'
and gives it the palm over the lion for powers of de-
structiveness :
"But what ! the lion? sharper weapons arm
The balance-fish, and keener furies warm "
^Eliaii also dilates very fancifully on. the dangers to
which mariners are exposed from it. Certainly, it is ill-
looking enough to justify this unpleasant reputation; but,
in reality, the limited size of its mouth prevents it from
committing such havoc as is committed by the white or
blue shark.
In shape it may be compared to the letter T, the
down-stroke representing the body, and the horizontal
bar its singular transvei'se head ; at the opposite ends of
which two very prominent yellow eyes are situated, com-
manding from their position a very considerable field of
vision. When the creature is irritated, these jaundiced
eyeballs suddenly change to blood-red, and staring in
their orbits, roll and glare in a very horrible manner.
Beneath the head, and near its point of junction with
the body, lies the semicircular mouth, which is furnished
on each jaw with three or four rows of large teeth,
pointed and barbed on both sides.
The most common species in our seas is long and
slender in the body, which is gray ; the head is blackish.
It usually attains the length of eleven or twelve feet,
weighing occasionally nearly five hundred pounds.
IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC.
331
The hammer-head is a native of the Mediterranean
and Indian seas, and very rarely makes its appearance in
British waters. It is described as scarcely less voracious
and formidable than the dreaded carcharias, and some
authorities assert that it is equally partial to human
flesh. On the other hand, it frequents the shores of the
islands of the South Pacific, without exciting any terror
THE HAMMER-HEADED SHARK.
among their inhabitants, who bathe and swim in com-
plete disregard of its supposed anthropophagic propensi-
ties. It may be that the Polynesians trust to their skill
in swimming to elude its attacks ; but, on the whole, we
are inclined to think that, so far as man is concerned, it
is the least formidable, as it is certainly the most hideous,
of all the Squalidse.
332 " SUN-FISHING " ON THE IRISH COAST.
Many of our readers will be surprised to learn that
sharks are frequent visitors on the west coast of Ireland,
and that shark-fishing, or, as it is there called, " sun-
fishing," is sometimes adopted as an agreeable though
exciting pursuit. The species of Squalidse found in
western waters we have already described as the " bask-
ing-shark," which attains a great size, but does not
generally exhibit a ferocious character. It has a short
blunt snout, with numerous small conical teeth ; and its
skin is considerably rougher than that of the white or
blue shark.
The harpoon used in " sun-fishing " is of a peculiar
shape, and quite different from the ordinary whaler's
weapon. The iron handle measures five feet in length,
and is made of five-eighth inch round Swedish iron ; to
the end of this is rivetted, at its centre, a two-foot length
of iron ; one half is flat, and ends in a sharp chisel edge ;
the other grooved, so that, in the striking position, it lies
along and partly around the handle ; the end curves
slightly outward, presenting the appearance of a semi-
detached chip cut from a bar by the stroke of a hatchet.
This is kept in its place by a soft " grummet of oakum,"
so as to prevent its opening during the delivery of the
thrust, while leaving it so loose that the pressure of the
skin, when the harpoon passes through, forces it over the
shoulder, and leaves the harpoon blade free. Conse-
quently, when the fish pulls and the backward pressure
comes against the inside of the curved end, it opens about
nine inches ; a shoulder on the handle preventing it from
expanding further.
Such is the description given by a writer who has had
some experience of " sun-fishing ; " rather a wild and ad-
GOOD ADVICE. 333
venturous experience, as the following condensed narra-
tive will show.*
The writer was chosen to act as harpooneer, and re-
ceived from his friend, the owner and skipper of the
yacht in which he was " hunting the shark," elaborate
directions as to the proper mode of using it.
" Remember," he said, " the fish has but one bone, the
backbone, which is about twelve inches thick. The
great object is so to strike the fish that when the harpoon
opens, it will hook under the bone ; if not, the flesh is so
soft and tender that it may draw out. You must be per-
fectly cool ; if you cannot be so, be as cool as you can ;
remember, there is no hurry. The fish does not care a
straw for the boat, which is not half his size. About
two feet beneath the dorsal fin you will see a whitish
streak along his side ; strike him there, and downwards ;
always remembering to keep the curved end upwards,
that it may open round the bone. You must try to cal-
culate this. When you strike, do it with a will ; the in-
stant you feel him plunge from you, seize the hatchet,
and hold it poised over the rope that will then be flying
out ; if it kinks [that is, if it gets entangled], cut it for
your life."
All this advice was excellent, but, unfortunately, in
the moment of action it was not easily remembered. A
fish was discovered, the boat got within forty yards of it ;
nearer and nearer; twenty yards, fifteen yards, ten ! The
amateur harpooneer was overcome with excitement.
Grasping the handle firmly, he raised his harpoon on
high ; he saw, as through a mist, a huge brown mass
before him, more like a rock than a fish. He forgot his
* " Corn hill Magazine," vol. xxviii., pp. 187-197.
334 CONTINUING THE CHASE.
friend's directions in the rush and whirl of his sensations,
and would probably have missed the brute ; but just as
they closed up with him, his triangular black fin, which
he generally carries above the water,* suddenly dis-
appeared, and the boat swept over the spot where he had
been. Down below, some eight or ten feet, the monster
could be seen descending ; such a monster ! more than
double the size of the boat. Quickly and dexterously
the boat was brought round, and, lo and behold, the
shark rose once more to the surface, at a distance of
about one hundred yards. Onward dashed the hunters,
and by this time the harpooneer had regained his com-
posure, and was prepared to do his duty. Just as the
boat arrived within three feet of the large fish, the iron
went quivering into his flesh, and was soon buried over
five feet, right up to the socket. With a tremendous
plunge he disappeared. Whirr went the rope through the
notch ; and the harpooneer, seizing a hatchet, stood by,
prepared to cut it if necessary. The notch soon began to
smoke, but water was poured upon it from time to time.
The fish was struck in about fifty fathoms of water, and
went straight down to the bottom to roll himself for some
time. As soon as the rope had ceased to pay out, skipper,
harpooneer, and crew took off their caps and indulged in a
triumphant shout ; oars were laid in ; two men were
placed at the rope ; rations were served out, and all was
prepared for the struggle which would speedily begin,
and would last, perhaps, some seven or eight hours.
In about twenty minutes they were moving to the
north-west at the rate of five knots an hour. The rope
was fast in the strong hands of a couple of men, who
* Hence he is sometimes called the sail-fish.
A LABORIOUS PROCESS. 335
watched the course taken by the shark, and indicated to
the steersman the way in which he should steer. After
a second hour four men grappled at the rope, and com-
menced to pull against the fish, taking in rope whenever
they could. Three hours passed, and the contest grew
earnest ; every man in the boat, sitting one behind the
other, held on the rope, and sought to weary out the
wounded monster. As the boat sunk in the trough of
the sea, the slack was hauled in, and carefully coiled by
the last man. On its rising to the next wave, " Hold on
all ! " was the word, and the reluctant shark was lifted a
few feet. The same process was repeated at every dip
and rise until many fathoms had been taken in, when
the fish suddenly went away with a rush, the rope whirl-
ing through the men's hands as though they were the
hands of infants. The rush was not checked until up-
wards of a hundred fathoms had run out, then the labor-
ious process of hauling in was recommenced.
A laborious process, indeed ! For at times the mighty
fish made a fresh start, and away went the rope through
the bleeding hands of the weary fishers ! Again it was
gathered up, coil after coil ; and so the work went on,
while further and further out to sea the good boat was
carried, and the hours passed rapidly by, and darkness
came down upon the waters. At length, a second
harpoon was got ready. The weather was lowering,
and the sea ran high. Evidently the fish must be
killed at once, or the fishers would have to cut their gear
and run to the nearest shore for shelter. So the rope
was hauled in fathom by fathom, till but ten or twelve
fathoms stretched between the pursuers and their quarry.
Nearer and nearer came the fish; the harpooneer stood in
(502) 22
336 " IN AT THE DEATH."
the bow with weapon poised, and when the huge fin once
more showed on the surface, drove it in lustily, until the
iron was completely buried.
Like a flash of lightning away sped the shark, appar-
ently as fresh as at first. Like a flash of lightning sped
the rope, and the men looked round upon one another
with faces of dismay. Suddenly the speed slackened, and
all closed in their grasp upon the rope. The fish had
stopped ! With hearts full of hope, the men applied
themselves to their task. Again the harpoon handles
emerged above the water, and four men got out their oars
to keep the boat stern away while the death-struggle was
being fought. When all was ready, they hauled up the
prey until his back touched the stern ; then they remorse-
lessly plunged into him pike and sword, and hewed at
him with hatchet, until the sea was purple with his
blood ; while in his agonies, and in his fruitless attempts
at vengeance, he lashed the water into clouds of spray
with his ponderous tail.
At last he died, and cheers of triumph signalled the
success of the hunters. Truly, it was " royal sport."
And the crew, while they grasped each other's hands, and
the boat, anchored to the heaving monster now so power-
less, rose gaily to the rolling waves, showed by their joy-
flushed faces " how glorious is the delight of those who
feel that they have had men's work to do and have done
it well."
The next task was to pull up to the yacht for the ad-
venture we have been describing took place with the
yacht's boat and as the sea was angry, no little danger
was incurred. The men, however, with the skipper and
harpooneer, got safely on board ; and then began to dis-
" GLORIOUS SPORT." 337
pose of their prey. It was a " tremendous job " to haul
up the twenty feet of the head-part of the fish that hung
downwards from the dorsal fin ; but at length they man-
aged to pass a chain cable over the headland made the
noose fast by passing it under the gills, of which there
are five on each side. "With sail reduced to close-reefed
mainsail and storm-jib," says the historian of the enter-
prise, "we struggled through the night. It blew more
than half a gale ; the sea ran literally higher than our
mast, and sometimes threatened to poop us, as the enor-
mous mass that we towed astern held us almost station-
ary. Although we were going dead before the wind, we
did not make more than three knots an hour ; and morn-
ing had already dawned ere, wearied beyond expression, we
glided once more into harbour, with our prize in tow."
When the fish was towed ashore and measured, it
proved to be no less than forty-two feet in length, and
eighteen feet in girth.
On the whole, we think the authority to whom we
owe the preceding particulars is justified in asserting
that "the west coast of Ireland offers. a glorious sport, as
far superior to any other afforded by the British Isles
as is fox-hunting to pigeon-slaughter ; " but then the
sport is adapted only for strong nerves and resolute
hearts !
CHAPTER XVI,
THE TUETLE.
" Here the young turtle, crawling from his shell,
Steals to the deep wherein his parents dwell ;
Chipped by the beam, a nursling of the day,
But hatched for ocean by the fostering ray." BYRON.
T was a great loss to the epicures of Rome that
they knew nothing of the TURTLE ! How an
Apicius, a Crassus, an Asinius Polio, or a
Sergius Grata would have revelled in all the
luxuries of calipash and calipee ! What oceans of turtle-
soup would have flooded their banquets ! The Shah of
Persia rejoiced, it is said, that he had visited England,
because the visit had made him acquainted with the merits
of this famous dish. We may be sure that they would
have been as fully appreciated by the Roman gourmands,
and that they would have cultivated the turtle as assidu-
ously as they cultivated the mursena, the mullet, and the
oyster. It was not, however, until European enterprise
had discovered and colonized the West Indies that the
value of the turtle became known to our cooks.
The first glance at one of these reptiles for the
Ckeloniadce belong to the class Reptilia^ and not the class
THE MARINE TURTLE DESCRIBED. 339
Pisces would give the observer no more conception of its
possible edible qualities than the first glance at an oyster;
and we may suggest to our readers as a question for then-
grave consideration, Who first invented turtle-soup 1
The marine tortoises, or turtles, are ungainly in the ex-
treme, and apparently consist of little more than a small
head, four flippers, and a strong oval shield of bone,
coated externally by hard, horny plates, and known as a
carapace. There is nothing in them to please the eye,
agreeable as they may be to the taste ! They have no
legs, but fin-like paddles, which are useful for swimming
but not for walking. The fore limbs are much longer
than the hind limbs. The toes are not all furnished with
nails ; in some species, indeed, there is but one in each
foot, though in others there are two. They are aquatic
in their habits, only visiting the shore for the purpose of
depositing their eggs, which they stow away in holes
scraped in the warm moist sand with their hind feet.
Their fecundity is considerable ; for they lay several times
in a year, and as many as one hundred and fifty to two
hundred eggs at a time.. Their too rapid increase, how-
ever, is prevented by the number of their enemies ; for
man is not singular in his partiality for turtles' eggs.
These eggs are hatched by the heat of the sun, and the
young turtles, which never receive any parental attention,
as soon as they struggle into life disembarrass themselves
of their sandy covering, and make their way to the water.
On land their gait, we may add, is singularly awkward
and ungraceful ; but in their natural element they move
with swiftness and comparative facility.
Their diet varies according to their species. Some feed
upon crustaceans, molluscs, and fishes, and the strength
340
THE EDIBLE TURTLE.
of their jaws enables them to crack the hardest shell with
much ease ; others live wholly upon sea- weed and aquatic
plants. The flesh of the carnivorous Chelonians is much
less esteemed than that of the vegetarian species.
The turtle most valued for culinary purposes is the
Green or Edible Turtle (Chelonia my das) of the West
THE GREEN OR EDIBLE TURTLE.
Indies. It receives its distinguishing name from its fat,
which is of a green colour. In Jamaica the markets are
as freely supplied with turtle as ours are with butcher-
meat, and Scott, in his " Tom Cringle's Log," has several
allusions to its abundance as well as its excellence. The
TURTLE-CATCHING IN THE WEST INDIES.
TURTLE-CATCHING. 343
green turtle feeds on a kind of grass, growing at the
bottom of the sea, which is appropriately named " turtle-
grass." According to Catesby, the inhabitants of the
Bahamas are very expert in turtle-catching. In April,
they set off in little boats to Cuba, and other neighbour-
ing islands, where, in the evening, especially when the
moon is up, they watch the reptiles on their journeys to
and from the nests, and dexterously turn them on then-
backs, in which position they are utterly helpless. Some
are so large that it requires three men to turn one of
them.
But the mode in which they are generally taken in the
Bahamas is by striking them with a small iron peg, two
inches long, fixed in a socket, at the end of a staff twelve
inches in length. Two men usually set out for this work
in a little light boat or canoe ; one to row and gently
steer the boat, while the other stands at the end of it
with his weapon. The turtles are sometimes discovered
by their swimming with the head and back out of the
water, but they are more frequently found lying at the
bottom, a fathom or more deep. If a turtle perceives it
is discovered, it starts up to effect its escape ; the men in
the boat pursuing it endeavour to keep sight of it, often
losing the track, but recovering it again when the prey
thrusts its nose out of the water to breathe.
Green turtles abound in the Gallapagos Islands, which,
indeed, owe their name to this very abundance. They
were noticed there by the sea-rover Dampier, who con-
jectured, from their extraordinary numbers, that five or
six hundred men might subsist upon them for several
months without any other kind of food. They weighed
one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds each, and
344
IN THE GALLAPAGOS ISLANDS.
their flesh was of great delicacy. Four species were
found here : green turtle, loggerhead, trunk-turtle, and
hawksbill.*
Mr. Darwin describes the method of catching them
adopted in this part of the world. The water in the
creeks and lagoons is so clear and shallow, that although
at first a turtle quickly dives out of sight, yet, in a canoe
or boat under sail, the pursuers, after no very long chase,
come up to it. A man standing ready in the bows
UING TURTLE.
at this moment dashes through the water upon the
turtle's back ; then, clinging with both hands by the
shell of the neck, he is carried away till the animal be-
comes exhausted, and is secured. It is quite an interest,
ing chase to see the little boats thus doubling about, and
the men dashing into the water, endeavouring to secure
their prey.t
* Dampier.
t Darwin, " Journal of a Naturalist."
AT ASCENSION ISLAND. 345
Some interesting details respecting turtles and turtle-
catching at the Isle of Ascension are given by Sir J.
E. Alexander, and though they have been frequently
quoted, they are sufficiently fresh and important to justify
us in reproducing them here. Two large basins are
formed on the shore, to which the sea obtains entrance
through a breakwater of large stones. Here they are
kept until required for exportation ; and between the
ponds a wooden framework is erected on which they are
slaughtered, " by suspending them by the hind flippers,
and then cutting their throats," in more porcorum.
As many as three hundred of these creatures, of four
and five hundred pounds weight each, may be seen here
at one time ; " a sight to set an alderman mad with
delight."
In the hot months of January, February, March, and
April, the females land at night ; and waddling over the
sands in the various bays of the island far above high-
water mark, for by a pole in the ponds it is shown
that the tide rises only two feet, they scrape up, by
alternate scoops of their flippers, a hole deep enough to
cover their bodies. Into this they get, "sighing heavily,"
and deposit from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
eggs ; cover them up ; leave them to the sun to hatch ;
and then waddle again towards the sea. Two stout
hands are, meanwhile, on the look-out, watching the
movements of the unfortunate turtle ; and running up to
her after the completion of her task, one seizes a fore
flipper, and dexterously shoves it under her belly, to
serve as a purchase ; while the other, avoiding a stroke
which might lame him, cants the turtle over on her back,
where she lies helpless. From fifteen to thirty were thus
346 TURTLE IN CEYLON.
turned in a single night ; but, of late years, the supply
has been less abundant.
According to Sir James, no ships' crews are ever
allowed to turn turtle, which has been converted into a
Government monopoly ; and two pounds ten shillings is
the fixed price for each. Strange to say, from the time
that the young turtles, the size of a dollar, are observed
scuttling down to the water, they are never seen again
until they are four or five hundred pounds weight ; and
how long they take to attain this great size, and where
they spend the intermediate time, is as yet a mystery.
The turtles are kept in the ponds for a year and up-
wards without a morsel of food of any kind.
The edible turtle of the East Indies is the Chelonia vir-
gata. It is found on all the coasts of Ceylon, and sells
for a few shillings or a few pence, according to its size and
the extent of the supply and demand. In the Gulf of
Manaar some very large specimens, frequently measuring
three or four feet in length, are met with. Sir Emerson
Tennent records that on one occasion, as he rode along
the sea-shore, he saw a man in charge of some sheep, rest-
ing under the shade of a turtle shell, which he had erected
upon sticks to protect him from the sun ! * thus almost
verifying the statement of ^Elian, that in the seas off Cey-
lon there are tortoises of such a size, that several persons
might find ample shelter beneath a single shell !
The same authority notes that a very repulsive
spectacle is exhibited in the markets of Jaffna by the
mode in which the flesh of the turtle is sold piece-meal,
whilst the animal is still alive, by the families of the
* Sir Emerson Tennent, "Natural History of Ceylon," p. 293.
" CRUELTY TO ANIMALS." 347
Tamil fishermen. The creatures are to be seen in the
market-place undergoing a most frightful mutilation ; the
plastron and its integuments having been previously re-
moved, and the animal thrown on its back, so as to dis-
play all the motions of the heart, viscera, and lungs. A
broad knife, from twelve to eighteen inches in length, is
first inserted at the left side, and the women, who are
generally the operators, introduce one hand to scoop out
the blood, which oozes slowly.
Next the blade is passed round until the lower shell is
detached and placed on one side, and the internal organs
exposed in full action. A customer, as he applies, is
served with whatever part he selects, which is cut off and
sold by weight. Each of the fins is thus successively re-
moved, with portions of the fat and flesh the contortions
of the animal bearing witness to the agony it suffers.
And in this state it is allowed to lie for hours, writhing
in the sun, the heart and head being usually the last
pieces chosen ; and, till the head is cut off, it would seem
from the snapping of the mouth, and the opening and
closing of the eyes, that life is still present, though the
shell has been nearly divested of its contents.
The tortoise-shell of commerce, which forms the staple
of so considerable an industry, is obtained from the
Hawksbill or Imbricated Turtle (Chelonia imbricata], a
native of the Asiatic and American seas, and occasionally
found in the Mediterranean. It derives one of its charac-
teristic names from the manner in which its scales over-
lap each other at their extremities, like tiles on the roof of
a building ; and the other from the narrowness and curva-
ture of its beak, resembling the bill of a hawk. Its shell
348
THE HAWKSBILL TURTLE.
is not unlike a heart in shape ; each of the middle row of
scales on the back has an acute form at the tip, and a
ridge or carina down the middle. Its fore limbs are
longer than in the rest of the tribe, and it is said that
THE HAWKSBILL TURTLE.
the animal, when turned or laid on its back, is able,
through their assistance, to recover its former position,
which no other of the Cheloniadse can do. Its general
length is about three feet, though in Indian waters speci-
mens have been found measuring fully twice that size.
Tortoise-shell is afforded by the lamellae, or plates, of
its shell. There are thirteen dorsal, while the marginal
row consists of twenty-five smaller pieces. They are trans-
parent, and richly variegated with whitish, yellowish, red-
dish, and dark brown shades and wavy cloud-like streaks.
This species, says Sir Emerson Tennent, was formerly
taken in great numbers in the neighbourhood of Ham-
AN IRRESISTIBLE INSTINCT. 349
bungtotte during the season when they came to deposit
their eggs. Hence arose the trade in tortoise-shell at
Point de Galle, where the Moors still manufacture it into
articles of ornament ; but the shell they employ is almost
entirely imported from the Maldives.
If the shell is taken from the animal after the latter's
death and decomposition, its colour becomes clouded and
milky. Hence the natives adopt the barbarous expedient
of seizing the turtles when they come ashore to lay their
eggs, and suspending them over fires until heat frees
the plates on the dorsal shield from the bone of the cara-
pace, after which the cerature is permitted to escape to
the water. In illustration of the irresistible force of in-
stinct at the period of breeding, Sir Emerson Tennerit
mentions that the identical tortoise is believed to return
repeatedly to the same spot, though at each visit she is
subjected to a renewal of this torture. In 1826, Mr.
Bennett records, that a hawksbill was captured near
Hambungtotte, with a ring attached to one of its fins
which had been placed there by a Dutch officer thirty
years before, in order to establish the fact of these
periodical visits to the same beach.
We are told that at Celebes, which exports the finest
tortoise-shell to China, the natives kill the turtle by blows
on the head, and immerse the shell in boiling water to
detach the plates. It is the unskilful only who resort to
dry heat ; a process which frequently destroys, or injures
the shell.
An authority already quoted records a curious and in-
teresting illustration of instinct in the turtle, when about
to deposit her eggs. As if conscious that to go and re-
turn by the same line across the sandy beach would en-
350
THE CORIACEOUS TURTLE.
able her enemies to trace out her nest, she adopts the
expedient of curving her course,- so as to regain the sea by
a different track. Then, after depositing the eggs, and
burying them about eighteen inches deep, she carefully
smooths over the surface to render the precise spot in-
discernible. But the Singhalese neutralize her device by
sounding her line of march with a rod until they come
upon the hidden treasure.
THE CORIACEOUS TU11TLK.
The peculiarity of the Coriaceous Turtle (Sphargis
coriacea) is its outer coat or covering, which consists of
a substance resembling stout coarse leather, obscurely
TURTLE IN THE SOUTH SEAS. 351
marked by a number of pentagonal and sub-hexagonal
lineations, like a geometric pattern. Further : along the
entire length of this leathery shield are carried five pro-
minent tuberculated ridges, in addition to those which
border the sides. The colour is a dusky brown, but the
under part of the animal is of a paler hue. This species
belongs to the Mediterranean, but is found occasionally
on the coasts of Africa and South America.
The largest as well as the most voracious of the thalas-
sites, or sea-turtles, is the Loggerhead (Caouana olivacea),
but it can hardly be said to possess any commercial value.
It is distinguished by having fifteen, instead of thirteen,
dorsal plates.
The quantity of tortoise-shell imported into Great
Britain annually is about sixteen tons, of the value of
about 25,000.
Turtles are very plentiful among the Polynesian archi-
pelago, and the inhabitants make fish-hooks of their shell.
At the Samoas are found two species, the hawksbill and
the green. Of the shell of the former the natives manu-
facture finger-rings, as well as fish-hooks, and neck and
ear ornaments \ it also forms an article of export. The
turtle was formerly considered by the Raratongans and
Tahitians as most sacred. A part of every one caught
was solemnly offered to the gods, and the remainder,
being cooked with " sacred fire," was set aside as a special
repast for the king and his principal chiefs. Prior to the
introduction of Christianity into these islands, it is sup-
posed that no woman ever tasted this aldermanic luxury.*
* Williams, " Narrative of Missionary Enterprises," pp. 501 502.
(502) 23
CHAPTER XVII.
THE WHALE : AND THE WHALE-FISHERY.
"Where the whale tumbles in the foamy deeps."
I. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE WHALE.
SI HE WHALE is the leviathan of the animal
world ; the Anak, or, poetically speaking, the
Titan of the seas. Among the monsters of
the deep he reigns supreme in size and
strength and were he not gifted with a gentle, and even
a timorous disposition, he might commit unchecked the
most formidable ravages. Formerly, he was included
among the fishes ; and before zoology was developed as
a science, it was not unnatural that men should adopt
such a classification for a creature shaped like a fish, and
dwelling in the ocean-waters. But his organization and
habits are now better understood ; and as he is a warm-
blooded animal, with a twofold circulation of the blood,
that is, to and from the heart, as he breathes the atmos-
pheric air, as the female is viviparous and suckles her
young, the whale is rightly placed among the mammals.
The anatomist can show you that he has a respiratory
THE OCEAN-GIANT. 353
system, like that of the horse or lion ; that like other
mammals, he has a pulmonic circulation. Yet in common
parlance it is still customary to speak of the whale as a
fish, and of the whale-fishery. No doubt the general out-
line of his body, as we have said, is " fish-like ;" but con-
sider the modified character of his limbs, his horizontal
flattened caudal fin or tail, the tough leathery skin or
hide, the solid and expansive bones of the face, the
peculiar structure of the skull, the development of the
vertebral column, and the formation of the ribs, and you
will see that he is truly and actually a mamma], a mam-
mal adapted to an ocean-life.
Adapted to an ocean-life'? yes, and adapted in a most-
ingenious and interesting manner. A close examination
of details, however, would carry us into the domains of
comparative anatomy, and we must content ourselves here
with indicating only a few of the more important.
In the first place, then, let us direct the reader's atten-
tion to the ocean-giant's "extremities." At a cursory
glance, he will see little or no resemblance between the
human arm and the "flipper" or "swimming paddle;"
but if he saw the osseous structure, the skeleton, the
points of coincidence would immediately become apparent.
We may say of them that they are like, and yet unlike }
the same organ, but modified to a different end.
Next, we have to remember that the whale is an aquatic,
or rather pelagic mammal, seeking the "unfathomable
depths " of ocean, and consequently required to endure an
extraordinary pressure. How has it been fitted for this
purpose?
Partly by its shape, which is that of a cylinder ; partly
by the arrangement and solidity of its bones, and partly
354 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE WHALE.
by the nature of its integuments. These are three-
fold :
1. The epidermis, scarf-skin, or outermost skin, which
is remarkable for its smoothness, and is covered also with
a mucous oily fluid exuding from the whole substance, and
completely protecting it from injury by the water.
2. The intermediate skin, or rete mucosum, to which is
due the variety of colouring in the various races of man ;
it answers the same purpose in the whale tribe.
3. The true skin, or blubber of the animal, which con-
tains its fluid oil, and consists of a mass of fibres crossing
and intercrossing each other in every direction.
An eminent naturalist observes that it is interesting to
see how, in the works of nature, an apparently trivial al-
teration often effects the most wonderful change. It is so
with respect to this true skin. A layer of fat or blubber,
even had it been double in thickness to that usually found in
the Cetacea, would not have resisted the pressure of the
superincumbent ocean- waters ; but the requisite density
and power of resistance have been obtained by the modifi^
cation of the skin into a firm and elastic substance, like
caoutchouc, not less than eight and sometimes fifteen
inches in thickness.
This firm elastic wrapper, or " blanket," as it has been
called, is an indifferent conductor of caloric (or heat). It
retains the animal warmth, while it excludes the atmos-
pheric cold. Hence it is in this respect admirably adapted
as a protection for a warm-blooded animal exposed to the
severest cold in the deepest recesses of icy seas.
The bulk and quantity of this integument is enormous.
Sometimes it weighs as much as thirty hundredweight, so
that you would naturally suppose it sufficient to overwhelm
ITS RESPIRATORY APPARATUS. 355
the animal ; but as its specific gravity is actually less than
that of the ocean- waters, instead of being a burden and
an incumbrance, it is a help, it buoys up the whale's
colossal bulk, renders it relatively lighter, and largely
increases its activity.
We proceed to some other characteristics of the whale.
Its flesh is described as more nearly resembling that of
beasts than of fish ; it is firm, solid, somewhat coarse, and
in flavour not unlike indifferent beef. The osseous struc-
ture also reminds the anatomist of a terrestrial quadruped.
The milk of the female is very rich ; like cow's milk to
which cream has been added.
A remarkable circumstance connected with the vital
economy of the whales, is the long period during which
they can suspend the respiratory function. In the mam-
mals generally the inhalations succeed each other with
great rapidity, and the interval between each is never
more than a few moments. Man, even when at rest,
breathes every three seconds ; but the Cetacea can sus-
pend their inhalations, or, in more popular language,
" hold their breath," for an hour or even two hours, and
thus are enabled to remain under water for a considerable
period without inconvenience.
All fishes separate the air from the water by means of
their gills ; but the whale, having the respiratory apparatus
of the mammal, must draw his supply of air from the at-
mosphere, and hence must frequently come to the surface
to breathe. He has, however, no nostrils properly so
called, and seldom opens his mouth in free air. How,
then, does he manage to breathe ? By tubes opening
nearly on the crown of the head, called spiracles or blow-
356 ITS RESPIRATORY APPARATUS.
holes.* In man and other mammals the mouth and nos-
trils are connected inwardly with a pouch or bag, known
as the pharynx, in which both the windpipe and gullet
originate ; the former, and anterior, opening from it
through an aperture called the glottis; this is covered by a
valve, the epiglottis, which usually stands erect, but on
the passage of any article turns down like a lid, and gives
free ingress to our food.
In the Cetacea the air-currents pass out of or into the
lungs through the spiracles ; but as the mouth is at the
same time usually filled with water, it is obvious that
some contrivance is necessary to prevent the water from
rushing, along with the air in the air-tubes, into the lungs,
and producing suffocation. Here we meet with another
example of the ingenious adaptation of a mammal to an
aquatic life. The epiglottis, or valve, is no longer a
simple valve, generally kept open ; but in some species of
the Cetacea it is the anterior rim of the rima, or slit, and
in others it encloses the base of the pharynx, and assists in
forming a proj ecting tube or air-duct. The lower extremity
of this air-duct is provided with a circular aperture, sur-
rounded by a strong muscle, which unites both the wind-
pipe and the air-duct. These intersect the fauces, or
" swallow," dividing it into two passages, one for air, and
the other for water.
A naturalist observes, that the whole of this singular
mechanism is peculiar to the Cetacea. The other mam-
mals, when feeding, are in a medium which, through
their respiratory organs, becomes the great vital agent ;
but the Cetacea obtain their nutriment always under
* There are two of these apertures in the. whale, or Balcenidce family ; but
one only in the other Cetacea.
THE WHALE'S TAIL. 357
water, which, if it found its way to their lungs, would
prove as injurious to them as to man. Yet, by a slight
alteration in the cartilages at the top of the windpipe,
and in the direction of the air-tube, their feeding in the
deep ocean is made as safe for them as that of other
mammals in the balmy breeze.
The tail, or caudal fin, is the most important append-
age, and the chief motive agent of this mightiest of all
animals that swim the ocean-stream. In most fishes the
tail rises vertically, but, as we have said, in the whale it
is flat and horizontal ; not more than four or five feet in
length, but fully twenty feet in breadth. It consists of
two beds or layers of muscles, connected with an exten-
sive layer which surrounds the body, and enclosed by a
thin coat of blubber. Of its enormous force many exam-
ples might be adduced. With a single stroke it can hurl
a large boat, fully manned, into the air. Small boats are
but as straws before it. Here is an experience recorded
by Captain Markham. With three companions, he was
in pursuit of a whale. They pulled close alongside the
monster, which received three harpoons in its body. The
wounds maddened it, and one of the hunters loaded his
gun and fired. Captain Markham swept his boat round
as speedily as possible, but failed to get clear of the
brute's tail, which it had thrown up out of the water on
receiving the contents of the gun ; descending with ter-
rific violence, it caught the gunwale of the boat, and
knocked the captain over the stern. " Before coming to
the surface," he says, " I imagined the dingy had been
smashed to pieces, which would have been rather a bad
case for us, as the other boats were some way off, and
358 THE WHALE AND ITS CRIES.
also fast to the fish ; and no loose boat being near us,
and the temperature of the water only a few degrees
above freezing-point, I don't think that I for one would
have kept up long, accoutred as I was in a heavy monkey-
jacket and sea-boots. However, on rising to the surface
I had the satisfaction of seeing the dingy a couple of
boat-lengths off, and the doctor (who had taken to the
water, imagining that the tail was coming right down
upon us) and myself were soon hauled in, none the worse
for our ducking. If the boat had been one foot nearer
the fish it would most assuredly have been dashed to
pieces, and we should all have been killed before having
time to jump overboard."
It is said of the whale that he sometimes places his
huge body in a perpendicular position, with his head
downwards ; then, rearing his tail aloft, he beats the
water with inconceivable violence. On such occasions
the sea is white with foam ; vapours seem to darken the
air ; and at a distance of several miles the sound of its
repeated blows is like the roar of a far-off tempest. At
other times he makes an immense bound, raising his
whole body above the surface, a spectacle which may
excite the admiration of the veteran whaler, but to the
inexperienced is certainly a source of terror.
The whale possesses the power of giving utterance to
strange wild cries, likened by some authorities to the
bellowing of bulls. But he has no voice ; and there can
be little doubt but that these sounds are produced by the
blowing apparatus. The spiracles are often described, as
vaguely as incorrectly, as if they were fountains throwing
up water to the height of forty or fifty feet ; but Dr.
1 BREATHING OR " BLOWING.
359
Scoresby has shown that they emit vapour only, except
when the vehement breathing or blowing takes place
beneath the surface, and in that case a considerable quan-
tity of water is hurled into the air. As often, says Mr.
Wilson, as the whale opens his enormous jaws, his mouth
of course immediately fills with water; but only the fish,
WHALES SPORTING.
fuci, or small marine animals which chiefly compose the
cetacean's food, are actually swallowed. " The water
itself is partly regurgitated and partly made to pass up-
wards, and, by a peculiar and very admirable mechanism,
is thrown out by the blow-holes. When the animal
breathes on the surface, a moist vapour, mixed with
mucus, is exhaled ; but no water is thrown up unless
360 SEEING AND HEARING.
the expiration is made beneath the waves, or the creature
itself is either in a sportive mood or under the influence
of rage and terror."
With respect to the senses of the whale, it may be said
that that of smell seems to be enjoyed by most of the
species, though not by the herbivorous cetaceans.
Their eyes, not larger than those of an ox, are very
small when compared with the animal's bulk of body ;
but being placed far back in the head, and obliquely
above and behind the angle of the mouth, they command
an extensive range of view. The visual axis is directed
obliquely downwards, so as to assist the animal in dis-
covering the food floating beneath him ; and the power of
sight must be acute, inasmuch as he recognizes his con-
geners, when under the surface and in clear water, at a
very great distance.
The whale's organ of hearing is marked by some pecu-
liarities. There is no external ear; but on the skin
being removed, a diminutive opening into the skull is
perceptible. The internal ear is hollowed out of a parti-
cular bone which forms no part of the ordinary cranial
bones, but is attached to it by cartilaginous ligaments.
It is situated just behind the eye, and about two feet
deep, and is not large enough to admit of the introduc-
tion of a man's little finger. What is known as the
" Eustachian tube" opens high up into those air-ducts
which, as we have explained, answer to the nose.
Through this channel it is that the animal must have the
sounds transmitted on the waves of air, and with this
channel must be connected the cavities in which, accord-
ing to some authorities, the olfactory nerves are situated.
AFFECTION OF THE WHALE. 361
With some slight exaggeration, it may be said that the
whale hears by the nose and smells by the ear.
II. CHARACTER OF THE WHALE.
As in all other tribes, so among the whales, the dif-
ferent genera differ greatly in their habits and disposition.
Some, too, possess a higher intellectual organization than
others, excel in courage, powers of endurance, or amiabi-
lity of character. But to all the species one faculty seems
to be common, and that is their mutual affection, whe-
ther as regards the mother and her young, the cub and
its parent, or the several members of the same family
or shoal. The female watches over her nurslings, or
" suckers," as they are called, with vigilant affection ;
and the whalers, therefore, frequently strike them, not
for their own value, but in order to bring the mothers to
their defence. Captain Markham was told that a whale,
having a young one in company, will, when struck, inva-
riably kill it if she gets a chance. And he relates the
following adventure :
He was out in a boat, acting as steerer, when he saw
"a heavy blast" some distance ahead, accompanied by a
small one, signs which his harpooneer interpreted to mean
a " monstrous big fish with its sucker." With another
boat in company, away they went in chase. Judging,
from the course she took, where she would rise for breath-
ing purposes, they lay on their oars, and waited for her.
The plan proved successful, for the whale rose close to
" Harky Hunter," who, pulling quietly up, delivered his
harpoon ; all yelling at the top of their voices, " A fall, a
fall ! " But though so easily struck, she was not so
easily killed, but proved a difficult and troublesome cus-
362 AN ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTE.
tomer. After about three-quarters of an hour's hard
pulling, chasing her first in one direction and then in
another, until the men were so weary as nearly to drop
at their oars, they succeeded in closing up, and giving
her another harpoon ; immediately on receipt of which
she flew off at a terrific rate, towing the two boats fully
six knots an hour, and drawing out the line with such
velocity that the bows of the boat were enveloped in the
smoke caused by the friction.
" We had a very near shave," says Captain Markham,
" one time, of being taken down altogether. The fish
having stopped to blow for a few minutes, the line, which
from the extreme friction had burned a deep scar round
the bollard (or block on which it runs), cooled, and
adhered to the wood. The fish suddenly took it into her
head to go straight down ; the line would not render, the
bows of the boat were dragged under water, and the
water came rushing in over the harpooneer. This saved
\\ s ; for the water, lubricating the line, allowed it to
render, and the boat righted, though not before a large
quantity of water had been shipped. We should, indeed,
have been placed in a most dangerous and unpleasant
predicament ; for, had the line not rendered, nothing
could have saved the boat from being taken down, and
our chance of escape would have been very small."
About five o'clock other boats came to their assist-
ance, when five more harpoons were buried in the mon-
ster's flesh, and several lances plunged in, but all appa-
rently to no avail, she would not die. Three rockets
were also fired into her huge bulk. Eventually the ship
came up, and took the lines from one of the boats on
board ; yet, mirabile dictu ! the fish actually towed the
THE MOTHER AND HER OFFSPRING. 363
ship and seven boats at the rate of three miles an hour,
" incarnadining " the water with her blood. However,
her struggles gradually grew less furious : loss of blood,
and the immense efforts she had made to escape, neces-
sarily caused great exhaustion ; and at nine o'clock a boat
was able to overtake her, and, firing a rocket, succeeded
in dealing the death-blow with a lance, whereupon she
expired, amidst the cheers of all hands.
The little " sucker," adds Captain Markham, that had
accompanied the " big fish," was seen for about half an
hour, coming up to blow every time its mother rose for
the same purpose, and then suddenly disappearing after
the mother had given some unusually violent convulsion
with her tail and fins. Here was another illustration of
the fact that a whale, having a young one in her company,
will, when struck, invariably kill it if she has the oppor-
tunity.
Whether this be a proof of affection, some of our readers
may be inclined to doubt. But of the general " philopro-
genitiveness " of the whale the evidence is abundant, and
it is admitted by all our travellers and naturalists. There
are well-authenticated instances on record, though we
may not be able to accept in its entirety the incident
described by Waller in his " Battle of the Summer
Islands." In a well-known passage of this poem he re-
presents two whales, a mother and her young one, as
adrift in the shallow waters of the coast :
"Two mighty whales ! which swelling seas had tost,
And left them prisoners on the rocky coast :
One as a mountain vast, and with her came
A cub, not much inferior to his dam.
Here in a pool, among the rocks engaged,
They roared, like lions caught in toils, and raged."
364 A POET'S PICTURE.
The islanders, discovering the stranded monsters, hasten
to make prize of them :
" They man their boats, and all their young men arm
With whatsoever may the monsters harm ;
Pikes, halberts, spits, and darts that wound so far,
The tools of peace and instruments of war
The boat which on the first assault did go
Strook with a harping-iron the younger foe ;
Who, when he felt his side so rudely gored,
Loud as the sea that nourished him he roared.
The bigger whale like some huge carrack lay,
Which wanteth sea-room with her foes to play :
Slowly she swims, and when provoked she would
Advance her tail, her head salutes the mud :
The shallow water doth her force infringe,
And renders vain her tail's impetuous swinge :
The shining steel her tender sides receive,
And there, like bees, they all their weapons leave.
This sees the cub, and does himself oppose
Betwixt his cumbered mother and her foes :
With desp'rate courage he receives her wounds,
And men and boats his active tail confounds ;
Their forces joined, the seas with billows fill,
And make a tempest though the winds be still."
The " sucker " now returns to the channel through which
she and his mother entered the ocean-pool ; but the tide
having ebbed, the latter is unable to effect her escape :
" She by the rocks compelled to stay behind,
Is by the vastness of her bulk confined,
They shout for joy ! and now on her alone
Their fury falls, and all their darts are thrown ;
Their fixed javelins in her sides she wears,
And on her back a grove of pikes appears.
Roaring, she tears the air with such a noise
As well resembled the conspiring voice
Of routed armies when the field is won.
To reach the ears of her escaping son."
And now, if we may believe the poet, takes place a
miracle of filial devotion !
" He, though a league removed from the foe,
Hastes to her aid :
The men, amazed, blush to see the seed
Of monsters human piety exceed.
THE WHALE'S CONJUGAL FIDELITY. 365
Well proves this kindness what the Grecian sung,
That Love's bright mother* from the ocean sprung.
Their courage droops, and hopeless now, they wish
For composition with the unconquered fish ;
So she their weapons would restore again,
Through rocks they'd hew her passage to the main."
The fishers attacked them with volleys of musketry,
but to no successful purpose ; and they were on the point
of sending to the fort for artillery, when the whales were
delivered by the flowing tide, which carried them out
into the deep waters. Thus the combatants
"Parted with exchange of harms ;
Much blood the monsters lost, and they their arms. " t
Of the conjugal affection of the whale, the following
example is related. Two which were swimming in com-
pany, and proved to be male and female, were attacked
by a whaler. On her companion being wounded, the other
exhibited the greatest uneasiness; swam gallantly up to
the whaling boat, and with one stroke of her gigantic cau-
dal fin killed three men, and hurled them into the sea.
To the last the two kept in close neighbourhood; and
when the male was killed, the female gave utterance to
her grief in terrible cries.
The mother- whale's affection for her young is frequently
turned to good account by the hunters. They strike the
" sucker " as a means of bringing the mother to its assist-
ance; and she seldom fails to come up beside it, encourage
it to swim off, and take it under her protecting fin,
seldom deserting it so long as life remains. It is then,
says Scoresby, very dangerous to approach her. She
loses all thought for her own safety in anxiety for the
* Venus Aphrodite.
t Edmund Waller, "Battle of the Summer Islands," cantos ii. and iii.
366 THE GREENLAND WHALE.
preservation of her cub ; dashing furiously to and fro, and
not fearing to rise in the very midst of the attacking
boats. Except, however, when the mother is called upon
to defend her young, the male is generally more active and
dangerous than the female.
III. DIFFERENT SPECIES OF CETACEA.
The great family of the Cetacea is divided into two
tribes : the Ordinary and the Herbivorous Cetacea. The
former, including the whales, is, as we have seen, wholly
aquatic in its habits, and lives in the open sea ; the latter,
including the dugong and manatee, is found only in the
estuaries of great rivers, or the shallow waters of the
shore, and feeds upon the vegetable growth of these
localities.
It is to the former, which is the more numerous and
varied tribe, that we shall limit our attention.
The principal species is the Greenland or Right Whale,
an inhabitant of the polar waters, and the staple of an
important commerce. He is sought in preference to any
other species, because he yields the most oil ; and, from the
comparative slowness of his movements and timidity of
his nature, is captured with the greatest ease.
In some of the old books we meet with the most won-
derful stories of this species ; but Dr. Scoresby has
proved that the Greenland whale seldom exceeds sixty
feet in length, and never seventy. His greatest girth is
just behind the swimming fins, and near the middle of the
body, whence it gradually tapers in a conical form towards
the tail, and still more gradually towards the head, which
is of extraordinary bulk, forming nearly one-third of the
BALEEN, OR WHALE-BONE. 369
whole. The under part of the head, as denned by the
jaw-bone, is flat, and measures from sixteen to twenty
feet in length, and from ten to twelve feet in breadth.
The lips, which are of proportionate thickness, enclose the
" cavernous recesses " of the mouth in a remarkable
manner. The upper jaw curves inwardly at the edges,
like a boat turned upside down, so as to shut in the an-
terior and upper parts of this " fearful cavity ; " fearful, in
truth, if it be capable, as some writers assert, of receiving
a ship's jolly-boat, fully manned being fifteen or sixteen
feet in length, ten or twelve feet in height, and six or
eight feet in width.
The mouth has no teeth, but is lined by two extensive
rows of baleen, or " whale-bone," suspended from the upper
jaw, and curved longitudinally, so as to give the roof of
the mouth an arched form. Between their lower ex-
tremities they enclose the tongue, which is fixed from
root to tip, and incapable of being protruded ; and they
themselves are covered by the nether lip. Each row con-
sists of about two hundred plates of baleen, resembling a
frame of saws in a saw-mill ; these plates are longest in
the middle, and gradually diminish both in front and
rear. Their average length is from ten to fourteen feet ;
and it is estimated that a large whale will yield a ton of
baleen..
The Greenland whale, like Milton's monks, is "black,
white, and gray/ 7 with, however, a tinge of yellow : the
back, most of the upper jaw, and part of the lower, the
fins, and tail, are black ; the lips, anterior part of the
lower jaw, and a portion of the abdomen, white ; the eye-
lids, the junction of the tail with the body, and a portion
of the "axilla" of the fins, are gray. The older the
370 THE WHALE'S VELOCITY.
animal, the more white and gray are present in his colour-
ing ; and some individuals are completely piebald.
The most valuable part of the animal is the " blubber,"
which lies in a kind of wrapper all round his monstrous
body, from eight to fifteen inches in thickness. In some
old whales it is said to resemble the substance of salmon,
but in the younger it is yellowish white. The lower jaw,
except the two bones, consists almost wholly of blubber.
The oil is retained in minute cellules. Four tons of
blubber yield three tons of oil.
Notwithstanding the great size of the Greenland whale,
and his apparently unwieldy form, his motions are not
deficient in rapidity. If disturbed when lying prone
on the surface of the sea, like Milton's Satan, "supine
upon the flood," he will sink, in five or six seconds,
beyond the reach of his human antagonists. Dr. Scoresby
has observed a whale descending, after he had harpooned
him, to the depth of four hundred yards, at the rate of seven
or eight miles an hour. The usual velocity of these
animals, however, when on their passage from one situa-
tion to another, seldom exceeds four miles an hour ; but
they are capable, for the space of a few minutes, of dart-
ing through the water with the swiftness of a frigate
under full sail, and of rising with such rapidity as to
spring sheer out of the water.
The Greenland whale usually remains at the surface
for about two minutes to inhale a fresh supply of air ; and
during this interval he " blows " eight or nine times. He
remains underneath for five, ten, or even twenty minutes,
frequently sinking to the depth of about a mile. In
" blowing " the whale makes a noise which may be com-
pared to the roar of artillery. The vapour discharged
A " MILD-MANNERED MONSTER.
371
rises to the height of several yards, and at a distance
resembles a puff of white smoke. He blows strongest,
densest, and loudest when in a panic of terror, or when
appearing on the surface after being a long time below.
GKEENLAND WHALES BLOWING.
When we reflect on the immense size and colossal
strength of the whale, we are tempted to think that no
marine animal can possibly escape his voracious jaws, and
that he must be as truly the scourge of the seas as is the
tiger of the jungle. But, apart from the fact that he is
of a gentle and even pacific disposition, he has no teeth,
and is wholly unable, therefore, to live by carnage. He
can neither prey on his own kind, nor on the larger fishes.
Even if he could capture and masticate, he could not
swallow them ; for his throat is so small that he is unable
to dispose of a morsel which an ox could swallow easily.
It has been forcibly remarked that his well-provided pas-
ture-grounds exhibit, to the contemplation of the curious,
372 THE WHALE'S FOOD.
a characteristically wonderful manifestation of Divine
beneficence and wisdom. A considerable area of the
regions inhabited by the Greenland whale is occupied by
what seamen call "green water." According to Dr.
Scoresby it forms almost a fourth part of the Greenland
Sea; and between the parallels of 74 and 80 N. latitude,
spreads over some twenty thousand square miles. The
action of the great polar currents somewhat modifies its
position ; but it is always found year after year in certain
situations. Often it extends in long belts or streams of
varying dimensions ; from one hundred and forty to two
hundred miles in length, and five to thirty or forty miles
in breadth. It is usually an olive-green, and of peculiar
opaqueness ; sometimes a grass-green, or green with a
tint of black.
The reader will naturally ask to what cause is due this
very peculiar colouring.
Dr. Scoresby ascertained, from a series of careful
analyses, that the green water region is, in reality, a
world of animalcules ; most of them invisible to the
naked eye, and belonging chiefly to a species of Medusadce;
the medusae being well known to sea-side visitors under
the popular name of " sea-blubber " or "jelly," a soft
gelatinous substance frequently found lying on the shore,
and exhibiting 110 other indication of life than to shrink
and contract when touched.
The medusadie are globular, transparent, and from one-
twentieth to one-thirtieth of an inch in diameter. . To
convey any exact or definite idea of their number is
almost impossible. Scoresby estimates that two square
miles of sea contain 23,888,000,000,000,000 ; but these
are figures which carry no actual meaning to the imagina-
A TRUE STORY. 373
tion. We know that they represent something formid-
able, and that is all. It may assist the reader, however,
in his attempt to realize them, if we add that eighty
thousand persons must have begun counting at the crea-
tion of the world, to complete the enumeration by the
middle of the present century.
The whale, however, does not feed upon these animal-
cules, but on the shrimps and minute crabs, the lob-
sters and sea-snails, which find in them their nutri-
ment. When he is feeding, he swims with considerable
swiftness below the surface, his jaws being widely ex-
tended. Consequently, a continuous stream of water
flows into his mouth, carrying along with it large quanti-
ties of animal life. The water escapes again at the sides,
but the food is entangled in and sifted through the
baleen, which, owing to its compact arrangement, and the
thick internal fringe, does not suffer even the minutest
particle to be lost.
We have already spoken of the maternal affection of the
whale. The following anecdote relates to one of the
numerous species we are now describing :
One of the harpooneers of a Greenland whaling-ship
had struck a cub, with the view of enticing her mother
within reach. Presently she arose in the neighbourhood
of the "fast boat," and seizing the young one, dragged
about six hundred feet of line out of the boat with re-
markable force and swiftness. Again she came to the
surface, darted furiously to and fro, frequently stopped
short, or suddenly changed her direction, and gave every
possible indication of extreme agony. For a considerable
time she continued to act in this way, though hotly pur-
sued by the boats ; and inspired with courage and resolu-
374 VALUE OF THE WHALE.
tion by her affection for her young, seemed wholly insen-
sible to the perils that environed her. One of the boats
at length approached near enough to deliver a harpoon at
her ; it struck, but did not penetrate. A second harpoon
was flung, and this too failed to attach itself; but a
third was more successful, and entered the flesh. Still
she made no effort to escape, allowing the other boats
to gather round her ; so that in a few minutes three
more harpoons were fastened, and in the course of an
hour she was slain. There is something very pitiful, as
Dr. Scoresby remarks, in the destruction of a whale,
when thus exhibiting a degree of affectionate regard
for its offspring which would do honour to the supe-
rior intelligence of human beings ; yet the object of
the adventure, the value of the prize, and the joy of
the capture, cannot be sacrificed to compassionate senti-
ments.
The principal products of the Greenland whale are
its oil, its whalebone, and its skin. These, together,
form an important commercial staple ; but other por-
tions are utilized by the peoples which inhabit the arctic
islands.
Thus, its flesh is esteemed by some a choice article of
food. The Eskimos eat the flesh and fat and drink the
oil with an almost disgusting avidity. Captain Hall
draws some strange pictures of the voracity with which
they pounce upon the carrion. It is said that not a few
of the tribes carry with them in their migrations bladders
filled with whale-oil, to which they resort as a toper does
to his bottle, with equal relish, but with infinitely less
injury to their constitutions. Both adults and children
eat the skin of the whale uncooked, and infants suck it,
THE TYRANT OF THE SEAS. 377
apparently with delight. The blubber, when pickled and
boiled, is described as not an unsavoury dish \ the tail,
first parboiled and afterwards fried, is not only not un-
savoury but even agreeable ; and the flesh of the young
whale has been compared to veal.
The inferior products of the whale, we may add, are
turned to good account in regions where Nature has been
so thrifty of her good things that man cannot afford to
throw aside the veriest trifle as waste. The membranes
of the abdomen are used for the upper articles of cloth-
ing ; and the peritoneum, in particular, being thin and
transparent, serves instead of glass in the windows of the
Eskimo huts. The bones are converted into harpoons
and spears, for striking the seal or darting at ocean-
birds, and are also employed in the framework of tents
and the construction of boats; the sinews are divided
into filaments, and used as thread, with which they sew,
and sew very dexterously, the different articles of their
dress.
In the waters of the great Southern Ocean lives the
Cachalot or Sperm Whale, which is the terror of all
marine animals, and deserves his title of " The Tyrant of
the Seas." In strength immense, in appetite insatiable,
if he encounters an enemy he rushes to the attack, and
never desists until he conquers or is conquered. When
he receives the whale-hunter's harpoon, ne rushes towards
the boat, raises his head, opens his tremendous mouth,
and seems intent upon crushing in his mighty jaws his
enemies, their weapons and implements, and everything
within his reach. But the hunter knows the danger ;
and skilfully putting his boat about, suffers the ocean-
378
HIS TERRIBLE POWER.
monster to rush past in headlong fury, and watches a
favourable opportunity for driving his spear into his
flank. Wounded and panting with rage, he opens his jaws
afresh with an ominous sound and snap which make the
listener shudder. Who, indeed, can help a momentary
THE CACHALOT.
alarm at the thought of falling a victim to his horrid rage?
It is asserted that a cachalot can sink a goodly vessel by
rushing against her sides, and some authorities pretend
that he can crush a boat between his jaws.
The head of the cachalot occupies more than a half of
the total length of his body. There is something very
remarkable about its structure ; all the upper part of the
SPERMACETI AND AMBERGRIS. 379
face and skull has the form of a vast oval basin, the
edges of which, seven feet high in the posterior part, de-
crease towards the anterior, until they wholly disappear.
This great cavity is principally formed by the jaw-bones ;
it is arched over with a kind of nbro-cartilaginous roof,
and divided into two compartments or stories by a mem-
braneous partition. Both compartments are filled with
adipocere, or, as it is popularly called, spermaceti (the
blanc de baleine of the French) ; a kind of oil which, as it
cools, congeals, and as it congeals turns white. The
cavities of which we have been speaking communicate
with canals which are similarly full of adipocere, distri-
buting it over different parts of the body, and interming-
ling it in the tissue under the skin. However, the chief
supply is found in the cephalic reservoir, which fills, we
are told, as fast as it is emptied ; and twenty-four barrels,
each containing one hundred and twenty-four pints, have
been obtained from a cachalot measuring sixty-four feet
in length.
But it is not only spermaceti which the huge cachalot
furnishes ; it also yields oil, though in less quantity than
the Greenland whale, the layer of fat surrounding the
body being inferior in thickness. And yet again, a
third substance far more valuable than either oil or
spermaceti; namely, the precious ambergris, which is
found in. lumps, each weighing from two to thirty pounds,
floating in the sea, or wave-drifted on the neighbouring
shore.
The origin of ambergris was long regarded as enveloped
in mystery. Some supposed it to be a mixture of wax and
honey, modified by the action of the sun and the salt water.
Owing to this very mystery, it was formerly held in high
380 HABITS OF THE CACHALOT.
repute. It entered into the composition of various
perfumes, and was also employed as a drug. The Moslems
who performed the Mecca pilgrimage offered it at the
shrine of their prophet as a sweet-smelling savour. By
some of the African peoples it is valued as a seasoning
for food. This incense, this medicament, this perfume
is now known, however, to be neither more nor less than
the excrement of the sick cachalot. When the animal is
captured in a diseased condition, the ambergris is found
lying hardened in its ccecum, and as much as one hundred
to one hundred and twenty pounds will be obtained from
a single individual.
The cachalot or sperm whale feeds principally upon
molluscs ; but it is said that he will hunt the largest fish,
even sharks, and, among the mammals, both porpoises
and seals. Carcasses of seals upwards of ten feet long
have been found in the stomach of these monsters. With
open mouth they snap at their prey, plunge their fifty
teeth into its body, and bring their jaws together with
such force as to snap it in twain.
The course of the cachalot is always direct and stead-
fast, like that of an arrow. Generally he faces the wind,
and he moves with remarkable swiftness, attaining to
twelve and even fifteen knots an hour. His jets or
" blowings " occur at intervals of less than a minute, and
are repeated fifteen, twenty, and even thirty times. As
lie remains for a considerable period on the surf ace of the
water, so he lingers long in the depths ; and, therefore,
when the fisher descries his puffs of vapour, he should be
alert to launch his boats, or his hoped-for prey may dis-
appear.
THE WHALER'S FISHING-GROUND. 381
IV. THE WHALE-FISHERY.
The whale-fishery is chiefly carried on by the British,
the Americans, and the French. In the northern waters
British ships are most numerous ; and these " hail "
chiefly from the ports of Hull and Whitby, Peterhead,
Dundee, and Aberdeen. Formerly, sailing-vessels were
employed ; but screw-steamers have now come into use,
and are far more effective, being better able to force their
way through the drift-ice, or against a contrary wind.
They usually put to sea about the beginning of May,
and after passing Cape Farewell, the extreme southern
point of Greenland, occupy two or three weeks in what
is called the south-west fishing, in the neighbourhood
of Frobisher Strait, to the northward of the coast of
Labrador. Afterwards the whalers keep up the east
side of Davis Strait and Baffin Sea to Melville Bay,
which is notorious in the annals of arctic navigation as
the scene of disastrous wrecks. The ice-floes congregate
here in great numbers, and the passage through them is
always difficult and often dangerous. But, supposing it
successfully accomplished, the whaler makes for the fish-
ing-ground at the entrance of Lancaster Sound or off
Pond Inlet. Here he remains until July, and then he
strikes up Lancaster Sound as far as Prince Regent
Inlet. In August and September the whales are followed
as far as the Gulf of Cumberland, until the approach of
winter, with its thick darkness and its snow-storms,
warns the whaler that he must retrace his steps. He
reaches home about the beginning of November.
The whaling-ships are stoutly built, doubled and forti-
fied by thick planking and iron bolts both externally and
382
A WHALING-VESSEL.
internally. Angle-irons on each side of the stem are so
placed as to protect the fore -foot from injury by the
driving ice, while they also act as rams or spurs, assist-
ing it to break through the smaller and thinner floes.
IN MKLVILLE BAY.
The average length is about 150 feet , the extreme breadth
30 feet. The tonnage varies from 300 to 450 ; the engines
have a horse-power of 50 to 70 ; and each vessel carries
6 to 8 boats. The numerical strength of the crew
depends on the number of boats ; the object being that
A WHALER'S CREW. 383
when all the boats are despatched, fully manned, in
pursuit of the " fish," two or three hands may be left on
board to work the ship. A full complement is fifty-four
officers and men, including captain (or master), mate,
second mate, doctor, engineer, " speksioneer," two har-
pooneers, two loose harpooneers, six boat-steerers, eight
line-managers, ten able seamen, and so on. Both the
mate and second mate act as harpooneers when required.
The "speksioneer" is the officer who superintends the
cutting up of the whale. The word is derived from the
Dutch spek, or " blubber."
In order, says Captain Markham,* that all the men on
board may take an interest in, and use their utmost
exertions for, the furtherance of a successful issue to the
voyage, each individual, according to his rank, receives a
percentage on the amount of cargo brought home, their
regular wages being small. Moreover, a bonus is paid to
every man in the boat that captures the first whale; the
barpooneer receiving 10s. if he gets fast with the gun-
harpoon, 10s. 6d. if with the hand-harpoon, and 21s. if
with both, while his mates receive 2s. 6d. each. This is
termed " sticking-money," or "fast-boat money." The
master is usually rewarded with 1 for every payable
fish struck by a harpooneer, and 3 if it be struck by a
loose harpooneer ; the latter being a kind of embryo or
apprentice harpooneer, who, if he discharges his duties
satisfactorily for a couple of years, is promoted to be a
full harpooneer.
" The duties of a whaler's crew," says our authority,
" are allotted according to the abilities and qiialifications
which the men possess as fishermen. Thus the har-
* Markham, " A Whaling Cruise to Baffin's Bay," pp. 12, 13.
(502) 25
384 " EVERY ONE IN HIS PLACE."
pooneers attend to the coursing of the ship
during their watch on deck ; the two mates
and the speksioneer (who are also harpooneers)
are in charge of the watch; the boat-steerers
attend to the ropes on the forecastle ; the line-
managers to those round the mainmast, and also
to the cleanliness of the ship between decks ;
\ the boatswain, who is also a boat-steerer, is held
responsible for all work aloft; the skeeman [the
officer who superintends the ' stowing away f of
the blabber in the tanks], who is the head line-
man and also a boat-steerer, is responsible for
everything between decks. The remainder are
the foremast hands, who make themselves gener-
ally useful when required When all boats
are away from the ship, there remain on board
the captain, doctor, engineer, ship-keeper, cook,
and steward. Each boat has a crew of six
men, five rowers and one to steer. No rudders
are fitted to the boats ; a steer oar, in conse-
quence of the rapidity with which, by its means,
a boat may be swept round, being invariably
used. The harpooneer is in charge of the boat,
and pulls the bow oar. It is his duty to strike
the fish. The line-manager pulls the stroke
oar, and it is his province, with the boat-steerer,
to see the lines coiled away clear, and to attend
them when running out, after a fish has been
struck."
The weapons with which man goes forth to
hunt the ocean-monster are the hand-harpoon
ARI-OON. and the harpoon-gun. The latter is constructed
HAND-
SHE BLOWS ! SHE BLOWS ! "
385
on the principle of
a cross-bow ; and
being fixed on a
swivel in the bows
of the boat, can
easily be moved
from side to side,
depressed or ele-
vated by the har-
pooiieer. The har-
pooiis are made of
the softest Swed-
ish iron, which is
more pliable than
English; therefore
they readily bend
without snapping,
when any pressure
is brought to bear
on them.
With these pre-
liminary remarks,
we proceed to de-
scribe the pursuit
and capture of "a
fish."
The look - out
man, who is sta-
tioned in a crow's
nest triced up to the mainmast-head, cries, " She blows !
she blows !" and at the welcome signal the whole crew are
'SHE BLOWS! SHE BLOWS!"
386 PURSUIT OF THE WHALE.
filled with active enthusiasm. The ship lays her sails
aback, so that she seems a " painted ship upon a painted
ocean." Two boats are lowered, and sent in immediate
pursuit. They start off with such velocity that they
seem* to skiin the waves ; a space of one or two miles lies
between them and their coveted prize
But the whale has plunged downwards, and is no
longer visible. The oars are raised ; and the men, rest-
ing on the handles, hold themselves prepared to renew
their exertions at the slightest signal. Standing erect,
one at the bow and the other at the stern, the mate and
the harpoon eer, with outstretched neck and fixed gaze,
watch the surface of the water to detect the reappearance
of the great "fish." It is under such circumstances as
these, says a writer, that a man shows the stuff he is
made of. Any want of skill, or deficiency in nerve,
might cause the destruction of the whole crew ; and they
are strengthened and kept steady by the steadiness of
their officer. Soon an oily wave enlarges in a circle, and
subdues the light ripples raised by the passing breeze ;
the whale is rising ! The officer casts a significant glance
at his harpooneer; a single word, "Attention !" uttered in
a low whisper, keeps his men on the alert, and at a wave
of the hand, the oars resume their rapid but regular
beat.
At first the whale presents the extremity of his black
broad snout ; then he skims the water with his vents, and
two jets of vapour rise, to be dissolved in the atmosphere.
Onward sweeps the colossal bulk ; from minute to minute
the huge head is raised ; another spout escapes ; after
the seventh or eighth he gradually bares the long ridge of
his colossal back, balances the enormous tail, and then
"A FALL! A FALL!" 387
plunges anew for twenty-five to thirty minutes. The
fisher must therefore take careful note of the manner in
which the animal inclines his tail, so as to guess the
direction of his course ; and when chasing a a lively
whale " amongst heavy ice the duty of the boat-steerer is
both arduous and. onerous. At times the boats must be
forced between two floes, just wide enough apart to admit
her passage \ in such a case she has to be sculled through
by the steerer, and the continuous work of carrying the
boat round the numerous pieces of ice is most laborious.
Now the men must throw all their force into a long pull,
a strong pull, and a pull all together ; now they scarcely
move their oars-; at times they drift with the current ;
always vigilant, always ready, always composed and calm.
They lie on their oars, at length, and wait for the
whale to rise. In a minute or two he once more comes
to the surface, and the harpooneer, quick as thought,
discharges his fatal weapon. It shoots through the air,
pierces the fat, and fixes its barb in the huge quivering
side. A joyous shout goes up, "A fall! a fall!" A
second harpoon follows ; the line unrolling from the 1 reel
with inconceivable velocity. Already upwards of two
hundred fathoms are beneath the waves, and yet the
panic-stricken animal continues his downward course.
With so much violence is the line uncoiled, that if only
a fragment of a shell impeded the movement it would
capsize the boat. It not infrequently occurs that the
rope, when uncoiling, will catch a man by the arm, leg,
or body, and drag him into the sea. It would be diffi-
cult, then, to give the reader an idea of the absolute cool-
ness and tranquillity with which every manoeuvre must
be executed. The true whaler, however, is insensible to
388 A SWIFT CHASE.
fear; he braves death with ready heroism, though not
with imprudence. When the animal rises after his first
plunge, the " line-manager " slowly pulls upon the line,
and the fyoat draws towards the monster, cautiously,
without haste, and yet with sufficient quickness. How
many difficulties must be conquered, and sometimes how
long a delay must be endured, before another harpoon
can be thrown ! Yet it is not one, but ten, perhaps
twenty, which may be needed to ensure death ; while,
if a mortal wound be not inflicted in the first quarter of
an hour, the whale recovers from his alarm, regains his
senses, and takes to flight. Then comes the breathless,
rapid chase. The boat springs forward like an arrow,
darting between the waves as between two walls of
vapour. In vain the wounded monster would escape his
relentless pursuers ; he rises to the surface, he sinks, again
he rises, and every time he shows his gigantic bulk the
harpooneers drive in their lances to the depth of six or
seven feet. The water all around is dyed a deep dark
crimson ; even the neighbouring ice is stained with the
same ensanguined hue. These vigorous and deadly blows
no animal can long survive; and after a brief struggle, and
one last convulsive heaving of his enormous tail, the
ocean-leviathan, yielding to the superior force and skill
of his enemies, turns slowly over on his back, and expires,
amidst their shouts.
The experiences of those who go down to the icy seas
in quest of their monsters are often of a most romantic
character. The perils they encounter are so numerous,
that gentlemen who live at home at ease may reasonably
wonder at the love of adventure and .the desire of gain
A NARROW ESCAPE. 391
which induces men to face them. Thus, we read of
incidents such as the following : *
The whaling-vessel was running under reefed topsails
and foresail at the rate of ten knots an hour before a
strong south wind, snow falling in a heavy drift, and a
dense fog everywhere prevailing. All the crew were
busily employed in getting the boats in-board, and secur-
ing them from the heavy and white-crested billows that
came rolling up on every side, as if eager to overtake and
devour the puny craft that seemed to mock their rage.
Suddenly a tremendous iceberg loomed through the mist.
To have struck it would have been ruin, to the vessel,
and death to her gallant crew. " Hard-a-port," shouted
the look-out on the forecastle ; " Hard-a-port," rang in
stentorian tones along the deck ; " Hard-a-port," was re-
echoed by the ready and vigilant helmsman. He was no
less quick to act than to answer, and in a moment,
amidst the roaring of the wind, and the creaking of the
masts, and the rattling of the cordage, the obedient vessel
swung round, and, as she did so, the eddy and current
produced by the floating ice-mountain nearly threw her
upon her beam-ends to windward. Happily she righted;
and as the wind again filled her sails, her lee yard-arms
actually scraped the frozen surface of a lofty, precipitous
berg, breaking off small fragments, which fell in a
shower of ice upon her decks. In another moment
she had forged ahead, and was saved ! Her crew could
just see the enemy they had so narrowly escaped drifting
slowly away into the darkness.
To Captain Markham we are indebted for another
* Markham, "A Whaling Cruise," p. 75.
392
ANOTHER ANECDOTE.
illustration of the dangers which beset the arctic
whaler.
A.MONG THE ICE.
A whale had been struck, on the east side of Baffin
Sea, but the line having broken, had succeeded in effect-
ing his escape, carrying with him, however, as memorials
of his past adventure a couple of harpoons embedded in his
flesh. Strange to relate, the same fish was fallen in with,
a few days later, by the same ship, on the west side of
the bay. The boats were immediately sent in pursuit.
When the foremost got up with the expected prize, the
harpooneer fired and "got fast," and was in the act of
delivering the hand-harpoon, when the fish, with a
mighty effort, dealt the boat a crashing blow with his
formidable and ponderous tail, shivering it into a mass
of broken timbers, and precipitating the crew into the
water.
The unfortunate harpooneer was seen no more ; his
body having probably been entangled by the line, and
HOW HE ESCAPED.
393
carried down. The remainder of the crew, with the
exception of one man, were picked up by the other boats ;
the man we speak of had succeeded in swimming to a
ALE CAPSIZING A BOAT.
piece of ice, but, owing to the numbness and exhaustion
produced by excessive cold, had been unable to raise
himself upon it. And there he must have perished, had
not one of his mates, mistaking him for a seal, pointed
394
CAUGHT IN THE ICE.
him out to his companions. Immediately he was taken
on board ; and restoratives were administered to him ; but
it was some time before he recovered from the effects of
the exposure. When picked up, his clothes were frozen
hard on his body. As for the whale, it is satisfactory to
know that he was eventually killed, when the harpoons
with which he had been wounded in the first encounter
were recovered.
CAUGHT IN THE ICE.
Sometimes the whaling-ship as in the case of the Tay
and the Arctic, two Dundee vessels, in the season of
1874 is caught in the ice; and all the efforts of her
crew to extricate her proving fruitless, they are compelled
to take to their boats, until rescued by some more fortun-
ate vessel, or they make their way over the ice-fields to
the nearest settlement.
SECURING THE PRIZE. 395
But let us suppose that no such accidents occur, and
that the whaler's crew have caught their first great " fish."
The question naturally arises, What will they do with it 1
The first thing is to cut a hole through each fin, and
fasten on a rope ; and the tail being caught up to the
bows of the boat, the whale is brought to the port-side of
the whaling-vessel, and there secured. This is done as
follows :
The fish is always brought alongside with the tail for-
ward abreast of the fore-chains ; it is then secured by
means of a tackle from the fore-rigging, which is hooked
to a strap round the small end of the tail (where it is
united to the back of the fish), and by a stout rope,
which is called the " rump rope." A similar purchase is
hooked from the main-rigging to a strap rove through a
hole cut in the extremity of the under jaw; and this is
called the " nose tackle." Let it be understood, however,
that the whale is on its back. Its right fin is now
secured by a chain or rope to the upper deck ; and, next,
between the fore and main masts is fixed a stout wire
rope, called the " blubber guy," with four large single
blocks strapped on to it, to carry the tackles used in
hoisting on board the large layers of blubber, some be-
tween one and two tons in weight, as they are cut off.
An apparatus at the mainmast-head turns the fish over
as it is being " flinched."
These preparations completed, the crew are " turned
up," and each man receives a glass of grog before setting
to work. Two " mollie boats," as they are called, attend
upon those engaged in cutting up, and are manned by
a couple of hands, euphoniously termed " mollie boys."
The captain superintends the whole course of operations,
396 CUTTING UP THE WHALE.
standing in the main-rigging ; the mate, in the gangway,
repeating his orders, if necessary.
Under the direction of the speksioneer, the se^ven
harpooneers take their stand upon the whale, and with
their blubber spades and knives separate the blubber
from the carcass in long strips, which are hoisted on
board by means of the " blubber guy." Each harpooneer,
to prevent him from slipping, wears iron spikes, or
" spurs," attached to his boots.
Operations always commence at the belly of the whale ;
and when this has been completely stripped of blubber,
the fish is " canted," or " tilted," and the blubber from
the opposite side is similarly removed. Next, the whale-
bone is detached ; the lips are then hoisted in ; and so
the process of " flinching " is continued, until all that is
valuable of the dead monster has been carefully got on
board. The tail being separated from the carcass, or
" kreng," as it is called, the latter goes down to the
depths with a heavy plunge, amidst loud shouts of
triumph.
Meanwhile, the large pieces of blubber, as they are
hoisted on deck, are cut up by the boat-steerers into
pieces about two feet square. These are seized by the
line-managers, armed with " pickics " or " pick-haaks,"
and lowered into the hold, where they are received by the
skeeman, and stowed away for the nonce. The whalebone,
on the other hand, is split up, by means of large iron
wedges, into portions, each containing from nine to six-
teen blades ; and these are subdivided into smaller pieces
of three or four blades. The whale's tail is cut up into
blocks, which answer a useful purpose in the further pro-
cess of " making-oiF," yet to be described.
THE " MAKING-OFF." 397
A fair average-sized fish, measuring between forty and
fifty feet in length, yields about thirteen tons of oil, and,
including the whalebone, is worth about .800.
We now come to the " making-off." This operation is
reserved for a quiet day, in order that, when once begun,
it may not be interrupted until completed.
The blubber being again hoisted on deck, is seized by a
couple of men on each side, who, with their pickics, drag
it to a couple of harpooneers, also on each side, by whom
it is cleansed of all kinds of refuse, and cut up into pieces
of about twelve or sixteen pounds weight. These men
are called " krengers." The blubber is then thrown for-
ward to the remaining harpooneers, who are stationed on
each side of the deck near a " clash," or iron stanchion,
about three feet high, with five iron spikes on the top.
Each harpooneer, or " skinner," as he is called while en-
gaged in " making-off," has an assistant, or "clasher," who
picks up the pieces of blubber having skin on with a pair
of clash -hooks, and places them on the top of the clash.
With a long knife the skinner dexterously removes the
skin, and the blubber is then deposited in a heap called
the " bank," directly in front of the " spek trough," that
is, a large oblong trough, about eighteen feet in length,
and two feet in width and breadth, which stands immedi-
ately above one of the hatchways. In the middle of this
trough a hole, about a foot square, is fitted with a long
canvas shoot or hose, called a " lull," which opens into the
tank intended for the reception of the blubber. The lid
of the trough, turned back, and supported by props, forms
a capital table, about three feet high, on which are placed
the blocks cut from the whale's tail. Behind these blocks
398 A BUSY SCENE.
are stationed the boat-steerers, armed with choppers ; and
very vigorously and dexterously do they chop up into
small pieces the large lumps of blubber which have passed
through the skinners' hands. Then they throw the pieces
into the spek trough, whence they pass down the lull, and
finally disappear in the tanks.
We can well believe what Captain Markham tells us,
that this work makes the ship in a greasier and filthier
state than even the operation of " flinching;" and though
he tells us that there is nothing absolutely repugnant or
disgusting in witnessing the process, we think it is one
which inexperienced eyes would certainly dislike. " The
upper deck," he says, " during the time the work is at its
height, presents a most animated and busy scene. For-
ward, standing in a line across the forecastle behind their
blocks, are the boat-steerers, with their continual and
ceaseless; chopping ; in front of them are men busily em-
ployed with pickics, transferring the blubber (which has
rather the appearance of huge lumps of cheese) from the
deck to the spek trough ; whilst on each side are the
skinners, with their assistants, engaged in their individual
labours. All is life and activity, every one in a good
humour, and working with that cheerfulness and energy
which are the result of a contented and happy disposi-
tion."
The whale-skin is sometimes thrown overboard ; some-
times preserved for distribution among the Eskimos, who
relish it as an article of food. It is said to be an excellent
anti-scorbutic.
As we have said, the Greenland whale is the species
generally pursued by the whaler ; but the Balcena phy sails,
THE NORWEGIAN WHALE-FISHERY. 399
" sulphur bottom," as the whalers call it, is some-
times hunted. This is truly the "king of fishes," or of
ocean-mammals, his average length being one hundred
feet. He is not so easy or tranquil in his movements
as the Greenland whale, and when wounded, breaks into
such a tempest of rage that approach to him becomes ex-
ceedingly dangerous. His flight, after being struck by
the harpoon, is very rapid, and so long sustained that to
tire him out is very difficult, and generally impossible.
The whale-fishery at Yadso, a sea-port of Arctic Nor-
way, presents some features of special interest.
Yadso is one of the numerous islands which stud the
broad bosom of the Yaranger Fjord, the easternmost of the
great inlets on the coast of northern Europe which the
influence of the Gulf Stream keeps free of ice throughout
the year. It forms a great salt-water channel, which a
succession of promontories and the Island of Yadso lock
in like a mountain-lake. The island is green with fir-
woods, and though within the Arctic Circle, has little of
the true arctic character.
Its principal or only town, Yadso, is a scattered multi-
tude of houses, between and beyond which extend acres
upon acres of low wooden scaffolding, the object of which
is not very clear to the observer at the first glance. But
examining it more closely, he sees that it consists of a re-
petition of wooden framework, upon which, at a height of
about six feet from the ground, are laid horizontal wooden
bars or poles, and to these wooden bars are suspended
pairs of split cod-fish for the purpose of drying. Their
number is legion, and if he be wise he will make no
attempt to count them. Under and around the frames
(502) 26
400 IN VADSO HARBOUR.
the ground is thickly covered with cods' heads, also dry-
ing. These, when in proper condition, will be ground
into a white meal-like powder, and, under the name of
" fish guano," exported for manure.
Fish guano, cod-liver oil, and dried cod-fish are not,
however, the only commercial resources of Vadso. or we
should not have introduced it in these pages. It has of
late years risen into importance in connection with the
whale-fishery. An enterprising Norwegian, M. Sven
Foyn, has improved on the murderous methods suggested
by Thiercelin and Devisme, and invented some projectiles
of peculiarly deadly power, solely for use against the mon-
ster of the deep. The bow of his vessels is equipped with
small swivel-guns, from which is fired a compound pro-
jectile, consisting of a harpoon with hinged barbs or flukes.
These, while the harpoon is on its deadly course, lie snugly
down by the side of the harpoon shaft ; but when it has
entered the flesh of the whale, and the shaft is drawn
backwards, they open out, piercing the flesh sideways aifd
obliquely, until checked by the stop of the hinge. Thus
they obtain a firm hold, and effectually prevent the with-
drawal of the barb. Nor is this all. The harpoon is also
furnished with explosive shells, so designed as to burst
within the hapless leviathan's " too solid flesh," and de-
stroy him almost instantaneously. A towing cable is
then attached to his ample nose, and his huge slate-coloured
carcass is triumphantly towed into Yadso harbour.
" I have just returned," says a writer in a contemporary
journal, "from a rowing excursion round a dead whale,
which at a distance looks like one of the low rounded
island-rocks that abound in the harbour; and, indeed,
might be mistaken for one, were it not for a curious flat
THE DEAD LEVIATHAN.
401
angular peak that stands above the water a few yards be-
yond. This is one lobe of the dead creature's tail. The
island is his back. His head, with huge open mouth,
which appears large enough to swallow himself, is lying
deep under water. The nose-cable is already attached to
a windlass on shore, fixed at the top of a sloping wooden
GUN-HARPOON.
landing-place or whale-pier. On this huge slab the re-
mains of a whale brought in some time ago are still lying ;
a loathsome mountain of pinkish beefy flesh, into the
midst of which half-a-dozen of hideously blood-stained
men are chopping and hacking with great hatchets and
long-handled, big-bladed weapons, like inverted scythes or
402 "WASTE NOT, WANT NOT."
large bill-hooks. Some are peeling off the blubber that
surrounds the whole carcass, and serves during the life of
the animal to protect its warm blood from the deadly chill-
ing of the arctic water. Others are hacking at the al-
ready peeled portion of the flesh-mountain, and thus de-
taching great slabs that slide down the sloping whale-pier
into the sea, to float and stink until further orders are
received concerning their disposal. In the course of this
carving process, the operator has to bury himself in the
chasm he has cut, in order to complete the separation of
each lump. The condition of the mail after thus diving
and slashing into the midst of this gory filth, may be
better imagined than described ! "
It is to be noted as a characteristic of the Yadso whale-
fishery, that it provides for the careful and profitable
utilization of the whole animal. Now the Greenland
fishers, as we have seen, are guilty of enormous waste ;
they reserve only the blubber and bone, and the fish, en-
trails, and skin fling into the open sea. The Yadsoites,
on the other hand, convert all that cannot be otherwise
employed that is, all that does not furnish oil or whale-
bone into fish guano, which is likely to become popular
with agriculturists as a rich phosphatic manure.
There seems reason to believe that the Norwegian
whale-fishery may extend beyond Yadso, and enter -into
competition with that of Greenland ; always provided the
harpoon-guns, with their formidable projectiles, do not
exterminate the whales. But it is to be hoped that a pre-
scient legislation will enact a " close time " for the ocean-
monsters, and prescribe certain limits to the whalers in
their usual cruises. It would be a serious disaster if this
important fishery were destroyed by an imprudent greed
A TRIP TO SHETLAND. 403
of gain. Not only is it valuable on account of its pro-
ducts, which human ingenuity has utilized for so many
purposes ; hut as the nursery of a race of skilful and
hardy seamen, in whom the old Norse blood, with its love
of adventure, its indefatigable courage, and its unconquer-
able resolve, seems to flow uncorrupted.
Those of our readers who feel an irresistible desire to
take part in a whale-hunt, but are unwilling to voyage so
far as Melville Bay or North Greenland, should make a
trip to Shetland. The "caaing" whale is a frequent
visitor to its rocky coast ; and the spotted whale is not
uncommon. True it is that the great Greenland or
right whale, the Balcena mysticetus, seldom puts in an
appearance ; but very pretty sport, for those adventur-
ously inclined, may be got out of a " caaing " whale.
As soon as a shoal of these " monsters of the deep " is
descried, the news rapidly spreads from one hamlet to
another, and everybody repeats the cry of " Whales !
whales ! whales ! " The farmer abandons his oxen, and
the fisherman throws aside his lines, and the housewife
deserts her knitting, and the children fling away their
playthings, and a general rush to the boats takes place.
All are eager for the fray, and hasten to collect their
weapons kitchen-knives, harpoons, lances, and the like.
The principal personage of the crowd takes the command,
marshals his flotilla into something like order, and leads
the way out to sea.
On approaching the enemy, the boats creep slowly
round them, making every possible effort to interpose
between the whales and the open sea. When successful
in this manoeuvre, they begin to close in upon the pack,
and force it towards some shallow and sandy bay. Dur-
404 KILLING AND FLINCHING.
ing these operations the strictest silence is maintained ;
but if, happily, the whales should enter the chosen inlet,
their pursuers come to close quarters with triumphant
shouts. Then the melee grows fierce. The poor whales,
sensible of the increasing shallowness of the water, turn
round and make for the open sea. Then how the excited
crews scream, and shout, and howl ! And how the no
less excited whales dive and reappear, and rush to and
fro ! Sometimes the pack, headed by their " bull," break
through the cordon of boats, and effect their escape ; but
generally they are driven into the toils by incessant
thrust of harpoon and spear, and rattling volleys of stones.
As soon as the whales are stranded, the men jump from
their boats, and with whatever implement they have at
hand stab them to the heart. The " dying flurry " then
sets in ; and, amid the exultant cries of the victors, the
huge animals struggle terribly, lashing the water furiously
with their tails, spouting up columns of mingled blood
and water, and even uttering dolorous sounds. Mean-
time the " multitudinous sea," becomes " incarnadined "
with blood.
The work of death accomplished, " flinching" is the next
operation, and one in which the Shetlanders display re-
markable dexterity ; but as we have described it in all
its details, it is needless to dwell further upon it. The
dead whales having been flinched and decapitated, their
blubber is next put up to public auction. It generally
realizes from .10 to 15 a ton, and the heads from 8s.
to 12s. each. The "kreng," or flesh, is usually left
on the beach to pollute the atmosphere all around,
until devoured by birds of prey, or washed away by
the sea. Occasionally more economical considerations
AN EXCITING NARRATIVE. 405
prevail, and it is converted into a rich and fertilizing
manure.
Our chapter on the whale will fitly conclude with a few
stories of adventure and peril connected with the fishery.
A writer in the Quarterly Review is responsible for the
facts embodied in the following narrative :
A " school " of young bull- whales making their appear-
ance close to a whaling-ship in the North Pacific, the
captain ordered the mate to lower his boat, while he did
the same with his own, in order to hasten in pursuit of
them. The two boats were quickly in the water ; and
their crews plied the oar with such good will that they
soon drew near- the whales. Unfortunately the latter
took the alarm, and before the harpoon could be delivered
with any chance of success, took to flight in different
directions. One, however, after making several turns,
came right towards the captain's boat, which waited
silently for his approach, without moving an oar ; so that
the young bull passed close beside it, and received the
blow of the harpoon some distance behind his hump.
For a few seconds it appeared terror-stricken ; then
recovering itself suddenly, darted off like the wind, and
spun the boat so quickly round, that when the pressure
came upon the line she was nearly capsized. But away
they flew to windward, at the rate of twelve or fifteen
miles an hour, right against a head sea, which dashed
against and over the bows of the boat with so much
fury that at times she seemed to be cutting a path through
it, with a high bank of foaming surf on either side.
The second mate, observing the course taken by the
whale and boat, contrived to waylay them ; and on their
406 " A MAN OVERBOARD ! "
coming near, flung out a " short warp," which was duly
caught and made fast, so that the two boats were soon
being towed at nearly the same rate as the captain's boat
had been before.
The men on board the whaling-ship, who had been
watching this headlong chase with great anxiety, now saw
the captain dart his lance at the whale as it almost flew
along ; but the blow seemed to have been ineffectual at
least, it did not check the speed of the whale ; and in a
very short time all disappeared together, being at too
great a distance to be visible to the naked eye from the
deck. The officer in charge ran aloft, and with his glass
could just discern three dark specks on the rippled surface
of the ocean. But soon these, too, could no longer be
traced, and he ordered the ship, therefore, to beat up in
the direction which they had apparently taken.
" It was now," says an eye-witness of all that occurred,
" within half an hour of sunset, and there was every ap-
pearance of the coming on. of an ugly night ; indeed, the
wind began to freshen every moment. I remained aloft,"
he continues, " until I saw the sun dip, angry and red,
below the troubled horizon, and was just about to descend,
when I was dreadfully shocked at hearing the loud cry of
* a man overboard ' from all upon deck. I looked astern,
and saw with horror one of our men grappling with the
waves, and calling loudly for help. The ship was soon
brought round, but in doing so she unavoidably passed a
long way from the poor fellow, who still supported him-
self by beating the water with his hands, although he was
quite unacquainted with the art of swimming. Several
oars were thrown overboard the moment after he fell, but
he could not reach them, though they were near him ;
"TOO LATE!" 407
and directly the ship brought up, a Sandwich Islander,
who formed one of the crew, leaped overboard, and swam
toward him, while at the same time the people on deck
were lowering a spare boat, which is always kept for
such emergencies."
The Polynesian struck out bravely at first, but when
he was at some distance from the ship, being unable to
see the man of whom he was in search, he was suddenly
seized with an appalling sense of loneliness, and in his
terror returned to the boat. The men again plied their
oars, and the boat swept with tremendous speed through
the rolling waves ; but, unfortunately, was half a minute
too late to save the unfortunate castaway. To the last he
struggled against his fate ; but the foam of a broken sea
roared over his head, and he disappeared for ever. The
boat was rowed * round and round the fatal spot, in the
hope he might rise again to the surface, but in vain ;
and when night closed over the scene, her sorrowing
crew pulled back sadly and slowly to the ship.
The moment the ill-fated seaman sank, a large bird of
the albatross kind came along on labouring pinions, and
alighted on the water at the very spot where he was List
seen. It was almost as if he had scented a victim from
afar ; however, he w^as too late.
It was quite dark by the time the boat was got on
board, and the wind blew in heavy squalls. A general
feeling of depression spread through the crew, for they
had lost one of their best men. Moreover, the captain,
the second mate, and ten experienced seamen were miss-
ing ; and who could say whether they would ever be seen
again'? The gloomy weather seemed to answer to and
sympathize with the sombre thoughts that overshadowed
408 THE MISSING BOATS.
every mind. However, the ship still made all sail to
windward, under a press of canvas which made every
mast reel and quiver ; and every twenty minutes she was
put about, in order that as wide an extent of ocean might
be surveyed as possible. Lights were burned ; and a
large vessel, flaming with oil and ravelled rope, was
lowered over the stern-rail as a beacon for the missing
boats.
But though every eye was engaged in searching for
them, no vestige could be discovered ; and when half-past
nine o'clock came, all on board gave them up as lost.
Few there were among that anxious crew who did not
think of home that night ; few whose hearts did not turn
towards the bright fireside and genial roof-tree of their
youth, or who would not cheerfully have given up all
they possessed to see them once more. But in the dark-
est hour light often shines forth suddenly on the stricken
human soul. And even so, in the moment of their de-
spair, a man from the mast-head gave the welcome intelli-
gence that he could see a light ahead of the ship. All
eagerly gazed in that direction, and in a few minutes
could perceive it plainly. Before long they were close
up with it, and, to their exceeding joy, found their cap-
tain and all their comrades in the boats, lying to leeward
of the dead whale, whose bulk in some measure sheltered
them from the violence of the sea.
After securing the whale alongside, all came on board,
a,nd were received, it is needless to say, as men who had
been rescued from the grave.
The following narrative is also recorded as authentic;
its pathos cannot fail to move the reader :
IN A DEAD CALM. 409
On an August evening, many years ago, Captain
Warrens, the master of a Greenland whale-ship, found
himself becalmed among an immense number of huge ice-
bergs, in about seventy-seven degrees of north latitude.
On one side, and within a mile of his vessel, these were
of colossal height, and closely wedged together, like an
array of giants ; while behind them appeared an almost
endless succession of snowy peaks, showing that the
ocean in that direction was completely barred against the
adventurous mariner. No wonder, then, that our captain
felt dissatisfied with his situation ; but owing to the dead
calm which prevailed he could not move in one direction
or the other. His vessel lay as motionless as
"A painted ship
Upon a painted ocean ; "
and all he could do was to maintain a strict watch,
knowing that he was safe so long as the bergs continued
in their respective places. About midnight, however, the
wind suddenly rose to a gale, and dense showers of snow
descended, while a succession of thundering, grinding, and
crashing noises showed only too clearly that the ice was
in motion.
The vessel experienced violent shocks every moment,
for the haziness of the atmosphere prevented those on
board from discovering in what direction lay the open
water, or whether there were any at all on either side of
them. The night was spent in tacking as often as any
sign of danger was observed. - In the morning the storm
abated, and Captain Warrens found to his great joy that
his vessel had sustained no serious injury. He remarked
with surprise that the close barrier of icebergs had been
broken up by the fury of the storm, and that in one
410 A MYSTERIOUS VESSEL.
place an open water-way wound its course among them
as far as the eye could discern.
It was two miles beyond the entrance of this canal
that a ship made her appearance about noon, looking, in
the misty distance, very much like a phantom vessel,
and attracting the captain's attention from the strange
manner in which her sails were disposed, and the dis-
mantled aspect of her yards and rigging. She was ob-
served to drift before the wind for a few furlongs, and
then grounding upon a low field of ice, remained immov-
able. Captain Warren's curiosity was strangely excited.
Whence came this mysterious vessel 1 What was her
errand 1 Could she be navigated by human hands ?
The captain leaped into his boat with several seamen,
and hastily rowed towards her.
As he drew near, he noticed that her hull was wave-
worn and weather-beaten ; and that not a soul appeared
on the deck, which was covered with snow to a consider-
able depth. He hailed her repeatedly ; but no reply
was made. Previous to stepping on board, an open port-
hole near the main-chains caught his eye, and, looking,
he could just discern the figure of a man reclining in a
chair, with writing materials on a table before him, but
in the faint glimmering light he could not see very
distinctly. So with some of his men he went upon deck,
and having uncovered the hatchway, which he found
closed, descended into the cabin.
Captain Warrens was a . brave man, and accustomed
to face danger, but he could not contemplate without
emotion the strange spectacle before him. Its inmate
retained his former position, and seemed utterly indifferent
to the presence of strangers. And well he might be ;
THE DEAD CREW. 411
for he was dead ! He had a pen in his rigid hand, and
before him a log-book, in which the last sentence ran as
follows :
" November llth. We have now been enclosed in the
ice seventeen days. The fire went out yesterday, and
our master has been trying ever since to kindle it again,
without success. His wife died this morning. There is
no relief."
Without uttering a word, Captain Warrens and his
seamen hastened from the spot.
Arriving at the principal cabin, their attention was
attracted by the dead body of a female reclining on a
bed, as if enjoying a calm, untroubled sleep. All the
freshness of life still remained on her countenance, and
it was only the contraction of the limbs that showed her
form Was inanimate. Seated on the floor was a man in
the very prime of life, holding a steel in one hand and a
flint in the other, as if in the act of striking fire upon
some tinder which lay beside him. He too was dead.
And the dead bodies of several sailors were found lying
in their respective berths, while that of a boy was crouched
at the bottom of the gangway stairs.
Neither provisions nor fuel could anywhere be dis-
covered ; but Captain Warrens was prevented, by the
superstitious prejudices of his followers, for seamen are
the most superstitious of all human beings, perhaps
because they come so constantly into contact with the
mysterious forces and weird influences of Nature, from
inspecting the vessel as closely as he could have wished.
He contented himself, therefore, with carrying away her
log-book ; and returning to his ship, immediately steered
to the southward, leaving behind him a " romance of the
412 COLLISION WITH A WHALE.
seas," which, for its strange icy horror, could not be sur-
passed by the most inventive imagination. What might
not be made out of it by a poet's pen ! What better
subject could be desired than that lonely ship, .with its
dead crew, moving silently through the icy seas, and
carrying such a burden of unutterable woe !
On returning to England, Captain Warrens made the
necessary inquiries respecting the owner of the vessel
and her destination ; ascertained the names of her crew ;
and discovered that she must have been "frozen in" fully
thirteen years before he had encountered her among the
polar ice.
A remarkable illustration of the immense strength of
the whale was afforded by the fate of the American
whaler Essex, which stands almost alone in the annals of
whaling adventure.
Late in the " fall of the year," when in lat. 40 of the
South Pacific, she fell in with a " school " of sperm
whales, and immediately manned three boats and des-
patched them in pursuit. The mate's boat was struck
by one of the leviathans, so that he was compelled to re-
turn to the ship to repair the damage sustained. While
this was being done, a sperm whale, estimated to measure
fully eighty-five feet, " rose " about twenty yards from
the ship on her weather-bow. He was going at the rate
of about three knots an hour, and the ship at nearly the
same speed, when he struck the bows of the latter just
forward of her chains.
So great was the force of the collision, that the ship
quivered with it like a leaf. The whale dived under her,
just grazing her keel, and then reappeared at about the
ESCAPE OF THE CREW. 413
distance of a ship's length, lashing the sea with his huge
tail in mingled rage and agony. That he had suffered
from the collision was evident ; but in a few minutes he
seemed to recover himself, and started with great swift-
ness directly across the vessel's course to windward.
Meantime, the men on board the Essex discovered, to
their horror, that she was gradually settling down for-
ward, and the pumps were immediately rigged. While
working at them, the cry arose : " Heaven have mercy
on us ! he comes again !"
The whale, when about one hundred yards from the
ship, had suddenly turned, and, as if intent on vengeance,
w r as making for her with double his former speed, his
track being clearly marked by a line of foam. Rushing
head on, he struck her again at the bow, which was driven
in by the tremendous blow. Then the whale again dived
and disappeared ; and the ill-fated vessel foundered in ten
minutes from the first collision.
The crew took to their boats, and after enduring very
severe hardships, reached the low shores of Ducies Island
on the 20th of August. It was a bare and dismal sand-
bank, but contained a spring of fresh water, and was
frequented by numbers of wild-fowl. On this barren
spot three of the men preferred to remain, rather than
once more tempt the cruelty of ocean. The remainder,
in three boats, started, on the 27th of December, foi\the
island of Juan Fernandez, distant two thousand miles.
Of these, the mate's boat, with three survivors, was
picked up by the Indian of London, ninety-three days
from the date of the catastrophe. The captain's boat
fell in with an American merchant vessel on the 23rd of
February, having no more than two men living, and
414 ANOTHER ANECDOTE.
these had saved their lives only by having recourse to
an expedient at which humanity stands aghast. The
third boat was never heard of, nor have any tidings of
the three castaways on Ducies Island reached civilized
We might multiply almost indefinitely these painful
narratives. Nor are they without value ; inasmuch as
they bear a strong though indirect testimony to the courage,
endurance, and seamanship of the adventurous men who,
season after season, prosecute an enterprise beset by so
many forms of peril. It seemed to the old Latin poet that
the hero who first committed himself and his bark to the
mercies of the waves must have been armed in a triple
panoply of resolution ; what would he have said of the
gallant spirits who yearly dare the dangers of the whale-
fishery, and penetrate into the ice-bound straits and in-
lets of the Polar world ?
Our next anecdote is derived from the record of an
American whaler.
Early one morning, while cruising in the North
Pacific, he caught sight of a whale, and immediately
despatched a couple of boats in pursuit. They overtook
the " monster," delivered their harpoons, and having
" made fast," were rapidly towed by their struggling
victim out of sight of the ship. Meantime, another
whale made its appearance within a few yards of the
vessel. The captain had but one boat on board, but he
could not brook the idea of losing a goodly prize. He
ordered it to be lowered and manned, and leaving the
ship in charge of one seaman and two boys, took the
direction of it himself, and started in chase of the whale.
A BOAT CAPSIZED. 415
After a vigorous pull, he came up with it, and the
harpooneer soon got in his fatal weapon. The wounded
animal at first took a headlong course, which carried her
assailants a distance of fifteen miles from their vessel.
Then she dived perpendicularly into the ocean-depths.
Rising after a few minutes, she bore down upon the boat
with open cavernous jaws ; but the captain steering skil-
fully, she missed her aim, and again she dived.
She rose a second time, and repeated her manoeuvre of
attack; but the captain was on his guard, and steered his
boat out of danger. The third time he was less fortunate.
The infuriated whale came up under the boat with tre-
mendous violence, and striking it in the centre of the
keel, hurled it fully fifteen feet into the air ! Fragments
of planks, and oars, and sailing gear were quickly strewn
over the surface of the waters, and among them the
captain and crew struggled bravely for their lives. The
whale had finally disappeared ; and each man clung with
the energy of desperation to the pieces of the shattered
boat. Their situation was most terrible. They were
fifteen miles from the ship, and out of sight to any one
on her deck ; but were it otherwise, the vessel could not
be put about by the few hands so imprudently left 011
board of her. As for the other boats, it was impossible
to say what had become of them. Even to the most
sanguine all hope of safety seemed gone ; and when their
strength gave way, nothing was left for them but a
watery grave.
It was noon. How slowly passed the hours may be
conceived by those who have known the long, lingering
agony of suspense, have watched, perhaps, by the bed-
side of some beloved one, and waited with sickening
(502) 27
416 A FORTUNATE RESCUE.
dread for the issue of the struggle between life and
death ! The shadow of twilight at last began to creep
over the waters, and still the unfortunate mariners, worn,
weary, and almost spent, clung to the spar or plank
which was their only chance of safety. " Oh, how
fervently I prayed," said one of them afterwards, " that
God would interpose to save our lives ! I thought of
my wife, of my children, of my prayerless life, of the
awful account I had to render at the bar of God for
grieving the Spirit, neglecting the Saviour, and absenting
myself from his sacraments. All the horrors of the
dreadful death which threatened me were forgotten in
the thought that I was about to render up an account
before the bar of God for years of ingratitude and dis-
obedience."
Now came still evening on. The last rays of the
sunset had disappeared below the horizon, and the dark-
ness of the coming night was already at hand. Just as
all hope seemed vanishing, they descried in the dim
distance one of the whaling boats returning to the ship.
It was so far off, however, that the chances of attracting
the attention of her crew were very meagre. In their
despair they raised a loud simultaneous shoufcj but it was
drowned by the many voices of the winds and waves.
The boat continued on her path. A second shout ; but
this too proved ineffectual. What could be done ? The
darkness was growing deeper ; the boat was rapidly pass-
ing into the gloom. They raised yet another shout or
rather shriek a cry of desperation and suffering, which
rose above the swell of the billows, and was borne to
the ears of their comrades ! They rested on their oars.
Another shout ! The boat turned towards them ; oars
A SCHOOL OF WHALES. 417
were strenuously plied ; it drew nearer and nearer ; and
they were saved !
Dr. Scoresby relates a melancholy incident which hap-
pened to one of his crew while he was in command of the
whaling-ship Baffin. He had sighted a whale, and des-
patched his boats in pursuit. After an absence of some
hours, which had greatly alarmed him, he saw them re-
turning y and on their coming within hail, his anxiety in-
duced him to inquire if anything had happened. " A bad
misfortune has befallen us," replied the officer in charge
of the first boat ; " we have lost Carr ! " Scoresby was
exceedingly shocked by intelligence for which he was
wholly unprepared ; and some time elapsed before he felt
able to listen to the details of the accident which had
deprived him of a good seaman.
As far as could be ascertained from the confused ac-
counts of the crew of Carr's boat, the circumstances were
as follow :
The two boats that had been so long absent had, at the
outset, separated from their companions, and, allured by
the chase of a whale and the fineness of the weather, had
proceeded until they were far out of sight of the ship.
Their hot pursuit led them into the midst of a vast
" school." So numerous, indeed, was the assemblage that
the " blowing " was incessant j and the men believed that
fully a hundred " monsters " were gathered there together.
The whalers were puzzled by the embarras de rich esses
before them ! They feared lest they should alarm them
without striking any, and for awhile rested on their oars,
waiting for a favourable opportunity to deliver the attack.
At length a w r lmle rose so near the boat of which
418 A TERRIBLE DEATH.
William Carr was harpooneer that he ventured to pull
towards it, though it is never a good or prudent plan to
meet a whale, and generally proves unsuccessful. How-
ever, they encountered the huge creature, and Carr con-
trived to harpoon it. The boat and the whale sweeping
past each other with great rapidity after the stroke, the
line was jerked out of its place, and, instead of running
out at the stern, was thrown over the gunwale, where its
pressure so overweighted the boat that the side sank be-
low the water, and she began to fill. In this emergency
the harpooneer, a man of great strength and activity,
seized the bight of the line, and, in order to relieve the
boat, made an effort to restore it to its place ; but,
through some strange and unaccountable mishap, a turn
of the line flew over his arm, dragged him overboard in-
stantly, and he sank to rise no more !
The accident was so terribly sudden that only one man,
who was watching the harpooneer's movements at the
time, was aware of what had happened ; so that when
the boat righted, which, though full of water, it did im-^
mediately, all the crew, alarmed by an exclamation of the
man who had seen him launched overboard, simultaneously
inquired, Where was Carr? It is surely impossible to
conceive of a death more awfully sudden and unexpected !
" The murderous bullet," says Scoresby, " when it makes
its way through the air with a velocity that renders it in-
visible, and seems not to require a moment for its flight,
rarely produces so instantaneous destruction. The velo-
city of the whale on its first descent is usually (as I have
proved by experiment) about eight or nine miles per
hour, or thirteen to fifteen feet per second. Now, as this
unfortunate man was occupied in adjusting the line at the
THE ROMANCE OF THE NORTH, 419
very water's edge, when it must have been perfectly tight,
in consequence of the obstruction to its running out of the
boat, the interval between the fastening of the line about
him and his disappearance could not have exceeded the
third part of a second of time ; for in one second only he
must have been dragged to the depth of ten or twelve
feet ! The accident was, indeed, so instantaneous that he
had not time for the least exclamation ; and the person
who witnessed his extraordinary removal observed, that
it was so exceedingly quick, that although his eye was
upon him at the instant, he could scarcely distinguish the
object as it disappeared."
To Dr. Scoresby we are indebted also for our final illus-
tration of the dangers to which the whaler is constantly
exposed. Yet there is such a fascinalion in the life, that
a supply of good and steady seamen is never wanting.
Whether at Hull or Dundee, at Peterhead or Lerwick,
the whaling -ship finds no difficulty in making up her com-
plement. It cannot be the attraction of gain, for the pay-
ment, though liberal, is not excessive, and assuredly can-
not be set in the opposite scale against the hardships and
dangers to which the Arctic navigator is compelled to
accustom himself. We are inclined to believe that the
glittering field of ice, the snow-burdened shore, the drift-
ing berg, and the lonely creeks and inlets of the Polar
Ocean, exercise a wonderful influence upon the adven-
turous spirit. Whoever has once entered within the
charmed circle of the Arctic regions seems never at rest
until he can return thither. Their strange and marvellous
scenes haunt him apparently by day and night, and his
thoughts turn as steadfastly towards the North as the
soul of a devout Moslem towards Mecca ! And it is a
420 AN UNEXPECTED CATASTROPHE.
fancy of ours, judging from personal observation, that the
whaler is always graver, more reserved, and less excitable
than other " sons of the sea ; " and such may well be the
case in men who spend so much of their lives in Arctic
solitudes, and are so constantly brought face to face with
death. To none can the simple but earnest words of
Scoresby's prayer, written specially for the use of the
crew of a whaling-ship, come with greater force : "Grant
us, we beseech thee, O God, a continuance of thy favour ;
preserve us, while we trace the treacherous deep, from
every evil from rocks and shoals ; from fire and tempest ;
from sea and ice ; from distress and accident ; and from
every danger, seen and unseen, known and unknown."
The catastrophe we are about to relate occurred on the
homeward voyage of* the Baffin.
She had been overtaken by a violent storm, but no
water had yet been shipped, though the tremendous sea
that was running beat with all its fury on the vessel's
quarter or beam, being in a direction of all others the
most dangerous. A fatal wave, however, at length
struck the quarter with tremendous violence, and throw-
ing up a vast weight of water, carried along with it, in
its passage across the deck, one of the harpooneers, or
principal officers, who, in concert with several others, was
employed on the weather-rail, endeavouring to secure one
of the boats hanging over the side, carried him quite
over the heads of his companions, and swept him into the
sea ! Most of the crew being under water at the same
time, his loss was not known until he was discovered
just passing under the vessel's stern, but out of reach, and
lying apparently insensible upon the waves. He was
seen only for a few seconds, and then disappeared for ever !
WHO CAN IT BE? 421
Some minutes elapsed before the identity of the missing
individual could be ascertained. Every one was greatly
distressed, and each, in his anxious exclamation, revealed
his anxiety for his friend. " It is Shields Jack," one ex-
claimed. " No," replied a voice of pathetic self-congratu-
lation ; "I am here." "It is Jack O'Neill," exclaimed
another ; "ay, poor fellow, it must be Jack O'Neill ! "
But a dripping, stupor-stricken sailor, clinging by the
weather-rail, stepped forward suddenly, and answered,
" No ; I am here." After a pause of suspense, a voice
added, " It is Chambers." " Oh, it must be Sam Cham-
bers," cried another ; and none contradicted the assertion,
for, in truth, it was the unfortunate seaman so named
who had thus suddenly and awfully perished.
But here we must stop, not, indeed, from want of
material, for the annals of the whale-fishery are full of
these distressing incidents, but from want of space.
Moreover, the reader may be disposed to think that of
such sombre narratives he has already had enough.
V. THE HERBIVOROUS CETACEA.
From these monstrous Cetacea we turn to a group pre-
senting a certain likeness to them in form and organiza-
tion, but differing in their habits, and distinguished by
the absence of spiracles, or blow-holes, and by the position
of the nostrils, not on the upper part of the head, but at
the extremity of the proboscis. These are the Herbivorous
Cetacea of our naturalists ; the " tritons " and " sirens,"
it is said, of ancient mythologists ; and the " mermen "
and " mermaidens " of modern fable-makers.
The reader is probably familiar with the legends that
in course of ages have clustered round the sirens and
422 MERMEN AND MERMAIDENS.
the mermaids ; legends descriptive of their wonderful
beauty, on which it was ruin for man to look, and of their
exquisite singing, to which it was death for man to
listen. The sirens, it was said, lingered among the rocks
and caves of the wild sea-shore, and on the approach of
a vessel, raised immediately their choral song, which had
such a power in its melody, that the mariner, in spite of
himself, was drawn towards the singers, and thus know-
ingly steered his vessel into the jaws of destruction.
Homer tells us that Odysseus saved his own life and the
lives of his crew only by an ingenious stratagem. He
caused his men to stop their ears with wax, and then
directed them to bind him firmly to the ship's mast ; so
that though he heard the wild and wailing music, which
they could not hear, he was unable to yield to its tempta-
tion. The classic myth descended to the medieval poets,
and, combined with some rude fancies of the Norse, de-
veloped into the well-known story of the Men and Maidens
of the Sea, the mermaids and mermen, who occupy so
large a space in our modern poetry. Of these it was said
that they lived a charmed life in the restless waters ; and
the beautiful mermaids were described as sleeking their
long golden tresses in the ocean brine, or sporting grace-
fully on the sunlit waves. Tennyson has embodied the
popular conception in one of his most graceful lyrics :
" T would be a mermaid fair ;
I would sing to myself the whole of the day ;
With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair,
And still as I combed I would sing and say,
' Who is it loves me ? Who loves not me ? '
I would comb my hair till my ringlets would fall
Low adown, low adown,
From under my starry sea-bud crown,
Low adown and around,
And I should look like a fountain of gold
ABOUT THE MANATEE. 423
Springing alone,
With a shrill inner sound,
Over the throne
In the midst of the hall ;
Till that great sea-snake under the sea
From his coiled sleeps in the central deeps
Would slowly trail himself sevenfold
Round the hall where I sate, and look in at the gate
With his large calm eyes for the love of me.
And all the mermen under the sea
Would feel their immortality
Die in their hearts for the love of me."
It is difficult to believe, though such is asserted to be
the case, that poetical figures like these could have been
suggested by the somewhat ungraceful outline and inex-
pressive countenance of the Herbivorous Cetacea. To the
ordinary observer, at all events, the resemblance is not
apparent. And considering the fact that the Herbivorous
Cetacea frequent the mouths of the tropical rivers, while
the ancient navigators knew but little of the western and
southern waters, we may reasonably doubt whether they
had anything to do with the ancient fable of the sirens.
We do not see why the plastic and prolific imagination
which peopled the fountains with Naiads and the groves
with Oreads, should not, unassisted, have created the
singing-nymphs of ocean, whose music mingled artfully
with the murmur of the whispering waves.
The Herbivorous Cetacea (order Sirenia) include the
Manatee, so named on account of the resemblance of its
fin to the human hand, and the Dugong ; often spoken
of collectively as " sea-cows," and forming the zoological
family of the Manatidce. Like the whales, they possess
a powerful caudal fin, which is placed horizontally. The
anterior limbs are modified into flippers or swimming-
paddles, and the posterior are wholly wanting. The snout
is fleshy and well developed ; the thick upper lip usually
424
ABOUT THE MANATEE.
THE MANATEE.
carries a moustache. The skin is covered with fleshy
bristles. The head is not so huge or disproportioned as
in the true whales, and is much more distinctly defined.
THE DUGONG.
The anterior limbs of the manatee, which is found in
the Gulf of Mexico, and on the east coast of Africa, are
furnished with nails to the four outer digits.
ABOUT THE DUGONG. 425
The anterior limbs of the dugong, which frequents the
shores of the Indian Ocean, are nail-less.
The manatee sometimes attains the length of twenty
feet ; but neither the manatee nor the dugong often ex-
ceeds ten to twelve feet. They agree exactly in their
habits, living upon aquatic plants, sea- weed, and the usual
littoral vegetation. Their flesh is edible.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE SEAL : AND THE SEAL-FISHERY.
|| HE seals and walruses are now included among
the Carnivora, and form a section which
zoologists call Pinnigrada or Pinnipedia.
This section is subdivided into the two well-
known families of the Seals (Phocidce) and Walruses
(Trichecidce).
Almost everybody, we imagine, is familiar with the
SEAL, and can call up to "the mind's eye" a distinct picture
of its semi-quadrupedal, semi-piscine body. Horace, in
an often-quoted passage, imputes it as a fault to the painter
if he should delineate the figure of a beautiful woman as
terminating in a fish's tail,
" Ut turpiter atrum
Desinat in piscera mulier formosa superne."
But Nature, in creating the seal, has come very near to
incurring the poet's censure. The fore part of its body is
that of a mammal, the hind part that of a fish, except
that it resembles the quadrupeds in the possession of two
posterior limbs. These, however, are placed far back,
their axis being nearly coincident with that of the body.
As they are partly included in the general integument,
their position renders them efficacious in facilitating the
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SEAL. 427
animal's motions in the water. The tips of the toes are
equipped with strong claws, and the toes are united
together by a membrane, so that the feet form powerful
swimming-paddles.
It must be owned that the physiognomy of the seal is
peculiar ; the peculiarity being due to the short snout,
the orbits without eyebrows, and the rounded conforma-
tion of the large skull. The general expression, however,
is characterized by mildness and intelligence. The ears
are small, and mostly indicated only by small apertures,
which the animal has the power of closing when beneath
the surface. The large eyes are on a level with the head ;
their pupil resembles that of the domestic cat, which con-
tracts in a full light, but dilates and grows circular in
the darkness. The dental system varies, but there are
always present three kinds of teeth, and the canines are
long and pointed. The tip of the large fleshy tongue is
slightly indented. On either side of the mouth project
long bristling hairs, like moustaches, which communicate
with nerves of considerable magnitude. The nostrils are
placed near the extremity of the snout, each presenting
two longitudinal apertures which form almost a right
angle. Usually they are closed, and it would appear
that the animal opens them only when it needs to exhale
the air from the lungs, and to inhale fresh atmospheric
air. The usefulness of this contrivance to an animal re-
maining long under water is very evident. Moreover, it
enjoys an extraordinary faculty of suspending the respira-
tory function for intervals of half a minute or more,
while at each inhalation it takes into its lungs a very
considerable quantity of air.
With regard to the " senses " of the seal, it may be
428 A LARGE-BRAINED ANIMAL.
said that its power of vision is superior to that of the
whale, and it is able to distinguish objects at some dis-
tance.
Its hearing must necessarily be imperfect, because it
possesses no external organ to collect and transmit sounds.
It is probably deficient in sense of smell ; and as for taste,
there is so little variety in its food, for it lives chiefly
upon fish, that it can but seldom, and only to a slight
extent, be called into requisition. It is instinct, we sus-
pect, rather than taste, which confines the animal almost
exclusively to one kind of fish. At least, in captivity, it
will refuse all fish to which it has not been accustomed.
We may admit, however, that this apparent fastidiousness
may be the result of habit.
It will be seen, then, that, from our human point of
view, the organization of the seal is defective, and that
the senses are but partly developed. Yet, as a writer re-
marks, it is able to derive from its limited sensations a
result much superior to that obtained by many animals
of an apparently more favourable organization. For it is
endowed with a large and vigorous brain ; a brain rich in
circumvolutions ; a brain which, in not a few individuals,
is even proportionately more voluminous than it is in
man. Hence, it has been found possible to tame the seal ;
to accustom it to the sound of the human voice ; and
to teach it the performance of various devices. A " per-
forming seal " is by no means an infrequent exhibition
in our great cities. Numerous experiments have shown
that the animal is capable of the emotions of gratitude
and attachment ; and when captured young, and humanely
treated, it will exhibit a dog-like affection for its owner.
THE LAND OF WINTER. 429
The seals compose a very numerous family, and species
are found in almost every sea beyond the limits of the
Tropics. It is in the waters of the Arctic and Antarctic
regions, however, that they specially abound. On the
shores and ice-fields of the north they may still be en-
countered in large herds. For two-thirds of the year the
locality they inhabit is shrouded in gloom, in the gloom
of mist and fog, of rain and hail, illuminated only by
the occasional splendours of the aurora, or the mysterious
lustre of the midnight sun. No flower-enamelled leas,
no blossomy gardens, no leafy groves relieve the painful
monotony of the whitely-gleaming landscape ; and the
silence is seldom broken, except by the sound of winds
and waves, or the shrill clang of the ocean-birds. The
land of the seal is also the land of Winter. There it reigns
in all the awfulness of its terrible power; spreading a
shroud of ice and snow around ; withering every form of
vegetable life ; freezing the human breath as it passes into
the air ; and killing in fatal slumber the unprotected man
who may lie exposed to its fatal influence. Wherever
you gaze, the sea is^covered with a rough stratum of ice,
intersected by channels of water, and rising here and there
in irregular hummocks ; while the bleak shores are bur-
dened with snow-drifts, which the wind sometimes sweeps
away in blinding showers, and sometimes accumulates in
lofty masses. The cliffs are encumbered with colossal
glaciers, descending like huge torrents of ice from the
inland mountains, to break up, when the tardy summer
comes, into towering icebergs, floating mountains or ice-
islets of every size and shape, which the currents bear far
away to dissolve in warm Atlantic waters or run aground
on lonely barren shores. This is the land of the seal.
430 THE REGION OF THE UNKNOWN.
Here, with the narwhal and the polar bear, the arctic fox
and legions of ocean-birds, it breeds its young, and fulfils
its part in the great economy of creation. Civilized man
is yearly tempted to cross the inhospitable borders of this
sombre region by greed of gain, or desire of knowledge, or
love of adventure ; yet, however well he may be assisted
by the discoveries of science, he is forced to confess him-
self an intruder. He has done much, but much remains
to be done. Leagues of sea remain unploughed by ad-
venturous keel ; leagues of frozen land have never been
trodden by human foot. Thinking of those remote Polar
solitudes, we are tempted to believe that Nature has there
established her laboratory, and that to guard its secrets
from the insatiable curiosity of science, she has thrown
up around it an impenetrable barrier, made terrible by
the hoarse roar of winds and waters, by the lurid glow of
magnetic splendours, and the sound
" Of thunder heard remote ! "
The seal, as we have said, lives chiefly on fish, but does
not disdain crustaceans and molluscs. It is exceedingly
fond of basking in the sun on the summit of weedy rocks
or the surface of the icy plains, though it experiences
some difficulty in climbing the slippery slopes. When
thus enjoying its ease, the inexperienced voyager might
suppose that it would fall an easy prey ; but it is always
on the alert, and at the slightest sign of danger throws
itself into the sea, or glides through the hole which it has
taken care to excavate in the ice. The Eskimos, in hunt-
ing them, use a canvas frame or screen, which they
cautiously propel in advance of their persons, arid, by a
patient process of stalking, contrive to approach within
SEALS " AT HOME."
431
rifle-shot. With a good glass, says Dr. Kane, you may
study these animals in their natural habitudes without
STALKING SEALS.
exciting their suspicion. As thus seen, in the centre of
a large floe, and within retreating distance of his hole,
the seal is " a perfect picture of solitary enjoyment roll-
(602) 28
432 TEACHING " THE YOUNG IDEA."
ing not unlike a horse stretching his hide, awkwardly
spreading out his flippers, and twisting his tail toward
his head. Again he will wriggle about in the most
grotesque manner the sailors call it ' squirming ' every
now and then rubbing his head against the snow. The
shapes of a seal, or rather his aspects, are full of strange
variety. At a side view, with his caudal end slued round
to the side from you, and his head lifted suspiciously in
the air, he is the exact image of a dog chien de mer.
During his wriggles, he resembles a great snail : a little
while after, he turns his back to you, and rises up on his
side flippers like a couching hunter preparing for a shot,
the very image of an Eskimo."
The seal is polygamous, and invariably defends his
spouses with a truly chivalrous courage, while, during
the breeding season, he watches over them in the most
affectionate and attentive manner. The female gives
birth to one or two cubs at a time ; always selecting for
her retreat a litter of sea- weed or aquatic plants at some
distance from the shore. She does not return to the
water until her young are strong enough to accompany
her, or in about a fortnight after birth. How she sup-
ports herself during the interval is not positively known,
but it is most probable that the male carries to her a
supply of food. When the young seal reaches the water's
edge, its mother teaches it to swim, and keeps a vigilant
eye over it while it gambols with others of its own kind.
Should signs of danger appear, she takes it upon her
back, and hastens to convey it to a place of safety. The
suckling-season lasts for four or five months ; at the
end of which, when the youngster can attend to its
own wants, the old male drives it to a distance, and
THE ALEUTIAN SEALS. 433
teaches it in the most practical manner the value of
independence.
An interesting account of the habits of the fur seals,
which migrate every spring to the Aleutian Islands, has
been given by Sir George Simpson.
Each old male, he says, brings to this summer-station a
herd of females under his protection, the herd varying in
number according to his size and strength j the " weaker
brethren " being obliged to content themselves with
half-a-dozen wives, while some of the sturdier and
fiercer fellows preside over harems that are two hun-
dred strong.
From the time when they arrive in May to that of
their departure in October, the whole of them are princi-
pally to be found on the beach. The females go down to
the sea once or twice a day ; while the male, morning,
noon, and night, guards his charge with the most jealous
vigilance, postponing even the pleasures of eating, drink-
ing, and sleeping to the duty of keeping together his
numerous favourites. And should any impertinent young
seal venture by stealtji to approach a senior chiefs "bevy
of beauty," he is generally torn in pieces by the jealous
sultan, and atones for his imprudence with his life ; while
should any of the " fair ones" have given the rash intruder
encouragement, they are not suffered to escape without
appropriate punishment.
The Common or Vituline Seal (Phoca vitulina) is the
species generally pursued by the hunters in the Arctic
regions. It measures from four to five feet in length,
and is of a yellowish-gray colour, covered with irregular
spots of black or blackish brown. Its form is cylindri-
434
THE COMMON SEAL.
cal, or, more correctly speaking, conical, for it diminishes
in bulk from the region of the chest towards the short
broad muzzle in front and the rudimentary tail behind.
Its large black shining eyes are protected by eyebrows,
formed of a few stiff hairs ; the ears, though scarcely
visible, are fully developed. The principal characteristic
of the species seems to be the oblique disposition of the
molar teeth, which cause them to overlap slightly at the
extremities.
The common seal is found in all the northern waters
of Europe, and at one time was a frequent visitor to the
western coast of the British Islands and the shores of
HECTOR AND THE PHOCA. 435
France. It is still not uncommon on the Scottish coast
and among the Northern and Western Isles. Readers
of Sir Walter Scott's " Antiquary " will remember the
appearance of an individual of the species we are de-
scribing in the neighbourhood of Fairport (that is, Ar-
broath), to the signal discomfiture of Hector M'Intyre,
the hero of the story, and the infinite amusement of the
erudite Oldbuck.
" What is that yonder?" exclaimed Hector.
" One of the herd of Proteus," said the Antiquary ; " a
phoca, or seal, lying asleep on" the beach."
Whereupon, we are told, M'.Intyre snatched the walk-
ing-stick out of the hand of the astonished Antiquary,
at some risk of throwing him down, and set off at full
speed to get between the animal and the sea, to which
element, having caught the alarm, she was rapidly re-
treating.
Not Sancho, when his master, Don Quixote, inter-
rupted his account of the combatants of Pentapolin with
the naked arm, to advance in person to the charge of the
flock of sheep, stood more confounded than Oldbuck at
this sudden escapade of his nephew.
" Hector nephew fool let alone the pkoca, let alone
the phoca ! They bite, I tell you, like furies. He minds
me no more than a post. There there they are at it ;
and, look, the pliocob has the best of it ! I am glad to
see it," said he, in the bitterness of his heart, though
really alarmed for his nephew's safety ; "I am glad to
see it, with all my heart and spirit."
In truth, the seal, finding her retreat intercepted by
the light-footed soldier, confronted him manfully, and
having sustained a heavy blow without injury, she
436 THE HARP SEAL.
knitted her brows, as is the fashion of the animal when
incensed, and making use at once of her fore paws and
her unwieldy strength, wrenched the weapon out of her
assailant's hand, overturned him on the sands, and
scuttled away into the sea without doing him any further
injury. Captain M'Intyre, a good deal out of countenance
at the issue of his exploit, just got to his feet in time to
receive his uncle's ironical congratulations on his safety,
and on a single combat worthy to be commemorated by
Ossian himself, " since," said the Antiquary, " your
magnanimous opponent hath fled, though not upon
eagle's wings, from the foe that was low. She walloped
away," he added, " with all the grace of triumph, and
has carried my stick off also, by way of spolia opima"
The moral of which story is, that if the reader in
his sea-side wanderings should ever fall in with a plioca,
either asleep or awake, he will do well not to attack it,
unless armed with some better weapon than a walking-
stick.
On the dreary shores of Greenland and Iceland, and
along the coast of the Arctic Ocean generally, from New-
foundland to the Sea of Kamtschatka, ranges the Harp
or Greenland Saddleback Seal (Phoca Groenlandica). It
is also found on the western shores of our own islands,
being occasionally conveyed thither by the western cur-
rents. Its fur is of a grayish-white colour. The back
is marked with a blackish horseshoe-shaped band, which
curves backwards from the shoulder to a point within a
few inches of the root of the diminutive tail. This band
is of irregular outline, and broadens laterally. The same
brownish-black shade colours the anterior part of the
THE BEARDED SEAL.
animal's head, imparting to its physiognomy a singularly
characteristic look.
This species leaves the Greenland coast twice every
year, namely, in March and July, returning to its
THE HARP SEAL.
haunt in May and September. Like all the Phocidse, it
feeds upon fish and molluscs, but is described as specially
partial to salmon. Less intelligent than the vituline
seal, it is more easily captured ; and the seal-hunters
value it highly on account of the excellent quality of its
fur. In its habits it does not greatly differ from its
congeners.
The Bearded or Great Seal (Phoca barbata) is con-
sidered by naturalists a distinct species j but the Danes
look upon it as differing only in age from the Greenland
saddleback. Adults frequently measure twelve and four-
teen feet in length ; and some overgrown, obese monsters
weigh upwards of forty-five stone. The fur is very dark
in colour, and somewhat coarse in texture.
438
THE MARBLED SEAL.
The bearded seals are found in all parts of the Arctic
Ocean, resorting to the land in the spring months for
breeding purposes. They are held in high esteem by the
Greenlanders for their flesh, which is savoury ; their fat,
which is abundant ; their intestines, which make a so-
called dainty dish ; and their skin, which can be utilized
as a covering for tents, as harness for the dog-team, and
as clothing for men, women, and children.
THE MARBLED SEAL.
The Marbled Seal (Phoca annulata) derives its name
from the peculiar colouring of its fur. It frequents the
French coast. Another species, the Gray Seal (Ilali-
chcerus gryphus), or Utscher of the Icelanders, not un-
common on our own shores, much more nearly resembles
THE HOOD-CAP SEAL.
439
the walrus than the seal, though its canine teeth are not
prolonged into tusks. A very remarkable species is the
Crested or Hood-cap Seal (Otaria Falklandica), distin-
guished by the possession of a characteristic organ, a
muscular and membranous pouch, not unlike a monk's
hood, but divided internally into two compartments by
THE CRESTED OR HOODED SEAL.
the prolongation of the cartilaginous " septum " of the
nose. By closing its nostrils the animal can inflate this
pouch, like a bladder, so that it is distended over the
skull, and swollen to a height of six or seven inches.
The hooded seal chiefly inhabits the vast ice-fields
440
SOUTHERN SEALS.
which lie off the coasts of Labrador and Greenland,
and seldom visits the land, except in the months of
April, May, and June. It measures seven or eight feet
in length, and is considered a good capture by the seal-
hunters.
THE OTARY.
Hitherto we have confined ourselves to the
which belong exclusively to the northern regions. But
south of the Equator are found two or three genera,
which must be described in this connection, though the
southern seals differ greatly from the northern. To the
THE FUR SEAL.
441
Fur Seal we have already alluded. It is one of the
Otaries, which are distinguished from the rest of the
Phocidse by their projecting auricle, or " external ear,"
and by a peculiarity in their dentition namely, a double
cutting edge in the four middle incisor teeth of the upper
jaw. The fore ]egs, moreover, are placed further back in
the body than in the true seals ; and the hind legs more
closely resemble the fore legs than in the latter. This
species is found on the Falkland Islands, South Shetland,
THE SEA-LION.
and in other parts of the Southern Ocean ; and its soft
brownish fur is much valued for ladies' mantles.
The Sea-Lions (Otaria jubata) of the South Pacific
figure largely in a popular romance by the American
novelist Cooper. They too are included among the
442 ABOUT THE SEA-LION.
Otaries ; and their range includes the Falkland Archi-
pelago, the coasts of Tierra del Fuego, and the neigh-
bouring islands. Their average length is fifteen feet.
They derive their picturesque popular designation from
the shaggy yellowish -brown mane which clothes their
neck, and gives them an imposing appearance ; and it is
fully justified by their fierce predatory habits.
Here we should state that a genus of sea-lions is found
in the North Pacific, among the Kurile Islands, and on
the coast of Kamtschatka. It has a thick, heavy mane,
and is much addicted to roaring ; the said roaring often
proving useful to the mariner, by indicating his approach
towards some unsuspected rock or ice-floe. At one time
the sea-lions of the north were supposed to be identical
with those of the south ; but modern naturalists regard
them as constituting a distinct genus.
To the southern hemisphere belongs the Sea-Elephant
(Morunga proboscidea), which haunts the great conti-
nental estuaries and the fresh- water lakes and swamps
of desert islands ; living in herds of a hundred and fifty
to two hundred individuals, migrating in the summer to
the southern regions of the Antarctic world, and return-
ing in the winter to warmer latitudes. For the first four
months of the year it does not quit the sea, growing fat
upon a daily banquet of fish, Crustacea, and molluscs ; the
rest of the year it spends upon land. As it yields a large
quantity of oil, it is much prized by the American sealers;
and though a powerful animal, it does not often prove a
dangerous opponent.
The average length of the sea-elephant is twenty-four
feet. Its generic distinction is the proboscis-like muzzle
ABOUT THE SEA-ELEPHANT.
443
or trunk of the male, to which its popular name alludes.
Its skin is rough ; of a bluish-gray, or, sometimes, a
THE SEA-ELEPHANT.
blackish-brown colour. It has very large prominent
eyes. The hairs in its moustache are rough, and of a
spiral shape ; its canine teeth are large, curved, and
sharp-pointed. It has a short but fully developed tail.
Having said so much about the seals, it is time we
turned our attention, and the reader's, to the sealers ;
that is, to the extensive commerce of which the unfortun-
ate phocsG are the staple. The sealers pursue their ad-
venturous calling in every part of the arctic waters, and
belong to the chief maritime nations England, France,
Holland, Denmark, and the United States. One of the
444 DEPARTURE OF THE SEALERS.
great centres from which they depart on their expeditions,
and to which they bring back their spoil, is Newfound-
land ; and the seal-fishery is, in fact, an important ele-
ment in the prosperity of that fog-bound island-colony.
It is carried on both by sailing-vessels and screw-
steamers ; the former varying from 50 to 200 tons, and
the latter from 350 to 700 tons gross measurement.
The former muster crews of from 20 to 80 or 90 men,
and the latter of from 120 to 250. The former begin
their lucrative toil not earlier than the 5th, and the
latter not earlier than the 10th of March; a restriction
enforced by the Colonial Legislature with the view of
checking the indiscriminate slaughter of the young seals.
A graphic writer* tells us that for some days before
the departure of the sealers, the principal sea-ports where
their ships are fitting out present a very lively and re-
markable aspect. The shops and stores of the purveyors
are thronged with noisy mariners, laying in their
necessary outfit of clothes, boots, tobacco, and a private
stock of tea, coffee, and sugar. About and on board
the vessels the uninitiated eye sees nothing but " chaos
come again ; " a chaos of provisions, coals, punts, spare
rudders, oars, gaffs, and sailing gear of all kinds and of
unintelligible names. The yards are crowded with men,
who are busily engaged in bending sails and overhauling
rigging. And so the work goes on until the lawful sail-
ing-day arrives ; and ,then all hands are summoned on
board anchors are weighed canvas is spread, or steam
got up and away speeds the adventurous flotilla, manned
by gallant hearts accustomed to the perils of the arctic
seas. Their course lies to the north or north-east until
* In the Scotsman of August 25, 1874.
AMONG THE ICE. 445
they approach the vast ice-field which, every spring, the
southerly current brings down from the coast of Labra-
dor. This ice-field swarms with the seal-hunter s victims ;
but he does not capture them without difficulty. It is
no child's play in which he is engaged. Frequently the
ice is hard and compact, and presents a barrier which
the inexperienced voyager would pronounce insuperable.
Then the ice-saws are got out, and a canal wide enough
to admit the labouring ship is cut through the field, and
she forces a passage under press of canvas, or with her
engines working at their highest power, grinding the ice
beneath her stem into so much diamond-dust, or heaved
on her side by the pressure of the floating masses ; and
all this amidst a driving storm of sleet and snow that
blinds and bewilders the toiling sealers, and cruelly nips
any exposed part of their bodies. Occasionally the wind
blows so heavily that they are glad to bring their vessel
up under an iceberg; careful, however, to moor her
" stern on," that, in case of any mishap, she may be able
to sail off without a moment's delay. For an iceberg,
though apparently a friend in need, may prove an enemy
in disguise.
Only four kinds of seals visit the Newfoundland waters ;
the harp, the hood, the " square fipper " (a rare visitant),
and the dotard or ranger (a summer tourist). The harp
seal whelps about the first week in March, and the hood
seal about the second. Each gives birth to a single
" calf," and breeds but once in a year. The seal-hunter
greatly prizes the young harp or " whitecoat," its oil
being the finest. It grows, as do all young seals, with
astonishing rapidity ; so that in a fortnight it attains its
448 SEALS IN NEWFOUNDLAND.
prime, and its skin and fat will weigh from forty to fifty-
six pounds.
The seals are sometimes encountered in small companies,
which have apparently separated from the main body ;
at other times, they form a dense population, to be
numbered by hundreds of thousands. In their early
days, and when the ice is close and compact, so as to
afford an easy access, they fall before the hunter like
grain before the sickle. A blow from his club, or a
kick, is sufficient and in a few seconds the skin and fat
are stripped off, and slung over the hunter's shoulder.
As soon as he has collected "a turn" that is, four or five
he returns to the vessel with his booty, deposits it on
board, and sallies forth intent iipon another massacre.
The work of destruction ends only at nightfall. But
when the ice opens up beneath the influence of a genial
breeze, and the young seal has grown strong and active,
and takes to the water, prizes are not so easily obtained.
Then the boats are launched, and pull up the various
creeks and inlets in the ice, endeavouring to discover
some floating isle on which a goodly number of the young
phocse have assembled, and then to surround it with an
impassable cordon, and at " one fell swoop " capture the
whole herd.
The young hood is caught in the same manner, but it
is fiercer than the young harp, as well as rarer. More-
over, it comes into the world later, and after the ice is
open, so that its chances of escape are more numerous.
The old dog hood displays a remarkable amount of
courage, and does not hesitate to turn upon and give
battle to his pursuers. He is tenacious of life, and Ins
hood, which in his anger he inflates and erects on the
ENORMOUS CARGOES. 449
top of his head, being shot-proof, affords him great protec
tion. But the victory, in a combat between man and the
inferior animals, is always with the strong ; and however
gallant his resistance, he succumbs eventually to shots
and blows, unless he can make his escape through some
friendly hole in the ice.
The female hood is less courageous than her companion ;
and as for the harp seals, both male and female are ab-
solutely harmless.
When seals are plentiful, a vessel will soon complete
its cargo, as many as one hundred seals having been put
on board by a single man in one day. Such good fortune,
however, is exceptional. The mode of loading has under-
gone a change since steamers were introduced. Formerly,
it was usual to carry the seals on board as soon as killed ;
now the crew are divided into gangs, and work away at
different stations on the ice ; the steamer, as soon as the
different loads, or " bulks," are ready, calling in succes-
sion at each station. This plan, of course, secures the
least possible delay, but cannot be adopted by sailing-
vessels, from their inability to move freely amongst the
broken ice.
Enormous cargoes are sometimes obtained, and the
vessels loaded until their decks are nearly flush with the
water. The following figures are borrowed from an
authority already quoted: In the spring of 1872, the
steamer Commodore, belonging to Messrs. Panton and
Mann, brought in 31,314 seals, weighing 655 tons, and
valued in all at 23,731, 16s. 9d. This is the largest
and most valuable cargo on record. The Commodore was
only 290 tons, and as she sailed into port was very deep,
450 HAZARDS OF THE SEA.
the starboard side of her deck being actually in the
water : had she been caught in a gale, and not been
speedily lightened, she must have foundered. Her crew
numbered 200, and shared upwards of 39 per man. In
the spring of 1871, the sailing-brig Glengarry, belonging
to the same owners, brought in 10,494 seals; but her
crew, bein^ fewer in number, shared .53 each. In 1873,
the steamer Eagle, owned by Browning Brothers, brought
in over 30,000 seals : and about the same time, the
steamer Neptune, belonging to Job Brothers and Co.,
gathered on her first trip 29,136 seals, and going out
again, returned from her second trip with 12,326 ; the
total weight being 913 tons, and the value 27,906,
5s. 3d.
The hazards of the sea are notorious, and the sealers
are exposed to great variations of fortune, and numerous
forms of peril. One day they will be rejoicing, for all
around and about them are large herds of seals ; the
next day they may mourn, for not a phoca will be in
sight ! Of course, the reverse not infrequently occurs,
and a vessel which one day has found the ice-fields as
desolate as a volcanic peak, discovers them, next morn-
ing, swarming, teeming with life.
As for danger, the sealers have stout hearts and strong
frames, are quick of eye and keen of wit ; yet the ship
that sailed from harbour in gallant trim often lies a
shattered wreck among the ice-floes, and few of her crew
return to tell the story of her fate. " The time for pro-
secuting the voyage is brief; therefore every hour is
precious, and every mile gained of value. Accordingly,
once under weigh, the skipper of a sealer enjoys no rest,
THE " RUNNING ICE." 451
spares neither men, vessel, nor gear. Everything is sup-
posed to be of the best and strongest ; and the strength
of everything on board is well tested on the voyage.
The skipper's constant thought is, the seals are ahead,
and ahead we must get, through fair weather or foul,
sunshine or fog, rain, hail, or snowstorm ; if the winds
but blow and the canvas holds, on the vessel must go.
The bold, daring hearts on board know no fear, heed not
the storm, the icebergs around, or the dangers from the
' pans ' and fields of ice enclosing them ; undismayed and
undaunted, they all beat in unison, and with determina-
tion to reach the golden prize ahead."
The great danger of the seal-fishery is the " running
ice." In their pursuit of the seals the ships sometimes go
inside the headlands of the bays. If the wind be blow-
ing from the north-east, it greatly increases the force of
the current which, in the spring of the year, always sets
to the southward ; and, accordingly, the ice is driven
along with a tremendous whirl and crash, carrying with
it any vessels unable to extricate themselves from the
labyrinth and put out to sea. So long as the ice which
holds the vessel prisoner keeps clear of the land, she is
comparatively safe ; but should it be caught by cape or
promontory, it begins to accumulate, raft upon raft, and
sheet upon sheet, grinding, tearing, crashing, splintering,
with a din which appals the stoutest heart, and a force
that menaces the stoutest ship with destruction. In such
a case the crew endeavour to save their clothes, guns, and
some provisions, and then take to the ice, with the view
of effecting a passage to the nearest vessel, or to the land.
It is recorded that in the springs of 1862 and 1864
numerous disasters occurred from the running ice. From
452
ON THE ICE-FLOES.
Harbour Grace alone, in 1862, went out twenty vessels
which never returned ; and the sufferings undergone by
their unfortunate crews were very sad. In 1872, the
Huntsman, sailing from Bay Roberts, was dashed by the
running ice against a rock on the Labrador coast, and
broken up into fragments. Forty-six of her crew perished ;
some being drowned, some crushed to death by falling
spars, and some cut to pieces by the ice.
SEAL-HUNTERS ADRIFT.
Then, again, while the seal-hunters are tracking their
prey on the ice-field, it not infrequently opens up, and
the floe on which they are collected is carried far aVay
from the sealing-ship. Or some of the men, while in
search of prey, or engaged in hauling their " turn " to the
vessel, fall into the water, and perish miserably. Every
sealer carries with him a seal-gaff; that is, a pole about
nine feet long, with an iron hook at one end, and a
sharp-pointed head of iron. With this he hooks into and
drags the seals along the rugged ice ; or he uses it as a
CHANGES IN THE SEAL-FISHERY. 453
leaping-pole in springing from one ice-floe to another ; or
when he finds himself sinking through some treacherously
thin crust, he flings his gaff across it, and holds on until
help arrives, or he succeeds in clambering on to a sounder
piece of ice. Sometimes, however, the gaff gives way,
and the sealer disappears for ever.
Every year a marked decrease is observable in the
number of sailing-vessels employed in the fishery. On
the other hand, the number and size of the steamers is
constantly on the increase. The consequence is, that a
large body of men will annually be thrown out of em-
ployment, since it is not probable that a sufficient fleet
of steamers will ever be despatched to provide berths for
so great a number of men as were employed by the sail-
ing-ships. The steam fleet at present takes about 8500
men, and the sailing fleet about the same. Fifteen years
ago the number employed was nearly 15,000. As the
quantity of seals that visit the coast cannot furnish re-
munerative cargoes for many more steamers, it may be
assumed says our authority that on the extinction of
the sailing fleet not more than 5000 men will obtain
berths, fully an equal number thus losing, as they term
it, " their chance at the ice"; a serious matter for con-
sideration to the political economists of a country whose
population is increasing. There are not wanting prophets
of evil who predict that by the employment of steamers
the seals will speedily be exterminated ; and though this
is probably an extreme supposition, it is certain that the
supply is not inexhaustible, and that the seal-fishery, like
the whale-fishery, if not more economically pursued, will
grow less anjl less profitable.
454 WEIGHING AND CUTTING.
The weight of the different kinds of seals varies con-
siderably. The young harp, in its prime, weighs from
45 to 60 pounds ; the young hood, from 50 to 60 pounds;
the one-year-old "bedlamer,"* about the same as the
young hood ; the two-year-old " bedlamer," from 60 to
75 pounds ; the old female harp, from 70 to 90 pounds ;
the male, from 85 to 110 pounds; the old female hood,
from 90 to 150 pounds; and the old dog hood, from 100
to 300 pounds. The square tipper, which is rare, some-
times weighs 650 pounds. " In these weights," says the
writer in the Scotsman already quoted, " the skin and
fat alone are meant; the carcass is of no use, and is always
left on the ice when skinned. The value of the seals
varies according to the demand for and the price of seal
oil and skins; 35s. per cwt. is a good price for young
harps, which are the highest in value. The others grade
as follow, each 2s. per cwt. under the preceding quality :
young hoods, bedlamers, old harps, and, lastly, old
hoods."
After the seals have been brought into port and landed,
they are weighed ; next, they are placed in the hands of
the skinner, who separates the fat from the skin. The
fat is cut up by an apparatus of cutting-blades, set in
motion by steam, and then steamed, so as to render up
the oil more easily the greater portion of the oil thus
obtained being tasteless, inodorous, and clear as water.
The residuum of blubber is stowed in bags, and submitted
to a heavy pressure, which extracts a brown and inferior
quantity of oil. From the steaming-pans the oil is drawn
off into tanks, and thence into casks of various sizes,
* Seals when one or two years old, whatever their species, are called " bed-
lamers."
ANTIQUITY OF THE SEAL-FISHERY. 455
ready for exportation to Canada, England, and the United
States.
The skins are simply salted, and then stored until the
time comes for shipping. They are sent to England,
where they are manufactured into excellent leather, re-
markable for its softness, its polish, and its waterproof
qualities.
The average catch of seals in the Newfoundland fishery
has amounted to about 350,000 annually for the last
twenty years.*
The seal-fishery is of great antiquity. From various
allusions in the Sagas, it was evidently pursued by the
old Norsemen ; and some of these very Sagas, we are
told, are written upon seal-skin prepared in the same
way as parchment. It was energetically conducted at
the epoch of the Roman conquest of Germaiiia, for
Tacitus describes the warriors of Hermann or Arminius
as clothed in the skins of seals. Of the same material
were made the Roman tents, at least during the best
days of the Empire ; but it is probable that seals were
then more numerous in the Mediterranean than they are
now, unless their skins were procured from the north in
the course of trade. From the employment of seal-skin
as a covering for tents came the old superstition that it
was a safeguard against lightning ; and Augustus, whose
nervous dread of thunderstorms is an historical fact, al-
ways wore a piece upon his person as a talisman. This
curious lightning-nonconductor was in great favour with
Septimius Severus, and eventually came into general use
* The number reached 463,531 in 1873; at least, that number of seal-skins
was exported.
456 VALUE OF THE SEAL.
among the Roman legions. The Scandinavian mariners
made excellent cables of seal-skin for mooring their
galleys, or fastening them, in combat, to those of their
antagonists ; and the Finns and Lapps paid their annual
tribute in these ingenious substitutes for ropes. And it
is probable, also, that they employed them, as do the
Greenlanders at the present day, in covering the frame-
work of their ships.
In the fourteenth century the seal-fishery had attained
to a position of considerable commercial importance.
Not only was the animal hunted for the sake of its skin
and oil, but also for its flesh, which in England and
Scandinavia figured as a dainty on the tables of the
wealthy. And here we may remark that modern
voyagers, who have had occasion to live upon it, speak
of it as not unsavoury, and as tasting much like veal.
Dr. Kane writes that he and his men in course of time
grew very fond of it. At first they disliked " the fishi-
ness," but to this they became accustomed, and of its
iiutritiousness there can be no doubt. Captain Hall
gives a very minute account of a seal-banquet, particular-
izing the different dishes with epicurean gusto :
The head was first served up ; and when the meat,
skin, and hair were all despatched, even the eyes, ex-
cept the balls, which, according to an limit custom,
were given to the youngest child, Captain Hall and his
Eskimo entertainers " tapped " the brain. He was sur-
prised at the amount of a seal's brains, and equally so at
the cleliciousness of them ! The skull, he noticed, was
almost as thin as paper.
Afterwards came a portion of seal's liver. This, with
a slice of ooksook (blubber), was handed to each person.
A SEAL BANQUET. 457
Then came the ribs, enclosed in tender meat ; and next,
the entrails, served up in pieces of two to three feet long.
"I saw at once," says Captain Hall, "that it was sup-
posed I would not like to eat this delicacy, but having
partaken of it before, I signified my wish to do so now ;
for, be it remembered, there is no part of a seal but is
good."
This quotation is a digression, perhaps, but it serves to
explain the great value of the seal to the Greenlaiiders.
Their pastures are the billowy tracts of ocean ; their
fishery is their harvest ; their herds of seals are as
necessary to their maintenance as oxen and sheep to the
Englishman, the palm-tree to the Arab, or the cocoa-nut
to the islanders of the South Pacific.
Not only, as a Dutch writer remarks, do these animals
supply them with food and clothing, but with roofs for
their huts and tarpaulins for their canoes. They burn
the seal-oil during the protracted darkness of the dreary
arctic winter ; they feed the fire with it which cooks
their food, and use it to preserve their stock of dried
fish. With the smaller fibres they manufacture sewing-
thread, not much inferior to the English housewife's
silk or cotton. The same material is woven into screens
or curtains for their doors, and into a kind of coarse stuff
for their under garments. The bladders are used as
vessels for holding liquids. And before the enterprise
of European traders brought iron within their reach, they
wrought their tools and implements out of the bones of
the indispensable and multifarious seal.
In that yearly massacre which for four centuries has
been carried on so vigorously, the Eskimos, therefore,
458 THE ESKIMO AND THE SEAL.
play no unimportant part. They do not pursue it on the
extensive scale adopted by the Americans or Europeans :
but they know the value of the seal, and they continually
hunt it down. The net, the harpoon, the club, the rifle,
all these weapons are employed against the unfortunate
phoca. It is useful to man, and man, accordingly, has
no mercy upon it. He watches by its air-hole in the ice,
and prepares to strike it on its rising to the surface. Or
he clothes himself in seal-skins, or in garments of the
same colour and shape, and posting himself on a weedy,
surf-beaten rock, he imitates its peculiar cry, and having
enticed it within range, delivers a mortal blow. Does
man ever spare any creature which is necessary to his
comfort or his ease 1
"When a seal-hole is found, the Eskimo wraps himself
in his warmest furs, and, with his spear in his hand,
stations himself beside it ; sitting there for hours, silent,
motionless, vigilant, and occasionally thrusting his spear
through the snow to strike, and make sure of, the small
aperture leading through the ice. In aiming at a seal, it
will not do to miss the exact spot where the animal comes
to breathe ; no, not by a quarter of an inch. To know
this exact spot the Eskimo will frequently place over it
some trifling mark, and then, when he hears the seal
blow, down speeds the fatal spear, and the animal is
captured.
"The shyness of the seal," says Dr. Kane, "is pro-
verbial. The Eskimos, trained from earliest youth to the
pursuit of them, regard a successful hunter as the great
man of the settlement. If not killed instantaneously,
the seal sinks and is lost."
On one occasion, when near Ovinde Oerme, in Melville
SEALS AT PLAY. 461
Bay, Dr. Kane fell in with a great company of seals.
Hundreds of all varieties were disporting themselves in
absolute freedom. Generally they were to be seen
paddling about alone, but sometimes in groups, like a
party of school-boys frolicking in the village-pond. One
of their favourite sports was " treading water," rising
breast-high, keeping up a boisterous and indefatigable
splashing, and stretching out their necks in an attitude
of eager curiosity.
Some of the younger of these poor sea-dogs had just
the honest expression of their land-brethren, the Eskimos ;
in others, the truncation of the muzzle, with an external
ear showing behind it, set their faces in almost perfect
and human-like oval. Now and then, an imprudent seal
would rise up out of the water near the hunters, and,
lifting up his head and shoulders, that stooped like those
of a hooded Eskimo, would gaze steadily at them with
his liquid eye ; then diving, come up a little nearer, and
stare again ; so gradually approaching, and rising and
diving alternately, would come within musket-shot, to
fall a victim to his ungovernable curiosity.
A curious mode of fishing is practised by the natives
of Gothland, and of the other isles in the upper waters of
the Baltic.
In March and April, when the ice begins to give way,
they assemble in numerous companies, and set forth on
their seal-hunting expeditions in iron-keeled galleys, at-
tended by light boats which draw but little water. They
are provided with a supply of food, and with powder,
shot, guns, and harpoons. Pushing to the northward,
they get entangled in the narrow channels intersecting
462 FISHING IN THE NORTH.
the ice, and hauling their vessels upon the floes, drag
them across its humrnocky surface by sheer physical
labour. Meanwhile, the light craft go ahead to explore
the labyrinth, while trained dogs disperse in all directions
to drive the seals from their hiding-places. If the hunters
encounter them upon the ice, they knock them down with
their clubs before they can slip through the air-holes or
escape to their retreats ; but if they take to the water,
the more experienced hunters spring into their boats, and
endeavour to harpoon them ; while others, posted on the
ice, watch the various crevasses through which the animals
disappear, or fire at them on their coming to the surface,
and drag ashore the killed or wounded. Sometimes, when
he misses his aim, the hunter fares ill at the hands of the
phoca, which, ordinarily mild, and even timorous, grows
furious under incessant provocation, and turns upon its
assailant.
In the northern seal-fisheries the hardy seamen of the
Shetland Isles participate. The Greenland ships, chiefly
from Dundee and Peterhead, arrive in Lerwick harbour
towards the end of February or the beginning of March,
in order to complete their crews with these skilful and
resolute sons of the sea. Their number is now from
fifteen to twenty, though formerly much larger, and each
vessel engages from twenty to thirty Shetlandmen. Dur-
ing their stay in Bressay Sound, writes Dr. Cowie, large
numbers of men and lads flock to Lerwick from all parts
of Shetland, each eager to obtain a berth. Since the
number of ships employed in the fishery was reduced,
berths have become more difficult to be obtained, and,
consequently, the masters have been able to " pick " their
THE SHETLAND SEAL-HUNTERS. 463
crews. It is not uncommon, says Dr. Cowie, to see
young men walking over the shoulders of their less
favoured components of a crowd, in order to make their
way to the office where a Greenland skipper is " feeing "
his crew !
The sealing-fleet leaves Lerwick about the 10th of
March, for the sealing-ground in the neighbourhood of
the volcanic isle of Jan Mayen, which it reaches in a
week or ten days. Then commences the destruction of
the unfortunate phocse ; and the vessels, if successful,
return home to discharge their cargoes of blubber and
skins. But if their captures be few, they proceed to the
whale-fishing at North Greenland or up Melville Bay.
A sealing-voyage generally occupies about six weeks.
Each man employed receives about 2, 10s. a month, and
2s. 6d. for each ton of blubber brought home. Thus,
should the vessel make, as is generally the case, a hun-
dred tons, the seaman will receive .16 for his six weeks'
work.
After landing their cargoes at Dundee or Peterhead,
these ships generally sail for the whaling-ground at
Davis Strait, calling again at Shetland to complete their
crews. From this second voyage they usually return in
the month of October, though sometimes a whaler gets
frozen up, and is compelled to winter in the Arctic
regions, at the risk of terrible suffering and even loss of
life.
Such are the principal methods of seal-hunting to which
man has had recourse. But the great fishery, as we have
said, is almost entirely in the hands of the British and
the Americans ; and during the season from three to four
(502) 30
464 OFF THE LABRADOR COAST.
hundred sealing-ships, bearing the Union Jack or the
Stars and Stripes, will be found off the rocky coast of
Labrador.
'' And there we hunted the walrus,
The narwhal, and the seal ;
Ha ! 'twas a noble game !
And like the lightning's flame
Flew our harpoons of steel."
CHAPTER XIX.
CORAL: AND THE CORAL-FISHERY.
"Where the red coral blushes 'neath the waves."
JIN a volume devoted to the Great Fisheries of
the World, it would be impossible not to in-
clude a description pf the coral-fishery ; for
though it adds nothing to our food-supplies,
it forms the staple of a considerable industry, and pro-
vides occupation for a large portion of the human race.
Down to the last century CORAL was regarded as a vege-
table product. As such it was described and classified by
the ancient naturalists, by Theophrastus, Dioscorides, and
Pliny. At a much later date, we find it included by
Tournefort, along with various madrepores, in his seven-
teenth class. Such a mode of classification seemed more
justifiable than ever after Marsigli's discovery of what
he called the " flowers of coral." Marsigli, a native of
Boulogne, where he founded the Institute of Science and
Art, and a scientific inquirer of great ardour and industry,
-having directed his attention to the subject of coral, was
induced to place a branch which he had received fresh
from its ocean habitat in a vessel of sea- water. " Next
4G6 CORAL IN THE OLD TIME.
morning," he writes, " I found my coral-sprays completely
covered with white flowers, each about a line and a half
in length, supported on a white
calyx, from which eight rays of
the same colour issued, these rays
being of equal length, and equi-
distant, and the whole forming a
very beautiful star, resembling in
colour and nearly in size the clove-
pink." He adds that this dis-
covery procured him a reputation
CORAL POLYPE. . . -, , ., ,,
suspiciously like that of a magi-
cian, in his neighbourhood ; no one, not even the fishers,
ever having seen anything resembling this supposed
efflorescence.
This incident occurred early in the eighteenth century.
In 1725 a French physician, named Peysonnel, announced
to the scientific world that the little stars described by
Marsigli, and mistaken by him for flowers, were really
and truly animals, identical in organization with those
which were then called " sea- nettles," but are now known
as " actinias " and " sea-anemones." This conclusion,
though at first disputed, is now accepted by all zoolo-
gists ; the coral is a polype, with polypids. It has since
been investigated and confirmed by Darwin, Dana, and
Lacaze-Deuthiers.
The word coral comes from the Greek, and signifies a
"sea-ornament." The appellation is a proof of the higli
value set upon the substance by the ancient Greeks. It
was celebrated by Orpheus in his " Hymns;" Ovid alludes
to it in his " Metamorphoses." It was supposed to be
gifted with valuable medicinal properties, and mysterious
WHAT IS CORAL ? 467
secret virtues ; the priests and soothsayers declared it was
agreeable to the gods ; and even at the present day some
of the Eastern nations are accustomed to deposit a few
grains of coral in the last resting-places of their dead to
keep them safe from the infernal genii. But it is more
particularly as an object of luxury that coral was, and is,
sought after. According to Pliny, the Hindus esteemed
it not less highly than the pearl ; and they still retain
the same partiality. The Gauls made use of it, as the
Asiatics do even now, to decorate their swords and
helmets. Everywhere women valued it for the pur-
poses of personal ornament ; and this may j ustly be said
of it, that it harmonizes as well with the ebony black
of the Ethiopian as with the dazzling fairness of the
Circassian.
But now we come to the all- important question, What
is coral 1
We reply, a calcareous secretion or deposit of many
kinds of zoophytes, belonging to the class Actinozoa.
These zoophytes are compound animals, which reproduce
their kind by a process known as "germination:" that is,
as buds spring from a plant, so do young coral-buds spring
from the parent animal ; sometimes, on any part of its
surface ; sometimes, only from its base, or from its upper
circumference. They continue always in the same spot,
even when the parent polype has perished, and they in
their turn are throwing off fresh buds. While the zoo-
phyte is still a simple polype, the process of calcareous
deposition commences. It attaches itself to a rock or
some other substance, and here its deposit agglutinates,
and generation after generation enlarges the structure
468
CORAL-PKODUCING ZOOPHYTES.
begun in so unpretending a manner. Sometimes, layer-
after layer, or ring after ring, of calcareous cells surround
one another, like the concentric circles in the trunk of an
aged oak ; sometimes, layer is built upon layer, like
courses of masonry ; sometimes, the coral assumes the
BRANCHES OF CORAL.
ramified aspect of a tree ; sometimes it expands into the
shape of a floral calyx. But always the structure is
fanciful and elegant, and always the workmanship is con-
summate.
Numerous species are included in the interesting divi-
sion of corallines, or coral-producing zoophytes ; most of
which have been distributed by naturalists in the order
Zoantharia, and the families Antipathidce and Hyalone-
madce.
With respect to the modes in which the composite
corals are produced, we may offer the following remarks,
founded upon Professor Greene's elaborate examination of
the subject.
MODES OF GERMINATION. 469
The production of the composite Actinozoa takes place
either by germination or fission.
There are three kinds of germination, the basal, the
parietal, and the calicular.
In the first-named the mode of increase is by means of
a rudimentary ccenosare* or common bond of connection,
which is put forth by the original polype, and on which
the young polype-buds are produced, like buds on a rose-
branch. Its products are very different, according as the
ccenosare remains soft, or deposits a calcareous tissue
(co&neuckyma) ; appears under the form of offshoots or
processes, or of stouter connecting stems ; or even spreads
out in several directions as a continuous horizontal ex-
pansion.
In the second and commonest mode of germination, the
parietal, the corals produced are chiefly of a dendroid, or
tree-like form. As the word " parietal " indicates, the
buds are thrown off from the sides of the original polype,
and very often the process is repeated indefinitely.
Calicular germination was a process belonging to the
primeval world. The primitive polype sent up from its
oral disc two or more similar buds, which, in their turn,
produced other young polypes; and so the process con-
tinued until an inverted pyramidal mass of considerable
size was produced, every part of which rested upon the
narrow base of the first budding polype.
Of reproduction by fission it seems necessary only to
say, that it differs from germination chiefly in the fact
that the polypes thus produced by the process of self-
division resemble one another in organization, and often
* A ccp.nosare is the common organized medium by which the separate poly-
pites of a compound organism are united together.
470 STRUCTURE OF CORAL.
in size, as soon as they become distinct. In germination,
on the other hand, the polype-bud consists at first of
nothing more than an outer and inner skin, ectoderm and
entoderm, enclosing a coecal process of the body-cavity, and
possessing neither mouth nor other structures.
The coral structures resulting from the fissiparous mode
of reproduction are of two kinds, according as they tend
to increase in a vertical or in a horizontal direction.
In the former case, the corallum, or calcareous skeleton,
the bone or internal framework of the animal, is cespitose,
or tufted, and may be resolved into a succession of short
diverging pairs of branches, each the result of the self-
division of a single corallite.
In the latter case, the coraUum, or calcareous skeleton,
becomes lamellar. Here the secondary corallites are
united throughout their whole height, and being disposed
in a linear series, the whole mass forms one continuous
sheath or receptacle (tkeca).
But both kinds of corallum are frequently made mas-
sive by the union of several rows or tufts of corallites
throughout the whole or a portion of their height. Pro-
fessor Greene refers, as an illustration, to the large gyrate
or convoluted corallum of the Meandrina, over the sur-
face of whose spheroidal mass the combined corallites are
wound and involved in a manner so complex as at once to
suggest the resemblance to the convolutions of the human
brain, which its popular name of brainstone coral indicates.
Many coral -producing organisms are also included in
the Gorgonidce, or " sea-shrubs," the Porites, the Madre-
poridce, and the Milleporidce.
To the labours of these animals we owe the formation
THE WORKMEN OF THE SEA.
471
of the great coral banks and coral islands of the tropical
seas. Their growth, if we may use the expression, is,
under favourable circumstances, very rapid ; so that a
channel cut in the reef surrounding a coral island to per-
mit the passage of a vessel, has been found blocked up
with coral in ten years. The animals begin their work
in water a few fathoms deep, the basement being laid by
BilAlNSTONE CORAL.
the Astrceans, generally upon some volcanic mountain,
which past convulsions have upheaved beneath the surface
of the sea ; as soon as the edifice reaches the level of six
fathoms, the task of building is undertaken by the Mean-
drinas and Porites; and these, in their turn, are succeeded
by the Madreporidce, Milleporidce, and Gorgonidce, which
carry the wonderful structure to the surface of the sea.
472
A CORAL REEF.
The examination of a coral reef during the different
stages of the -tide is, as Captain Hall says,* particularly
interesting. When the sea has left it for some time, it
becomes dry, and appears as a compact rock, exceedingly
hard and rugged ; but no sooner does the tide rise again,
and the waves begin to wash over it, than millions of
coral-worms protrude themselves from apertures on the
THE FAN GORGON
surface which before were quite invisible. These animals
are, as we have shown, of various shapes and sizes, and
so prodigious in number, that in a short time the whole
face of the rock seems alive and in motion. The most
common form is that of a star, with arms, or rays, from
four to six inches in length, which the animal moves
* Captain Hall, "Voyage to the Loo-Choo Islands."
ITS GRADUAL GROWTH. 473
about rapidly in all directions, probably in quest of food.
Others are so sluggish that they might be mistaken for
pieces of the rock ; these are generally of a dark colour,
from four to five inches in length, and two to three inches
in circumference. On breaking the coral mass from a
spot near high-water mark, it was found to be a hard
solid stone ; but if any part were detached at a level
which the tide regularly washed, it proved to be full of
worms, all of different lengths and colours, some as fine
as a thread, and several feet long, generally of a very
bright yellow, but sometimes of a blue colour; while
others resembled snails, and some were not unlike
lobsters and prawns in shape, but soft, and not above
a couple of inches long.
The coral ceases growing when the worm creating it is
no longer exposed to the influence of the tide. A reef
rises in the form of "a gigantic cauliflower," until its
crest has gained the level of the highest waters, above
which the corallite has no power to carry its operations,
and the reef, consequently, extends no further. The
surrounding parts, however, successively mount upward
until they also reach the surface, and stop. Thus, as the
level of the highest tide is the eventual limit to every
part of the reef, a horizontal field is duly formed co-
incident with that plane, and perpendicular on all sides.
But though the upward extension of the reef is at an end,
not so with its lateral expansion ; and this expansion
being apparently as rapid at the upper edge as it is lower
down, the face of the reef everywhere preserves its steep-
ness ; a circumstance which renders this class of rocks
exceedingly dangerous to navigation. In the first place,
they are seldom visible above water ; and, in the second,
474 " AN EDEN OF THE WAVES."
their sides are so abrupt that a ship's bows may strike
against the rock before any change of soundings indicates
the approach of danger.
When the coral mass has finally gained the level of
the waves, its surface undergoes disintegration through
atmospheric and aqueous action. The sea-birds frequent
the oasis among the boisterous waters, and deposit there
the refuse of their food. Gradually a thin soil is formed,
which the wind sows with the various seeds it bears
upon its pinions. These germinate and fructify, and a
carpet of verdure spreads over the hitherto rugged and
dreary scene. In due time the palm rears its stately
trunk upon it, and the work is consummated, after long,
long years of patient elaboration, by the development of
a coral island, an Eden of the waves, sunned by the glow
of tropical skies, and encircled by a zone of sapphire sea.
An Eden, but uninhabited by man or animal ; and silent,
save for the sounds of air and ocean
"The myriad shriek of wheeling ocean-fowl,
The league-long roller thundering on the reef."
Different coral animals toil at different depths, and it
has even been found that the species labouring on one
side of a reef differ from those that labour on the other.
When one class of workers give over the task of carrying
upward the marvellous submarine fabric, it is continued
by a second and robuster phalanx, who, in their turn,
give place to a third, and these to a fourth. The charac-
ter of the species depends upon the depth and temperature
of the waters. Their modes of operation, however, are
invariably the same, and a wonderful continuity pervades
their work.
THE LIVING PILE. 477
As Montgomery finely says :
" Millions of millions thus, from age to age,
With simplest skill, and toil unweariable,
No moment and no movement unimproved,
Laid line on line, on terrace terrace spread,
To swell the heightening, brightening, gradual mound,
By marvellous structure climbing towards the day.
Each wrought alone, yet all together wrought,
Unconscious, not unworthy, instruments,
By which a Hand invisible was rearing
A new creation in the secret deep ....
I saw the living pile ascend,
The mausoleum of its architects,
Still dying upwards as their labours closed ....
Frail were their frames, ephemeral their lives,
Their masonry imperishable. All
Life's needful functions, food, exertion, rest,
By nice economy of Providence
Were overruled to carry on the process
Which out of water brought forth solid rock.
" Atom by atom thus the burthen grew,
Even like an infant in the womb, till Time
Delivered Ocean of that monstrous birth
A Coral Island stretching east and west."
Corallines have recently been discovered, in the course
of the deep-sea dredgings of Dr. Carpenter and others, at
a depth of 600 fathoms and upwards ; but these deep-sea
corals are wholly different in character from the reef-
building zoophyte. Some of the species now existing,
as, for example, the Haplopkyllia paradoxa and Geognia
annulata, are identical with those which nourished in
the ocean-waters of the Palaeozoic age. We owe to
Count Pourtales our earliest information of the deep-sea
corals. Numerous stony corals were dredged up from
the bottom of the Strait of Florida, under his super-
intendence, in 1868 and 1869.*
A new group of coral islands in the North Pacific was
* L. P. de Pourtales, Illustrated Catalogue of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology, 1871; Contributions to the Fauna of the Gulf-Stream, 1870.
478 THE CORAL OF COMMERCE.
surveyed by the United States Government towards the
close of 1871. These were : Ocean Island, lat. 28 25' K,
long. 178 25' W.; Medway Island, lat. 28 15' N..
long. 178 20' W.; Pearl and Hume's Islands, lat. 27
50' 1ST., and long. 175 50' W. They are described as
abounding in turtle and sea-birds ; but only scantily
clothed with vegetation. In this way the laborious
corallines are continually filling up the vast intervals of
Ocean, and stretching from continent to continent a chain
of isles.
But we must return to the immediate subject of this
chapter, from which the coral animals have led us far
astray.
The coral of commerce is found principally in the
Mediterranean (off the west coast of Sicily*) and the
Red Sea, and at depths, and under conditions, which
vary according to the nature of the locality. On the
French shores it forms immense masses with a southward
front, while it is seldom found on rocks facing towards
the east and west, and never upon those which lie open
to the north. According to Lamouroux, in this part of
the Mediterranean coral does not occur at a lesser depth
than 10 feet, and at a greater than 950 to 1000 feet.
The usual depth at which the fishery is prosecuted is
between 350 and 600 feet.
On the coast of Northern Africa, the coral adheres to
the rocks which face the south, south-east, and south-
west. Here the fishers carry on their operations three
or four leagues out at sea, from a depth of 100 or .130
feet down to 800 and 900 feet.
* Rear-Admiral Smyth, " Sicily," p 25.
THE CORAL-FISHERY. 479
In those places where the corallines labour near the
shore, and at no great depth, the corallum is easily col-
lected by the divers; but such localities are few. On the
coast of Africa and in the Strait of Messina the fishery
is conducted in a very different manner, as the following
brief description will show.
The fishing-boats are mostly of Italian build, and good
sailers. The largest, boats of sixteen tons or more, carry
a crew of ten to twelve men ; the smallest, of five to six.
Their figure-head is always decorated with an image of
Christ, the Virgin, or the owner's patron saint. The
after part of the boat is reserved for the fishing operations
and the stowage of the crew; the fore part is usually
appropriated to the padrone, or proprietor. Midships are
kept the stores of biscuit and water. The canvas con-
sists of a broad lateen sail and a jib or stay sail. The
crew is generally collected from Genoa, Leghorn, Naples,
or Trapani.
The apparatus employed in the fishery is technically
termed the " engine," and this engine is really a marvel
of complex construction, considering the simplicity of its
object.
Let the reader picture to himself a wooden cross of
two arms securely lashed or bolted together at the centre,
and each arm measuring from six to seven feet in length.
This cross is ballasted with a heavy stone or block of
lead, and to either arm is suspended a stout rope about
thirty feet long. Each rope carries six nets fastened to
it at equidistant points ; nets rough and strong, with
broad meshes loosely knotted together, and woven of the
coarsest rope, about as thick a. a man's finger. By
(502) 31
480
THE CORAL-FISHERY.
means of a cord passed through one row of meshes and
fastened at the bottom, these nets are gathered up into a
kind of coil, or " swab/' which, when immersed in water,
expands like a rosette. The result is, that the engine,
ENGINE USED IN CORAL-FISHERY.
when dragged along the bank of coral, . catches at its
projections with the meshes of its several nets, and,
assisted by the onward impulse of the boat, tears them
away, thus accumulating a large quantity of more or less
valuable fragments.
When the season arrives, and the boats set sail, the
first thing, necessarily, is to discover a coral bank. In
THE CORAL-FISHERY. 481
this pursuit the padrones, or owners, acquire, through
long experience, a remarkable degree of skilfulness.
Without any chart or instrument, their knowledge of
the character of the sea-bed and the irregularities of the
neighbouring coasts is so complete, that it is said they
can fish up from the depths an engine which they may
have lost in the previous season.
Having arrived at a convenient spot, the padrone
throws his engine overboard. The rope supporting it is
liberally paid out, so that it may float freely on the
waters. One end is fastened to the centre of the wooden
cross ; the other is coiled round the capstan of the fishing-
boat. Seated on the gunwale, the master throws one leg
over the side, the rope passing across his thigh, which is
covered with a small thick piece of leather. According
to the varying pressure of the rope, he judges of the state
of the ground he is fishing, and determines the proper
moment for abandoning the engine to the weight which
tends to drag it downwards. The moment comes. He
calls to the man at the capstan to let go ; away flies the
engine to the bottom, where it quickly entangles itself in
the projections and fissures of the rock. Now comes the
tug of war. As the boat flies onward, the men toil at the
lumbering capstan to haul in or let go the rope according
to circumstances : half-naked, in the glare and glow of a
Mediterranean sun, with the bead-drops trickling down
their swarthy bodies, they ply their unremitting toil.
Again and again the engine is brought to the surface, and
the broken coral collected from its meshes. The weight
is enormous, and as the capstan raises it through the
opposing waters, the men are compelled to exercise all
their strength, under the stimulus supplied by the blows
482 THE CORAL-FISHER'S HABITS.
the padrone liberally rains upon them. They would, in-
deed, sink under the toil if they did not incessantly recruit
their energies by eating, without interrupting their task
however, the supply of biscuit placed within their reach ;
so that it may justly be said, " the coral-fisher is always
devouring." The expression has become proverbial.
Even in what are figuratively called their " hours of
rest " they are not idle, for the work of repairing the
nets, or weaving new ones, is necessarily continuous : in
this their skill is remarkable, and when they are worn
out with fatigue, and almost asleep, their fingers will
mechanically tie the knots. Their working day is eighteen
hours long; their rations, biscuit and water ad libitum,
and, in the evening, some pates a Vltalienne; wine and
meat twice a year, on Ascension Day and the Feast of
Corpus Christi. First-class sailors are paid from 400 to
600 francs (16 to 24) for the season of six months;
inferior men, about half this amount. The occupation is
so laborious and the pay so indifferent, that the Sicilians
have a saying, Only a thief or a murderer turns coral-
fisher.
But bad as their character generally is, they do not
lack the customary devotion or superstition of the Ital-
ians ; and when the net is cast, on the first day of the
season, they fall on their knees, and the first fine branch
of coral brought up they dedicate to the " Good Mother,"
the Blessed Virgin, always provided the fishing proves
abundant.
It is considered a good season when a large boat col-
lects 300 kilogrammes (5 cwt., 3 qrs., 18 Ibs. English) of
coral, which is worth between 80 and 120 ; and a small
boat, half that quantity.
["lllllilPllilllllllliillillllillililiiiiiifiil!
VARIOUS KINDS OF CORAL. 485
The coral is not sold by the fishermen themselves, but
by the speculators who fit out the boats and hire the
crews. The largest markets are at Bona and La Calle,
on the African coast, and at Trapani, in the island of
Sicily.
The following kinds of coral enter into commerce :
1. Dead or Rotten Coral, a name given to the so-called
"roots" of the polypidom, which are covered with calcare-
ous deposits and bryozoairia. It is worth from Is. 7d.
to 4s. the ton.
2. Black Coral; that is, coral loosened from the original
mass, and embedded in the mud, where it undergoes a
certain modification through the action of sulphurous ex-
halations. It is used as an ornament by ladies in mourn-
ing, and fetches the price of 4s. 6d. to 6s. per Ib.
3. Mass Coral is an aggregation of fragments of all
sizes, the commonest refuse mixed with the finest
branches ; in other words, it is the natural coral, just
as dredged up from the ocean depths. Its price varies
greatly, being sometimes as low as <! per Ib., and some-
times as high as XI, 10s.
4. Picked Coral is, of course, the best branches, care-
fully picked out from the mass. It is sold by weigh c,
at from <5 to <10 per Ib.
5. White Coral. This variety is not often met with ;
it differs from the red in nothing but colour.
There are other varieties, known by such names as
" froth of blood," " flower of blood," " first blood," " second
blood," and the like ; but for these no great demand
exists.
The commercial value of this material depends greatly
on the form of the branches. When they are weak and
486 THEIR COMMERCIAL VALUE.
bushy r , as is generally the case with those collected on the
coasts of France and Spain, the artists find the cutting
much more difficult, and the waste is also greater. A
primary requisite is, that they shall be intact. Now
it frequently happens, and more particularly with the
coral of Oran, that the branches are honeycombed by
the perforations of small annelids or sponges. Such
are of comparatively little use to the coral -worker.
Again, the value also depends on the colour and trans-
parency of the coral, the delicate rose-hued varieties
being most highly esteemed in Western Europe.
The Algerine coral is principally wrought at Naples,
Leghorn, and Genoa. Little trade is now done at Mar-
seilles, and at Paris it is confined to mounting it for
jewellery.
The coral issues from the manufactories in the follow-
ing forms, which the jeweller utilizes at his pleasure :
1. As pearls of all sizes, smooth, or cut with facets ;
2. Olives;
3. Various sculptures ; and
4. As " Arabic coral," composed of portions of the
stems, carefully polished, and perforated, for threading,
in the direction of their axes.
In working the coral, it is first cleansed with lime,
and afterwards "turned" upon horizontal discs, resem-
bling the lathes employed by opticians in shaping glass
and crystals, by means of a paste composed of water and
emery. The turning process is several times repeated,
the paste each time being of a finer composition.
The cutting of coral pearls, with facets, is a simple and
very rapid operation. The workman whose duty it is
to cut the branches makes a number of notches on the
HOW CORAL JS WORKED, 487
stem with a sharp file, and then, with a large pair of
pincers, breaks off the branches. The small cylinders
thus obtained are next pierced, in the line of their axes,
with a vertical drill, and in the aperture thus made a
handle is fitted, that the fragment may be more conveni-
ently manipulated. Next, the coral is submitted to the
action of a grindstone, until it is sufficiently rounded ;
and the " pearl " produced by this operation passes into
the hands of the polisher, who exposes it to the friction
of a metallic disc, made to revolve with great rapidity,
and coated with emery of various degrees of fineness.
The different facets are thus produced with a wonderful
degree of regularity; after which the "pearl" receives a
final polish.
Coral is now little valued in England as an article of
ornament, and is chiefly seen on the tables and mantel-
pieces of old " sea-captains " and voyagers, who preserve
it as a memorial of distant lands and past experiences.
CHAPTER XX.
CURIOUS FISHES AND MODES OF FISHING.
VOLCANIC FISHES.
T is recorded that on several occasions, when
those convulsions which precede violent vol-
canic eruptions in the great range of the
Andes have shattered its enormous masses,
and opened deep subterranean chasms and fissures, not
only tufa and water have been vomited forth, but also
Jishes in very considerable quantities.
For instance, when an eruption took place of Garguar-
ruijo, a mountain 17,500 feet in height, the surrounding
country, over a radius of two miles, was covered with
the ejected mud and fishes. And a pestilential fever
which at one time desolated the town of Huera, was as-
cribed to a similar phenomenon in connection with the
volcano of Imbaburu.
We are told that Cotopaxi, Tunguragua, and Sangay
in like manner send forth showers of fishes ; sometimes
through their summit crater, sometimes through lateral
fissures ; and the Indians assert that these fishes are
alive. It seems a fact that of the hundreds of fish cast
CURIOUS VOLCANIC PHENOMENON.
480
out by Cotopaxi, along with floods of vapour, smoke, and
seething water, very few are so disfigured as to induce
A SHOWER OF FISIIES.
the belief that they have been exposed to the action of ex-
treme heat.
A French writer offers the following explanation of
this curious circumstance.
In the interval, frequently exceeding a century, be-
tween two consecutive eruptions, the volcanic crater closes
up its rents and crevasses, and the bottom soon becomes,
as Vesuvius shows us, a level, or nearly level plain.
Tn the course of time this plain is converted into a
lake ; and all the more easily because, far from being,
490" VOLCANIC FISH.
like the European volcanoes, isolated mountain -peaks,
those of the Andean chain are connected one with an-
other in a long continuous series ; so that not only do
the rains collect in the crateral basins, but distant reser-
voirs also pour their contents into them through numer-
ous subterranean channels.
Through these channels arrive various shoals of fish, to
increase and multiply in the deep crateral lake. And
VOLCANIC FISH.
when, after a greater or less number of years, the vol-
cano once more breaks out into activity, the bed of the
crater is necessarily upheaved, and its waters are ejected
with terrific violence, along with their finny inhabi-
tants.
It has been observed that the fish thus ejected are
identical in kind with those found in the streams in the
neighbourhood of the volcano. The South Americans call
them Prennadillas ; they belong to the malacopterous
family of Siluridce.
FISH IN WELLS.
491
FISH IN ARTESIAN WELLS.
Many of the artesian wells which have been opened
up by French engineers in the waterless districts of
Algeria have furnished examples of a similar phenomenon.
When the water rose to the surface of the Ain-Tala well,
which is one hundred and forty-five feet in depth, some
small fish were discovered among the sand thrown out at
FISH EJECTED FROM A WELL.
the well's mouth. They did not exceed a couple of inches
in length, were malacopterous, and, in general appearance,
not unlike the familiar whitebait. The male was dis-
tinguished from the female by transversal bars. Though
these little creatures spent their lives in the darkness,
their eyes were regularly formed.
SHOWERS OF FISH.
Some incredulity has been expressed with reference to
the reports of showers of fish which occasionally appear
492 SHOWERS OF FISH.
in the public prints, but many of them are well-authenti-
cated.
On the 20th of September, 1839, an English officer, in
the neighbourhood of Calcutta, saw a quantity of live
fish descend in a storm of rain. They measured about
three inches in length, and were all of the same species.
Some, falling on hard ground, were killed ; some, which
fell on soft grass, continued in life. " The most strange
thing that struck me in connection with this event," said
O '
the officer,* " was that the fish did not fall helter-skelter,
everywhere, or here and there they fell in a straight
line, not more than a cubit in breadth." Shortly after
this event, at a village near Allahabad, three thousand
or four thousand fish were found on the ground, of a
well-known species, and about a span in length, but all
dead and dry.
So, in 1820, a French cure, in the department of Loire-
Inferieure, was witness to a quantity of fishes, an inch or
so in length, falling during a heavy shower of rain. And
in the same year, near Nantes, the ground, for an area
of four hundred yards, was covered with fish, each about
an inch and a half in length.
Hasted, in his " History of Kent," records that about
Easter 1666, in the parish of Stansted, which lies at
some distance from the sea, and has no fish-ponds near it,
a pasture-field was found strewed over with small fish.
On the 14th of April, 1828, Major Forbes Mackenzie,
of Fodderty, Ross-shire, while walking in a meadow near
his farm, saw a considerable portion of the ground covered
with herring fry, three or four inches in length, fresh and
uninjured. The spot was three miles distant from the
* Chambers, "Book of Days," ii., 361, 3Q2.
SHOWERS OF FISH. 495
Firth of Dingwall. About two years afterwards, in the
island of Islay, off the west coast of Argyleshire, the in-
habitants were greatly surprised, after a day of violent
rain, to discover a large number of herrings, small, per-
fectly fresh, some of them even alive, scattered over the
fields. It is also on record that, on one occasion, during
a strong gale, herrings and other fish were swept from
the Firth of Forth as far as Loch Leven, a distance of
ten miles. More recently, says Chambers, it was stated
in a Wick newspaper that, on a particular morning, a
large quantity of herrings were found in a garden about
half a mile from the shore at that town. The peasants
cooked and ate them ; though the minds of some misgave
them as to the possibility of Satanic agency having been
concerned in the transmission of the clupeids to such
a spot !
In 1858, during a night of violent tempest, thousands
of fishes, each about four inches in length, fell in the
streets of Mkolaisberg in Transylvania.
How are we to explain these phenomena ? There can
be little doubt that the agents producing them are winds,
whirlwinds, and waterspouts. It was observed that the
shower of herrings at Islay occurred after a day of heavy
rain ; and that at Loch Leveii when a furious gale was
blowing inland from the Firth of Forth. The incident
at Wick was attributed by the more intelligent inhabit-
ants to a waterspout ; and at Calcutta the fish-fall was
preceded and accompanied by a shower of rain. The
results in each case were probably due to the circular or
rotatory action of the wind, that action which on a more
extensive scale is visible in the cyclone ; which produces
on land the whirlwind, and at sea the waterspout.
(502; 32
496 THE SUCKING-FISH.
THE ECHENEIS, REMORA, OR SUCKING-FISH.
No fish has been the subject of greater exaggeration
on the part of those naturalists who delight in wonders,
and eschew the calm research of science, than the remora
or echeneis ; yet its organization is in itself so curious
and admirable, that it required no embellishments of
fancy to render it an object of interest.
Let us hear, however, what the ancients had to say
about it.
According to Pliny, it is a small fish accustomed to
dwell among the rocks, which attaches itself to the keel
of ships, and retards or arrests their progress ; which is
used in the composition of love-potions ; which, owing to
some singular moral force inherent in it, can delay the
action of justice and the jurisdiction of tribunals; which
can secure pregnant women from the dangers of prema-
ture delivery ; and which, when preserved in salt, ac-
quires a magnetic power, and extracts from the depths of
wells whatever treasures they may contain.
The current of the sea is great, says the Latin natu-
ralist,* its tides are mighty, the winds puissant and
forcible, and, more than that, oars and sails withal to
help forward the rest are mighty and powerful ; and yet
there is one little silly fish, echeneis, that checketh,
scorneth, and arresteth them all : let the winds blow as
much as they will, rage the storms and tempests never so
strong, even yet this little fish commandeth their fury,
restraineth their puissance, and, maugre all their force, as
great as it is, compelleth the ships to stand still 1 Why
should our fleets and armadas at sea make such turrets
* Pliny, "Nat. Hist.," translated by Philemon Holland.
A MARVELLOUS TALE. 497
on the wails and forecastles, when one little fish see
the vanity of man ! is able to arrest and stay perforce
our goodly and tall ships 1 Certes, reported it is, that
in the naval battle before Actium, wherein Antony and
Cleopatra were defeated by Augustus, one of these fishes
stayed the admiral's ship, whereon Mark Antony was,
at what time as he made all the haste and means he
could devise, with help of oars, to encourage his people
from ship to ship, and could not prevail, until he was
forced to abandon the said admiral, and go into another
galley. Meanwhile, the armada of Augustus Caesar,
seeing the disorder, charged with greater violence, and
soon defeated the fleet of Antony.
Of late days also, continues Pliny, and within our
remembrance, the like happened to the royal ship of the
Emperor Caius Caligula, at what time as he rowed back
and made sail from Astura to Antium : and as soon as
the vessel (a galley furnished with five banks of oars to a
side) was perceived alone in the fleet to stand still, pres-
ently a number of bold fellows leaped out of their ships
into the sea, to search after the said galley, what the
reason might be that it stirred not, and found one of
these fishes sticking fast to the very helm ; which
being reported to Caius Caligula, he fumed and sware as
an emperor, taking a great indignation that so small a
thing as this should hold her back perforce, and check
the strength of all his warriors, notwithstanding there
were no fewer than four hundred lusty men in his galley,
that laboured at the oar, all that ever they could do to the
contrary. This fish presaged an unfortunate event, for no
sooner was he arrived at Rome than some soldiers fell upon
him [that is, upon Caligula], and stabbed him to death,
498 OPPIAN'S " HALIEUTICS."
After reading this veracious statement the reader will
be disposed to think, perhaps, that Imperial Rome had
its Munchausen !
But ^Elian is equally credulous, equally imaginative,
and gravely records as facts what the veriest tyro in
natural history would now denounce as fables. A galley,
he says, was despatched to Corcyra by Periander, the
tyrant of Corinth, with orders for the massacre of three
hundred children born in the former city. In spite of a
fair wind, the ship remained almost motionless ; a result
due to the combined efforts of a number of compassionate
remoras. Great honours were paid at Cnidus, in the
temple of Aphrodite, to the fish which had wrought so
famous a miracle ; and our own opinion is that the
honours were well deserved !
In the " Halieutics " of Oppian we find a spirited
description of the astonishment experienced by the crew
of a vessel which, sailing before a favourable wind, with
the advantage of a strong current, is suddenly arrested
in the full force of its career ! In vain the breeze puffs
out the useless canvas ; in vain the sails, and shrouds,
and cordage creak and crack ; in vain the swift tide
hurries past the motionless keel :
" The seamen run confused, no labour spared,
Let fly the sheets, and hoist the topmast yard ;
The master bids them give her all the sails,
To court the winds, and catch the coming gales :
But though the canvas bellies with the blast,
And boisterous winds bend down the cracking mast,
The bark stands firmly rooted on the sea,
And all unmoved as tower or towering tree."
He elsewhere describes this wonder-working inhabitant
of the deep :
"Slender its shape, its length a en bit ends,
No beauteous spot the gloomy race commends :
ABOUT THE REMOKA. 499
An eel-like clinging kind, of dusky looks,
Its jaws display tenacious rows of hooks ;
The sucking-fish beneath, with secret chains
Beneath its teeth, the sailing ship detains."
Badham identifies the echineis with the lamprey ; but
we see no reason for disputing the usual classification of
zoologists, and prefer to regard it as the same with our
modern remora, or sucking-fish. That it is incapable of
performing the marvels ascribed to it by Pliny, Oppian,
and .^Elian, we need hardly say ; on the other hand, its
adhesive qualities are certainly remarkable. Its fins are
so feeble as to afford it but little support, and therefore
it attaches itself to various solid objects, to the keel of a
ship, to whales, sharks, and other fishes ; and so tena-
ciously does it cling, that it is exceedingly difficult to
accomplish the work of separation without the destruction
of the unfortunate remora.
It is principally an inhabitant of the Mediterranean
and Atlantic waters. Its general colour is a dusky brown.
The skin is smooth and destitute of scales, but punctured
with numerous impressed points or pores. The mouth,
which is of large size, is armed with a number of small
teeth, and the lower jaw is longer than the upper. The
eyes are small, with yellow irises. The lateral line be-
gins above the pectoral fins, and from thence, descending
somewhat abruptly, runs straight in the tail, which is
slightly forked, or, more strictly speaking, cuneated.
The adhesion of the remora is not effected by its
mouth, as in the case of the lamprey, whose mouth is a
complete sucking apparatus, but by a very curious and
even complex mechanism, which occupies the upper part
of the head. This may be compared to the lattice of a
small window of an elongated oval shape, the bars of the
500
A COMPLEX APPARATUS.
lattice being movable, and the whole being horizontally
arranged. Two series of transverse osseous laminse, or
plates, parallel to each other, but separated by a longitu-
dinal partition, and enclosed in an oval fleshy framework ;
THE REMORA.
each lamina articulated at one end to the framework, at
the other to the central partition, and furnished on its
posterior edge, which it raises or lowers at will, with
several rows of sharp spines ; finally, a set of special
muscles to set in motion these laminae ; such is the
adhesive apparatus of the remora.
By several eminent authorities it is referred to the fin
type ; and De Blainville regarded it as an imperfect
medial fin, with half the rays inclined to the right, and
the other half to the left. We need not trouble the
reader with a scientific disquisition on this point. Suffice
it to state, that it is through the apparatus we have de-
scribed the remora makes good its holdfast on any special
object. In what manner, however, the tenacious action
HOW DOES IT ACT? 501
of this organ takes place, our naturalists do not satisfac-
torily explain. According to some, the remora creates a
vacuum between the laminae of its disc, which would
justify the name of " sucking-fish " frequently applied to it :
according to others, it insinuates its spines into the ob-
jects to which, it adheres. It seems probable that in one
or other of these ways, or perhaps in both, the adhesion
is produced.
The remora would seem to have been observed in the
act of adhering to surfaces where its spines could not
possibly take hold ; as, for example, to anchors, and to
the keels of copper-bottomed ships. In this case, the ad-
hesion was evidently due to the vacuum. On the other
hand, the spines act in all cases where the disc comes in
contact with a body they are able to penetrate : thus we
render its contact only the more effectual when we attempt
to pull away the remora, and can effect its removal only
by impelling it forward. Otherwise, a man may spend
his whole strength in vain. Commerson, having brought
his thumb in contact with the plate of a remora, experi-
enced a kind of stupor, or paralytic numbness, which did
not pass away for some time after the experiment.
We may add that the remora floats upon its back. Bosc
affirmed that he had seen two or three remoras detach
themselves from the ship he was on board of, to hasten
after some roasted beans he had thrown into the sea; and
they always floated in the water with their belly upwards.
Fishing with the Echeneis. The echeneis is found in
many seas, and makes its appearance simultaneously with
the turtle. In some parts of the world, therefore, man
employs the one to catch the other.
502
UTILIZING THE ECHENEIS.
So ingeniously simple a mode of fishing was in great
vogue on the American coast in the sixteenth century,
and reference is made to it both by Peter Martyr, who
wrote in 1532, and Hernandez de Oviedo, who wrote in
1535.
The following description is founded upon Commerson's
CATCHING TURTLE WITH THE ECHENEIS.
narrative. The fishermen, he says, attach to the tail of
an echeneis a ring wide enough not to inconvenience the
fish, and yet small enough to be kept in its place by the
caudal fin. To this ring a long line is fastened. The
echeneis is then placed in a vessel of sea-water, which is
frequently renewed, arid being carried on board the boat,
THE PILOT-FISH. 503
the fishermen are ready for their expedition. They sail
towards the favourite rendezvous of the turtles, which are
accustomed to float asleep on the surface of the water, but
are aroused by the slightest sound.
When the fishermen, therefore, catch sight of one at a
distance, they drop their echeneis into the sea, holding
fast one end of the cable attached to it. The fish, finding
itself free, swims round about in search of an object to
rest upon, and, after awhile, comes in contact with the
turtle. Immediately it adheres to its carapace, thus
providing the fishermen with an excellent grapnel, and
enabling them to capture their prey by the simple process
of hauling in the line.
THE PILOT-FISH.
As the remora so frequently accompanies both sharks
and ships, and even precedes them in their course, it not
infrequently receives the name of the pilot-fish. Hence
arises an occasional confusion, against which it is neces-
sary to put the reader on his guard ; for the name "pilot"
is also bestowed on the Naucrates ductor, a fish which
will sometimes attend a ship during its course at sea for
weeks or 'even months in succession, and is often found
in attendance upon the Squalidce. In size and shape
this fish resembles the mackerel ; its general colour is a
grayish-blue, with a kind of silvery tinge ; the body is
encircled by five dark-blue transversal bands; and both
on the head and tail slight indications of another band
are visible. It has a small head, with a rounded nose
and an under jaw rather longer than the upper. The
scales are small and oval ; the ventral fins attached to
the abdomen by a membrane through one-third of their
504
A NATURALIST S ANECDOTE.
length ; the pectoral fins clouded with white and blue,
the ventrals nearly black.
THE PILOT-FISH (NAUCRATES DUCTOIl).
Strange tales are told of the habits of this fish ; strange
tales which we are by no means prepared to endorse.
But the following, related by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the
great French naturalist, deserves our attention on account
of the reputation of its author : *
" I found myself," he writes, " on board the frigate Al-
cestis, between Cape Bona and the island of Malta. The
sea was tranquil ; and we passengers were growing weary
of the protracted calm, when our attention was directed
to a shark which was evidently making towards our ves-
sel. It was preceded by its i pilots,' which between each
other and the shark preserved pretty exactly the same
distance. The two pilots steered for the vessel's stern,
surveyed it twice from one end to the other, and after
assuring themselves there was nothing which could be
* G. Saint-Hilaire, in the " Bulletin des Sciences," No. 63, p 113, et sq
THE SHARK AND THE PILOT-FISH. 505
turned to their advantage, resumed the route they had
previously held. During all their various movements,
the shark did not lose sight of them, or rather, followed
them so closely, that you might almost have said it had
been trained by them to do so.
" Its presence had no sooner been detected than a sailor
on board prepared a great hook, which he baited with
lard ; but the shark and its companions were already
seventy to eighty feet distant before the fisherman had
completed his preparations. However, he threw at all
hazards his bait into the sea. The noise occasioned by
the fall was audible at a distance. Our voyagers heard
it, were astonished, and checked their course ; the two
pilots turned about, and came to the vessel's stern in
quest of information. During their absence, the shark
disported itself after its fancy. It turned over on its
back, righted itself, dived deep into the sea, but always
reappeared at its point of departure. The two pilots, in
their survey of the poop of the Alcestis, discovered the
lard ; which they had no sooner done, than they returned
towards the shark much more swiftly than they had
parted from it. When they had come up with their
monstrous companion, the latter began to resume its
course. Then the pilots, swimming one on its right side,
the other on its left, used their utmost exertions to guide
it in a different direction ; and having at last succeeded,
they suddenly returned in company, and a second time
visited the vessel's stern, thus, through their sagacity,
bringing the shark in sight of the prey intended for it.
"It has been asserted that the shark possesses a very fine
sense of smell. I paid close attention to all that passed
when it found itself in the neighbourhood of the pork,
506 THE BITER BIT.
and it seemed to me that it was ignorant of its where-
abouts until its guides had, as it were, pointed it out ;
it was then only that it increased its speed, or rather
made a leap to seize the bait. It detached a portion at
first without being hooked ; but at its second attempt
the hook penetrated the left lip : it was caught, and
hauled on board."
Two hours afterwards, one of the two " pilots " was
captured, and GeofFroy Saint -Hilaire recognized in it the
fanfre of the French seamen our " pilot-fish," or the
Naucrates ductor.
n e x
A.CERBI, quoted, 45.
.Elian, quoted, 11, 106, 330, 498.
A-iguillon, Bay of, mussel-farm at,
289, 291.
Aleutian Islands, fur seal at, 433.
Alexander, Sir James E., quoted, 345.
All the Year Round, quoted, 150-152.
Ambrose, St., quoted, 12.
Anchovy, the, natural history of, 184.
Arcachon, mussel-culture at, 265 ;
oyster-farm at, 2G5-268.
Aristotle, quoted, 104.
Artesian wells, fish in, 491.
Ascension Island, turtle-fishing at,
345, 346.
Athenseus, quoted, 11, 103.
A.usonius, quoted, 12, 189.
BADHAM, quoted. 63, 92, 95, 102, 103,
119, 190, 200, 307.
Battle of the Herrings, 157
Bertram, quoted, 10, 27, 34, 56, 81,
153, 211, 226, 243.
Black, William, quoted, 144.
Blackwood's Magazine, quoted, 174-
176.
Brill, the, described, 92.
Brittany, sardine-fishery of, 183.
Brydone, quoted, 124.
Bultow-process, the, a mode of catch-
ing cod, 63.
CABOT, visit of, to Newfoundland, 61.
Cachalot, the, described, 377.
Calvert, Sir George, 61.
Caviare, description of, 192.
Ceylon, pearl-fishery at, 276-284.
Chambers, Dr. R, quoted, 492.
Chateaulin, in Lower Brittany, sal-
mon-fisheries at, 47, 48.
Chausey, in Normandy, shrimping at,
230.
Coal-fish, the, described, 84.
Cod, the, natural history of, 50; wide
range of, 51; voracity of, 52; useful-
ness of, 53 ; fishery and curing of,
54-77.
Comacchio, eel-fishery at, 208.
Commerson, quoted, 502.
Copais, Lake, famous eels of, 200.
Coral-fishery, the, described, 478, 485.
Coral, its classification, 465 ; its pro-
duction, 467; its various kinds, 485.
Coral-producing animalcules, charac-
teristics of, 467; their reproduction
by gemmation, 469; by fission, 469.
Coral reef, formation of, described,
470-474.
Cornhill Magazine, quoted, 251, 333-
337.
Cortereal, the discoverer of Newfound-
land,-. 60.
Coste, M., the pisciculturist, 265.
Couch, quoted, 170, 312, 328.
Cowie, Dr., quoted, 78, 463.
Crab, the, described, 224, 225.
Crantz, quoted, 96, 326.
Curing herrings, processes of, de-
scribed, 157-160.
Cuvier, quoted, 53.
508
INDEX.
DAB, the, described, 96.
Dampier, quoted, 343.
Darwin, C., quoted, 344.
Deslandes, quoted, 13, 47.
Dogger-Bank, the, cod-fisheries of, 54.
Doran, Dr., quoted, 173.
Dorse, the, 85.
Drayton, quoted, 15.
Dugong, the, 424.
Dumont d'TJrville, quoted, 299
ECHINEIS, the, characteristics of, 496,
et sqq.
Eeleries, modern, 201.
Eel, the, natural history of, 199-202 ;
its slipperiness, 205 ; fishery of, 207.
FABYAN, quoted, 82.
Faroe, cod-fishery of, 77.
Fayot, anecdote from, 12.
Finland, salmon-fishing in, 42, 43.
"Finnan haddocks, "how prepared, 81.
Fish, showers of, 496.
Flies, artificial, described, 19, 20.
Flounder, the, described, 95.
Fly-fishing for salmon, 19.
Franks, quoted, 95.
Frere, Hookham, quoted, 13.
Fuller, Thomas, quoted, 14, 173.
Fusaro, Lake, oyster-farm at, 258.
GADID.E, the, natural family of the
class Pisces, 50.
Gallapagos Islands, the, turtles at,
343, 344.
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 61.
Greene, Professor, quoted, 468.
Greenland, salmon-fishing in, 42.
Greenland whale, the, described, 368-
377.
HADDOCK, the, described, 80-82 ;
tradition connected with, 81.
Hake, the, described, 85, 86.
Halibut, the, described, 96.
Hall, Captain Basil, quoted, 317, 472.
Hall, Captain C. F., 374, 456.
Hammer-head shark, the, described,
330, 331.
Harling, a mode of catching salmon,
described, 41.
Herring-fishery, the, description of,
136.
Herring, the, natural history of, 127-
129 ; its supposed migrations dis-
proved, 130; its different races, 133;
its spawning, 134; its four different
stages, 135.
Holothuria, the, natural history of,
295-299 ; fishing for, on coast of
Australia, 299-303 ; British species
of, 303.
Horace, quoted, 89, 185, 426.
ICELAND, salmon-fishing in, 42.
KANE, Dr., quoted, 431, 458, 459-
461.
Kerr, quoted, 163.
King, Captain, quoted, 314.
LABRADOR, cod-fishery of, 73.
Lacepe~de, quoted, 62, 168.
Lerwick, Dutch fishing-boats at, 162-
164.
L'Estrange, Sir Koger, quoted, 168.
Ling, the, 85.
Lobster, the, natural history of, 214-
222; different kinds, 222.
Lobster-trap, the, described, 226.
Loch Boisdale, Scotland, herring-
fishery in, 149-152.
Loch Fyne, Scotland, herring-fishery
in, 142-147.
Lovat, Lord, anecdote of, 40.
MACKEREL, the, range of, 114; migra-
tions of, 115.
Madrague, the, a mode of fishing,
described, 108.
Manatee, the, described, 423.
Markham, Captain, quoted, 357, 361-
363, 383, 384, 391-394.
Mermaids, origin of, 422.
Milton, quoted, 273.
Montgomery, James, quoted, 477.
Moore, Thomas, quoted, 272.
Mussel-farm in Bay of Aiguillon, 288.
Mussel, the, natural history of, 285-
288; culture of, 288-294.
NEWFOUNDLAND, cod-fisheries of, 58 -
65 ; their value, 76.
Newlyn, pilchard-fishery at, 177.
Nicholson, Professor, quoted, 219.
Norway, the cod-fishery of, 77.
INDEX.
509
OLAUS MAGNUS, quoted, 13.
Once a Week, quoted, 266-269.
Oppian, quoted, 104, 123, 124, 313, 330,
498.
Grata, Sergius, his epicureanism, 257.
Owen, Professor, quoted, 309.
Oyster - culture, described, 255-257,
260-264.
Oyster-farms, at Whitstable, 249; in
'the Colne, 250 ; in the Firth of
Forth, 251 ; in Ireland, 252 ; in
Italy, 258 ; in France, 264.
Oyster, the, its ancient and modern
repute, 238-240 ; its associations,
241, 242; its physiology, 243-246;
its spawn, 247, 248.
PARR, the young of the salmon, 25.
Pearl-oyster, the, natural history of,
270.
Pearls, British, fishery for, 282.
Pearl, the, what it is, 269-271 ; its
ancient celebrity, 272 ; some cele-
brated specimens, 274, 275 ; its fish-
ery, 275, 284.
Pennant, quoted, 102.
Phocidse, the. See SEAL.
Pilchard, the, natural history of, 169 ;
on the Cornish coast, 170 ; modes
of catching, 171.
Plaice, the, described, 92.
Pleuronectidse, the, or flat-fish, physi-
cal characters of, 86.
Pliny, quoted, 272, 273, 305, 467, 496,
497.
Poaching for salmon, 37.
Pollack, described, 84.
Pontoppidan, quoted, 117.
Prawn, the, natural history of, 236,
237.
"QUARTERLY REVIEW," quoted, 405-
408.
REMORA, the, fables respecting, 496-
499 ; its sucking -apparatus, 499-
501 ; used in catching turtle, 502-
506.
Russel, A., quoted, 19.
SAixT-Gii/LES-suR-Vic, shrimp-fish-
ing at, 233.
Saint- Hilaire, Geoffrey, quoted, 504.
Salmon, the, natural history of, 10;
its migrations, 13 ; its mode of leap-
ing, 14 ; ascending a stream, 15 ;
fishing for, at night, 16 ; caught by
rod and line, 20, 21 ; spawning of,
24 ; growth of, 25 ; velocity of, 26 ;
its return to the sea, 27 ; in Alaska,
29 ; in Canada, 31 ; in Great Britain,
33 ; Greenland, 42.
Sardine, the, natural history of, 182,
183.
Scomberidse, the, physical characters
of, 100, 101.
Scoresby, Dr., quoted, 326, 366, 370,
372, 374, 417-419, 420, 421.
Scotsman, The, quoted, 444.
Scott, Sir Walter, quoted, 18, 435.
Sea-elephant, the, described, 442.
Seal-fisheries of Newfoundland, 444,
et sqq.
Seal-fishery, the, antiquity of, 455.
Sea-lion, the, described, 441, 442.
Seal, the, its characteristics, 427 ; its
habitat, 429 ; its food, 430 ; seal-
stalking, 431 ; the common seal, 433 ;
harp seal, 436 ; bearded seal, 437 ;
other species, 438-440 ; its flesh, 456.
Shad, the, described, 186.
Shakespeare, quoted, 192, 273.
Shark, the, description of, 304 ; its
range, 305 ; its organization, 309 ;
the British species, 311 ; the blue
shark, voracity of, 313 ; the white
shark, 314 ; its capture, 316-321 ; its
destructiveness, 323 ; the thrasher,
described, 324 ; the Greenland shark,
326 ; the basking shark, 327 ; the
hammer-head, 330.
Shetland, herring-fishery at, 161 ; whale-
hunt at, 403, 404 ; seal-fishery of, 462.
Shoshony Indians, the, salmon-fishing
by, 45.
Shrimp, the, characteristics of, 22&-
230.
Simpson, Sir George, quoted, 433.
Smyth, Admiral, quoted, 478.
Sole, the, delicacy of, 90; natural his-
tory of, 91 ; range of, 91 ; ancient
celebrity of, 91 ; in mythology, 92.
Sophocles, quoted, 118.
Spallanzani, quoted, 126.
Spearing salmon, described, 18.
Spermaceti, its nature, 379.
510
INDEX.
Sperm whale, the, described, 377.
Spey, the, salmon-fishing in, 17.
Sprat, the, natural history of, 180-
182.
Stewart, quoted, 283.
St. Ives, pilchard-fishery at, 178-180.
St. James's-day, oysters upon, 241.
St. John, 0., quoted, 15, 16, 18.
Story, W. W., quoted, 281.
Sturgeon, the, characteristics of, 187,
188 ; species of, 189 ; spawning of,
190 ; value of, 191 ; fisheries of, 192-
198.
Sun-fishing in Ireland, 332-337.
Sword-fish, the, description of, 117 ;
its fury, 118 ; its enmity to the
whale, 119 ; modes of capture of,
124, 125.
TAT, the, salmon-fishing in, 17.
Tennent, Sir Emerson, quoted, 281,
309, 346, 348, 349.
Tennyson, quoted, 274, 423, 474.
Tonnaire, the, mode of fishing, de-
scribed, 106.
Tortoise-shell, 348.
Trawling, supposed evils of, 146, 165-
167.
Trawl-net, the, described, 56, 57.
Trepang-fishery, the, description of,
299-303.
Tunny, the, characteristics of, 101 ;
migrations of, 104 ; capture of, by
the ancients, 105 ; modern fishing
for, 106.
Turbot, the, natural history of, 86-90.
Turtle, the, characteristics of, 338-
340 ; the green turtle, 340 ; turtle in
Ceylon, 346, 347 ; hawksbill turtle,
347-349; its instinct, 349; coriaceous
turtle. 350 ; loggerhead, 351 ; in
Polynesia, 351.
Tweed, the, salmon-fisheries of, 35-39.
UTRECHT, Treaty of, 62.
VADSO, in Norway, whale-fishery at,
399.
Volcanic fishes, 438.
Volga, the, sturgeon-fishing in, 197,
198.
"Vox Piseis," curious anecdote of a
tract so called, 63.
WALLER, quoted, 363-365.
Walton, Izaak, quoted, 12.
Walton, J., the inventor of mussel-
culture, 288.
Whale-fishery, the, history and anec-
dotes of, 381, et sqq.
Whale, the, natural history of, 352-
361 ; its habits, 361-366 ; its differ-
ent species, 356-381.
Whaling-ship, equipment and crew of,
383-385.
Whitebait, the, described, 184.
White-fish, what they are, 50.
Whiting, the, described, 84.
Wick, scenes of the herring-fishery at,
153, 156.
Wilson. Professor, his description of
a salmon-hunt, 22-24 ; on oysters,
240.
YARMOUTH, herring-fishery at, 148,
157-160.
Yarrell, quoted, 86, 115, 120, 203.
ZYG/ENA, the. See HAMMER-HEAD
SHARK.
i r .- .
i & ! -