distinct columns of five or six miles in
length, and three or four in breadth; and
they drive the water before them in 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 variety of splendid colours. 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 creek and bay with
their numbers; others pass on towards
Yarmouth, the great and ancient mart of
herrings; they then pass through the British
Channel, and after that in a manner disappear.
Those which take to the west, after
offering themselves to the Hebrides, where
the great stationary fishing 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."

Such is Pennant's theory of the migration,
which, however, has not been universally
received. Block holds that, in common with
the mackerel, the herring is always in close
proximity to the shore, and that the "army"
only nears the shore for the purpose of spawning.
Yarrell, M'Culloch, and other naturalists,
are also of this opinion, and adduce
several statements in support of their position;
such as the impossibility of the locomotive
powers of the herring being capable of carrying
it such distances within the period
described, and that Arctic voyagers have
not found it in the high northern latitudes,
whence the "army" is understood to
commence "its march along the mountain wave."
We cannot pretend to offer any materials for
the adjustment of this question. Continued
and accurate observation will, in due time,
settle it definitely. In the meantime, it is
admitted on all hands, that, whether after a
long excursion across the Atlantic, or after a
cunning sojourn within hail of our northern
mountains, the "army" does suddenly surround
our shores at a given time; and then
our fishermen, observing their flushing ripple
on the bosom of the deep, drop one end of
their nets, laden with stones, whilst the other
floats on the top; and then the shoals, dashing
against this tiny but dangerous obstruction,
become the prey of man in millions.

No subject, however isolated or barren it
may appear at first sight, does in reality
stand alone, or is destitute of materials for
thought to the reflecting. Herrings stand
connected with the Slave-trade and the
Reformation! Planters were wont to feed
their slaves with broken herrings. The
crown brand on casks indicated whole fish
and superior curing; but it is needless to
say that the supplies despatched to the West
Indies were unbranded. Broken fish are now
little known—they belonged to the period
when bounties were given; and when Government
gave its money to the slaveholder,
it took it away from the fishermen, and
market and producers disappeared at one
and the same time. In the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, herrings were in great
demand on the Continent during Lent;
and it is even said that Charles the Fifth
erected a monument over the remains of
one Benkelson, the inventor of pickled
herrings.

But the Reformation came, and Catholics
themselves became lax in the observance of
the abstinence season, and so the demand fell
off considerably. Latterly it has revived;
very probably from the superior method of
curing, and the use of the fish as a general
article of diet, apart from theological belief.
Stettin, from some cause that does not readily
appear, is the great continental depôt for
herrings; and thither, for the most part, are
they sent, on consignment, by the British
curer. The prices, we need scarcely add, are
subject to great fluctuations.

We have stated that there is a Fishery
Board in Scotland; but we are humbly of
opinion that the sooner that honourable body
disappears, the better will it be for the
national finances. It costs the country some
twelve thousand pounds annually, and all that
it does is to distribute annual grants of from
two thousand pounds to six thousand pounds
for constructing and keeping in repair boat-
harbours, and five hundred pounds for assisting
poor fishermen in making their boats
seaworthy, and to brand herring-barrels with a
hot iron, and perforate holes in the tails of
dried cod and ling. The money could be
distributed through other channels; and as for
the iron imprimatur of a Government
functionary being necessary to guarantee a good
article to the foreign customer, we answer,
that as most other commodities of British
manufacture are guaranteed, in respect of
quality, by the name of the manufacturer,
without any endorsation from Government,
we do not see why cured herrings should not
be allowed to stand in the same category with
such other commodities. The brand is a relic
of the old bounty system, and the grants to
boats and harbours savour of the same origin,
and should therefore be abandoned as soon
as possible. If. the board could induce a
change from open to decked boats, they
would do the trade some service; but this
the prejudices of the fishermen put beyond
their power.

The open yawl is undoubtedly convenient
for setting and hauling nets, because the chest
can lean against the side of the boat as a sort
of fulcrum; but this and other advantages
are fully compensated by the dangers to
which open boats are exposed when suddenly
overtaken by a storm. Besides, in cases where