the streams in the adjacent counties, is purchased at the rate of ten pounds per annum.

These fish shift their quarters to spawn; and, like salmon, make up towards the heads of rivers to deposit their roes. The under jaw of the trout is subject, at certain times, to the same curvature as that of the salmon.

A trout taken in Llynallet, in Denbighshire, which is famous for an excellent kind, measured seventeen inches, its depth three and three quarters, its weight one pound ten ounces: the head thick; the nose rather sharp; the upper jaw a little longer than the lower; both jaws, as well as the head, were of a pale brown, blotched with black: the teeth sharp and strong; disposed in the jaws, roof of the mouth, and tongue, as is the case with the whole genus, except the gwyniad, which is toothless, and the grayling, which has none on its tongue.

The back was dusky; the sides tinged with a purplish bloom, marked with deep purple spots, mixed with black, above and below the line, which was straight: the belly white.

The dorsal fin was spotted; the spurious fin brown, tipped with red; the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins, of a pale brown; the edges of the anal fin white; the tail very little forked when extended.

[Shaw. Pennant.

SECTION XII!.

Flying-Fish.

Exocætus exiliens.-LINN.

THE fishes of this genus, which are very few in number, are remarkable for the extreme length and size of their pectoral fins, by which they are enabled to spring occasionally from the water, and to support a kind of temporary flight or continued motion through the air, to the distance of two or three hundred feet; when, the fins becoming dry, they are again obliged to commit themselves to their own element. The species at present to be described is chiefly observed in the Mediterranean and Atlantic seas, where, according to an ingenious naturalist, it leads a most miserable

life: in its own element it is perpetually harassed by the dorado and other fish of prey; and if it endeavour to avoid them by having recourse to the air, it either meets its fate from the gull and albatross, or is forced down again into the mouth of the inhabitants of the water which keep pace with its aërial excursion.” This however ought to be considered as an exaggerated representation of the creature's state of existence, since, by the admirable balance ordained by nature, the weaker animals have powers of escape in exact proportion to their danger.*

It should be observed, that this power of flight or temporary skimming through the air to a considerable distance, is not entirely confined to this genus, but takes place in some species of the genus scorpæna, as well as in that of trigla, and various others, as the reader may perceive in the prosecution of the present section.

The general length of the Mediterranean flying-fish is from twelve to fifteen or sixteen inches; and its general shape is not unlike that of a herring: the body is subcylindrical but with a slight approach to square, if a transverse section be supposed: the head is rather large, and sloping pretty suddenly in front: the mouth small, and edged on both jaws with minute, pointed teeth: the eyes large, and of a silver colour with a cast of gold: the scales are large, thin, and rounded: the whole animal is of a bright silvery cast, with a blue or dusky tinge on the upper part: the fins are also of a dusky colour: of these the pectoral extend as far as the beginning of the tail, and are of a sharply lanceolate form: the dorsal and anal fins are shallow, and placed opposite each other near the tail, which is deeply forked with sharp-pointed

To this purpose I may quote the observation of an ingenious gentleman (Capt. G. Tobin), who had frequent opportunities of observing the habits of the flying-fish, and who thus expresses himself in a note annexed to a drawing of this species observed about the coasts of Otaheitee. "The lower half of

the tail, in the flying-fish, is full twice the length of the upper: the use of it has always appeared evident to me. I have by the hour watched the dolphins and bonitos in pursuit of them; when, without wholly immersing themselves, which would have proved fatal to them, they have disposed in their progressive motion the lower part of the tail in such a manner as to supply their wings with moisture, so as to support them above the surface. I never saw one ex• ceed the distance of one hundred yards in its flight, without being obliged to dip for a fresh supply.”

lobes, of which the lower is nearly twice the length of the upper: the ventral fins are rather large, of a lengthened and pointed shape, and situated a little beyond the middle of the abdomen to. wards the anal fin: on each side the lower part of the abdomen runs a kind of carina or lateral line, formed by a series of small, inclining points, or spicules.

This species is frequently observed in the Mediterranean, some. times singly, and sometimes appearing in small shoals. Instances are not unfreqnent of its falling into ships during the decline of its flight. It is considered as an agreeable fish for the table, and by some is even preferred to the herring. The general height at which it is observed to exercise its flight, is about three feet above the surface of the water.

[Shaw.

SECTION XIV.

Herring.

Clupea harengus.-LINN.

THIS fish, so eminently important in a commercial view, and which may justly be said to form one of the wonders of the northern world, is principally distinguished by the brilliant silvery colour of its body, the advancement of the lower jaw beyond the upper, and by the number of rays in the anal fin, which, in by far the greater number of specimens, are found to amount to seventeen*: the back is of a dusky blue or greenish cast, and in the recent or living fish the gill-covers are marked by a reddish, and sometimes by a violet-coloured spot: the eyes are large; the mouth without visible teeth; the openings of the gill-covers very large; the scales rather large, and easily desiduous; the lateral line not very distinctly visible; the abdomen pretty sharply carinated, and in some specimens, slightly serrated: the fins are rather small than large for the size of the fish, and the tail strongly forked. In size the herring is observed to vary greatly, and there are probably some permanent varieties of this species which yet want their exact description. The general size is perhaps from ten to twelve or thir teen inches.

Mr. Pennant says fourteen: the number indeed is not absolutely onstant, but the most general appears to be seventeen.

Important as is this fish to the inhabitants of modern Europe, it is doubted whether it was distinctly known to the ancient Greeks and Romans: at least we find no certain description in their writings either of its forms or uses. The herring fishery however is of very considerable antiquity: the Dutch are said to have engaged in it so long ago as the year 1164, and were in possession of it for several centuries, and Flanders had the honour of discovering the method of preserving this fish by pickling it. One William Bue. kelin, of Biervelet, near Sluys, is said to have been the inventor of this useful expedient, and from him, according to Mr. Pennant, is derived the word pickle, which we have borrowed from the Dutch and Germans. Buekelin died in the year 1397. The Emperor Charles the Fifth is said to have held his memory in such veneration for the service he had done mankind, as to have paid a solemn visit to his tomb in honour of so distinguished a citizen. "The Dutch (says Mr. Pennant) are most extravagantly fond of fish when pickled; a premium is given to the first vessel that arrives in Holland laden with this their ambrosia: we have been in the country at that happy minute, and have observed as much joy among the inhabitants on its arrival, as the Egyptians shew at the first overflowing of the Nile."

Mr. Pennant, in his British Zoology, has so well detailed the general history of the herring, and its supposed migrations, that it is impossible to do better than to repeat his own words.

"The great winter rendezvous of the herring is within the Arctic circle: there they continue many months in order to recruit themselves after the fatigue of spawning, the seas within that space swarming with insect food in a far greater degree than in our warmer latitudes.

"This mighty army begins to put itself in motion in the spring: we distinguish this vast body by that name, for the word herring is derived from the German, heer, an army, to express their numbers.

"They begin to appear off the Shetland isles in April and May: these are only forerunners of the grand shoal which comes in June, and their appearance is marked by certain signs, by the numbers of birds, such as gannets and others, which follow to prey on them: but when the main body approaches, its breadth and depth is such as to alter the very appearance of the ocean. It is divided into distinct columns of five or six miles in length

and three or four in breadth, and they drive the water before them with a kind of rippling: sometimes they sink for the space of ten or fifteen minutes; then rise again to the surface, and in bright weather reflect a variety of splendid colours, like a field of the most precious gems; in which, or rather in a much more valuable light, should this stupendous gift of Providence be con sidered by the inhabitants of the British isles.

"The first check this army meets in its march southward, is from the Shetland isles, which divide it into two parts; one wing takes to the east, the other to the western shores of Great Britain, and fill every bay and creek with their numbers: others pass on towards Yarmouth, the great and ancient mart of herrings: they they then pass through the British channnel, and after that, in a manner disappear: those which take to the west, after offering themselves to the Hebrides, where the great stationary fishery is, proceed towards the North of Ireland, where they meet with a second interruption, and are obliged to make a second division: the one takes to the western side, and is scarce perceived, being soon lost in the immensity of the Atlantic; but the other, which passes into the Irish sea, rejoices and feeds the inhabitants of the coasts that border it.

"These brigades, as we may call them, which are thus sepa. rated from the greater columns, are often capricious in their movements, and do not shew an invariable attachment to their haunts."

The reality of the migration of the herring, so well detailed by Mr. Pennant, begins at present to be greatly called in question; and it is rather supposed that this fish, like the mackrel, is in reality at no very great distance during the winter months, from the shores which it most frequents at the commencement of the spawning season; inhabiting in winter the deep recesses of the ocean, or plunging itself beneath the soft mud at the bottom; but at the vernal season it begins to quit the deeper parts, and ap. proach the shallows in order to deposit its spawn in proper situa. tions; and this is thought a sufficient explanation of the glittering myriads which at particular seasons illumine the surface of the ocean for the length of several miles at once*. As a proof of this

* Herrings spawn at different seasons; some in spring, some in summer,

and some in autumn.