a place where great numbers of fish are caught.

The principal fisheries for salmon, herring, mackerel, pilchards, &c. are along the coasts of Scotland, England, and Ireland; for cod, on the banks of Newfoundland; for whales, about Greenland; and for pearls, in the East and West Indies.

denotes also the commerce of fish, more particularly the catching them for sale.

Were we to enter into a very minute and particular consideration of fisheries, as at present established in this kingdom, this article would swell beyond its proper bounds; because, to do justice to a subject of such concernment to the British nation, requires a very ample and distinct discussion. We shall, however, observe, that since the Divine Providence hath so eminently favored the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland with the most valuable fish; and since fisheries, if successful, become permanent nurseries for breeding expert fishermen; it is not only a duty we owe to the Supreme Being, not to despise the wonderful plenty he hath afforded us, by neglecting to extend this branch of commerce to the utmost; but it is a duty we owe to our country, for its natural security, which depends upon the strength of our royal navy. No nation can have a navy, where there is not a fund of bullocks to breed and employ fishermen without any expense to the public; and no trade is so well calculated for training up these useful members of this society, as fisheries.

The situation of the British coasts is the most advantageous in the world for catching fish; the Scottish islands, particularly those to the north and west, lie most commodious for carrying on the fishing trade to perfection; for no country in Europe can pretend to come up to Scotland in the abundance of the finest fish, with which its various creeks, bays, rivers, lakes, and coasts, are replenished. King Charles I. was so sensible of the great advantage to be derived from fisheries, that he began the experiment, together with a company of merchants; but the civil wars soon occasioned that project to be set aside. King Charles II., made a like attempt; but his pressing wants made him withdraw what money he had employed that way, whereupon the merchants that joined with him did the same. Since the union, several attempts have been made to retrieve the fisheries, and a corporation settled to that effect, entitled the Royal British Fishery.

In the year 1750, the parliament of Great Britain taking the state of the fisheries into consideration, an act was passed for the encouragement of the white-herring fishery, granting a charter, whereby a corporation is created, to continue 21 years, by the name of the Society of the Free British Fishery, to be under the direction of a governor, president, vice-president, council, &c. who are to continue in office the space of three years, with power to make bye-laws, &c. and to raise a capital of 500,000l. by way of subscription. And any number of persons, who, in any part of Great Britain, shall subscribe 10,000l. into the stock of this society, under the name of the fishing-chamber, and carry on the said fishery on their own account of profit and loss, shall be entitled to the same bounty allowed to the society. The bounty is 30s. the ton, to be paid yearly, for 14 years, besides 3 per cent. for the money advanced by each chamber. The act contains other proper regulations, relative to the nets, marks on the herring-barrels, number of hands, and the quantity of salt that is entitled to the bounty, &c. It is, then, by the encouragement given by this act, that we now see a laudable emulation prevailing over the two kingdoms, and fishing hulks fitted out from almost every port, in order to repair to the Shetland islands, where the herring-fishery is carried on with an ardor becoming so important a branch of trade. Scotland, which suffered incredibly from the neglect of this valuable and natural produce of the seas, has not been backward to join in a scheme that tends evidently to its own advantage; for the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, the towns of Montrose, Dundee, Perth, Inverness, and some other boroughs, have raised the proper sum, and chambers have been erected in each of them; the gentlemen of estates adjoining to the respective places above-mentioned, liberally contributing with merchants, towards the prosecution of an undertaking so visibly tending to the good of their country in general.

Free Fishery, in law, or an exclusive right of fishing in a public river, is a royal franchise; and is considered as such in all countries where the feudal policy has prevailed; though the making such grants, and by that means appropriating, what it seems unnatural to restrain, the use of running water, was prohibited for the future by king John's Great Charter; and the rivers that were fenced in his time were directed to be laid open, as well as the forests to be disforested. This opening was extended by the second and third charters of Henry III., to those also that were fenced under Richard I.; so that a franchise of free fishery ought now to be as old at least as the reign of Henry II. This differs from a several of piscary, because he that has a several fishery must also be the owner of the soil, which in a free-fishery is not requisite. It differs also from a common fishery, in that the free fishery is an exclusive right, the common fishery is not so; and therefore, in a free fishery, a man has a property in the fish before they are caught; in a common piscary, not till afterwards. Some indeed have considered a free fishery not as a royal franchise; but merely as a private grant of a liberty to fish in the several fishery of the granteer. But the considering such right as originally a flower of the prerogative, till restrained by Magna Charta, and derived by royal grant (previous to the reign of Richard I.) to such as now claim it by prescription, may remove some difficulties in respect to this matter with which our law-books are embarrassed.

Cod-Fishery. There are two kinds of cod-fish; the one green or white cod, and the other dried or cured cod: tho' it is all the same fish, differently prepared; the former being sometimes salted and barrelled, then taken out for use; and the latter, having lain some competent time in salt, dried in the sun or smoke. We shall therefore speak of each of these apart; and first of the

Green-Cod Fishery. The chief fisheries for green cod are in the bay of Canada, on the great bank of Newfoundland, and on the isle of St Peter, and the isle of Sable; to which places vessels resort from divers parts both of Europe and America. They are from 100 to 150 tons burden, and will catch between 30,000 and 40,000 cod each. The most essential part of the fishery is, to have a master who knows how to cut up the cod, one who is skilled to take off the head properly, and above all a good falter, on which the preserving of them, and consequently the success of the voyage, depends. The best season is from the beginning of February to the end of April; the fish, which in the winter retire to the deepest water, coming then on the banks, and fattening extremely. What is caught from March to June keeps well; but those taken in July, August, and September, when it is warm on the banks, are apt to spoil soon. Every fisher takes but one at a time; the most expert will take from 350 to 400 in a day; but that is the most, the weight of the fish and the great coldness on the bank fatiguing very much. As soon as the cod are caught, the head is taken off; they are opened, gutted, and salted; and the falter flows them in the bottom of the hold, head to tail, in beds a fathom or two square; laying layers of salt and fish alternately, but never mixing fish caught on different days. When they have lain thus three or four days to drain off the water, they are replaced in another part of the ship, and salted again; where they remain till the vessel is loaded. Sometimes they are cut in thick pieces, and put in barrels for the convenience of carriage.

Dry-Cod Fishery. The principal fishery for this article is, from Cape Rose to the Bay des Exports, along the coast of Placentia, in which compass there are divers commodious ports for the fish to be dried in. These, though of the same kind with the fresh cod, are much smaller, and therefore fitter to keep, as the salt penetrates more easily into them. The fishery of both is much alike; only this latter is most expensive, as it takes up more time, and employs more hands, and yet scarce half so much salt is spent in this as in the other. The bait is herrings, of which great quantities are taken on the coast of Placentia. When several vessels meet and intend to fish in the same port, he whose shallop first touches ground, becomes entitled to the quality and privileges of admiral: he has the choice of his station, and the refusal of all the wood on the coast at his arrival. As fast as the masters arrive, they unrig all their vessels, leaving nothing but the shrouds to sustain the masts; and in the mean time the mates provide a tent on shore, covered with branches of trees, and sails over them, with a scaffold of great trunks of pines, 12, 15, 16, and often 20 feet high, commonly from 40 to 60 feet long, and about one third as much in breadth. While the scaffold is preparing, the crew are a-fishing; and as fast as they catch, they bring their fish ashore, and open and salt them upon moveable benches; but the main salting is performed on the scaffold. When the fish have taken salt, they wash and hang them to drain on rails; when drained, they are laid on kinds of flags, which are small pieces of wood laid across, and covered with branches of trees, having the leaves stripped off for the passage of the air. On these flags, they are disposed, a fish thick, head against tail, with the back uppermost, and are turned carefully four times every 24 hours. When they begin to dry, they are laid in heaps ten or twelve thick, in order to retain their warmth; and every day the heaps are enlarged, till they become double their first bulk; then two heaps are joined together, which they turn every day as before: lastly, they are salted again, beginning with those first salted; and being laid in huge piles, they remain in that situation till they are carried on board the ships, where they are laid on the branches of trees disposed for that purpose, upon the ballast, and round the ship, with mats to prevent their contracting any moisture.

There are four kinds of commodities drawn from cod, viz. the soundings, the tongues, the roes, and the oil extracted from the liver. The first is salted at the fishery, together with the fish, and put in barrels from 600 to 700 pound. The tongues are done in like manner, and brought in barrels from 400 to 500 pounds. The roes are also salted in barrels, and serve to cast into the sea to draw fish together, and particularly pilchards. The oil comes in barrels, from 400 to 520 pounds, and is used in dressing leather.—In Scotland, they catch a small kind of cod on the coasts of Buchan, and all along the Murray frith on both sides; as also in the frith of Forth, Clyde, &c. which is much esteemed. They salt and dry them in the sun upon rocks, and sometimes in the chimney. They also cure flait, and other smaller fish in the same manner; but most of these are for home-consumption.

Herring Fishery. For the migrations of herrings, and the directions of their course, see the article Clupea. Our great stations for this fishery are off the Shetland and Western Isles, and off the coast of Norfolk; in which the Dutch also share. There are two seasons for fishing herring: the first from June to the end of August; and the second in Autumn, when the fogs become very favourable for this kind of fishing. The Dutch begin their herring-fishing on the 24th of June, and employ a vast number of vessels therein, called buffes, being between 45 and 60 tons burden each, and carrying three or four small cannon. They never stir out of port without a convoy, unless there be enough together to make about 18 or 20 cannon among them, in which case they are allowed to go in company. Before they go out, they make a verbal agreement, which has the same force as if it were in writing. The regulations of the admiralty of Holland are partly followed by the French and other nations, and partly improved and augmented with new ones; as, that no fisher shall cast his net within 100 fathoms of another boat: that while the nets are cast, a light shall be kept on the hind-part of the vessel: that when a boat is by any accident obliged to leave off fishing, the light shall be cast into the sea: that when the greater part of a fleet leaves off fishing, and calls anchor, the rest shall do the same, &c.

Mr Anderson * gives to the Scots a knowledge of great antiquity in the herring-fishery. He says that the Netherlanders resorted to these coasts as early as A.D. 836, to purchase salted fish of the natives; but, imposing on the strangers, they learned the art, and took up the trade, in after-times of such immense emolument to the Dutch.

Sir Walter Raleigh's observations on that head, extracted from the same author, are extremely worthy the attention of the curious, and excite reflections on the vast strength resulting from the wisdom of well-applied industry.

In 1603, remarks that great man, the Dutch sold to different nations, as many herrings as amounted to L.1759,000 Sterling.

In the year 1615, they at once sent out 2000 buffes, and employed in them 37,000 fishermen.

In the year 1618, they sent out 3000 ships, with 50,000 men to take the herrings, and 9000 more ships to transport and sell the fish; which by sea and land employed 150,000 men, besides those first mentioned. All this wealth was gotten on our coasts; while our attention was taken up in a distant whale-fishery.

The Scottish monarchs for a long time seemed to direct all their attention to the preservation of the salmon fishery; probably because their subjects were such novices in sea-affairs. At length James III. endeavoured to stimulate his great men to these patriotic undertakings; for by an act of his third parliament, he compelled "certain lords spiritual and temporal, and burrows, to make ships, buffes, and boats, with nets, and other pertinents, for fishing." That the same should be made in each burgh; in number according to the substance of each burgh, and the least of them to be of twenty tun: and that all idle men be compelled by the sheriffs in the country to go on board the same."

But his successors, by a very false policy, rendered this wise institution of little effect: for they in a manner prevented their subjects from becoming a maritime people, by directing that no white fish should be sent out of the realm, but that strangers may come and buy them; that free ports be first served; the cargoes sold to the freemen, who are to come and transport the same. The Dutch at this very time had an open trade.

It is well known that there have been many attempts made to secure this treasure to ourselves, but without success. In the late reign, a very strong effort was made, and bounties allowed for the encouragement of British adventurers: the first was of 30s. per ton to every buff of 70 tons and upwards. This bounty was afterwards raised to 50s. per ton, to be paid to such adventurers as were entitled to it by claiming it at the places of rendezvous. The buffes are from 20 to 90 tons burden, but the best size is 80. A vessel of 80 tons ought to take ten lasts, or 120 barrels of herrings, to clear expenses, the price of the fish to be admitted to be a guinea a barrel. A ship of this size ought to have 18 men, and three boats: one of 20 tons should have six men; and every five tons above, require an additional hand.

To every ton are 280 yards of nets; so a vessel of 80 tons carries 20,000 square yards: each net is 12 yards long, and 10 deep; and every boat takes out from 20 to 30 nets, and puts them together, so as to form a long train: they are sunk at each end of the train by a stone, which weighs it down to the full extent: the top is supported by buoys, made of sheepskin, with a hollow stick at the mouth, fastened tight; through this the skin is blown up, and then stopped with a peg, to prevent the escape of the air. Sometimes these buoys are placed at the top of the nets; at other times the nets are suffered to sink deeper, by the lengthening the cords fastened to them, every cord being for that purpose 10 or 12 fathoms long. But the best fisheries are generally in more shallow water.

Of the Scots fishery in the Western Isles, the following account is given by Mr Peinant *. "The fishing in the Hebrides, always performed in the night, unless by accident. The buffes remain at anchor, and send out their boats a little before sun-set; which continue out, in winter and summer, till day-light; often taking up and emptying their nets, which they do 10 or 12 times in a night, in case of good success. During winter it is a most dangerous and fatiguing employ, by reason of the greatness and frequency of the gales in these seas, and in such gales are the most successful captures: but, by the Providence of heaven, the fishers are seldom lost; and, what is wonderful, few are visited with illness. They go out well prepared, with a warm great coat, boots, and skin aprons, and a good provision of beef and spirits. The same good fortune attends the buffes, which in the tempestuous season, and in the darkest nights, are continually shifting, in these narrow seas, from harbour to harbour.

"Sometimes 80 barrels of herrings are taken in a night by the boats of a single vessel. It once happened, in Loch-Slappan, in Skye, that a buff of 80 tons might have taken 200 barrels in one night, with 10,000 square yards of net; but the master was obliged to desist, for want of a sufficient number of hands to preserve the capture.

"The herrings are preserved by salting, after the entrails are taken out: an operation performed by the country people, who get three-halfpence per barrel for their trouble; and sometimes, even in the winter, can gain fifteen pence a-day. This employs both women and children; but the salting is only entrusted to the crew of the buffes. The fish are laid on their backs in the barrels, and layers of salt between them. The..." entrails are not lost, for they are boiled into an oil: 8000 fish will yield ten gallons, valued at one shilling the gallon.

"A vessel of 80 tons takes out 144 barrels of salt; a drawback of 2s. 8d. is allowed for each barrel used by the foreign or Irish exportation of the fish; but there is a duty of 1s. per barrel for the home-consumption, and the same for those sent to Ireland.

"The barrels are made of oak-frames, chiefly from Virginia; the hoops from several parts of our own island, and are either of oak, birch, hazel, or willow: the last from Holland, liable to a duty.

The barrels cost about 3s. each: they hold from 500 to 800 fish, according to the size of the fish; and are made to contain 32 gallons. The barrels are inspected by proper officers: a cooper examines if they are statutable and good; if faulty, he destroys them, and obliges the maker to stand to the loss.

"The herrings in general are exported to the West-Indies, to feed the negroes; or to Ireland; for the Irish are not allowed to fish in these seas. By having a drawback of 5d. a barrel, and by repacking the fish in new barrels of 28 gallons, they are enabled to export them to our colonies at a cheaper rate than the Scots can do.

"The trade declines apace; the bounty, which was well paid, originally kept up the spirit of the fishery; but, for the last six years, the arrears have been very injurious to several adventurers, who have folded out at 30 per cent. loss, besides that of their interest.

"Loch-Broom has been celebrated for three or four centuries as the resort of herrings. They generally appear here in July; those that turn into this bay are part of the brigade that detaches itself from the Western column of that great army which annually deserts the vast depths of the Arctic circle, and come, heaven-directed, to the seats of population, offered as a cheap food to millions, whom wasteful luxury, or iron-hearted avarice, hath deprived, by enhancing the price, of the wonted supports of the poor.

"The migration of these fish from their Northern retreat is regular; their visits to the Western isles and coasts, certain; but their attachment to one particular loch, extremely precarious. All have their turns: that which swarmed with fish one year, is totally deserted the following; yet the next loch to it may be crowded with the shoals. These changes of place give often full employ to the busies, who are continually shifting their harbour in quest of news respecting these important wanderers.

"They commonly appear here in July; the latter end of August they go into deep water, and continue there for some time, without any apparent cause: in November, they return to the shallows, when a new fishery commences, which continues till January; at that time the herrings become full of roe, and are useless as articles of commerce. Some doubt, whether these herrings that appear in November are not part of a new migration; for they are as fat, and make the same appearance, as those that composed the first.

"The signs of the arrival of the herrings are flocks of gulls, who catch up the fish while they skim on the surface; and of gannets, who plunge and bring them up from considerable depths. Both these birds are closely attended to by the fishers.

"Cod-fish, haddock, and dog-fish, follow the herrings in vast multitudes; these voracious fish keep on the outsides of the columns, and may be a concurrent reason of driving the shoals into bays and creeks. In summer, they come into the bays generally with the warmest weather, and with easy gales. During winter, the hard gales from north-west are supposed to assist in forcing them into shelter. East winds are very unfavourable to the fishery.

"In a fine day, when the fish appear near the surface, they exhibit an amazing brilliancy of colours; all the various coruscations that dart from the diamond, sapphire, and emerald, enrich their tract; but, during night, if they break, i.e., play on the surface, the sea appears on fire, luminous as the brightest phosphorus."

Herrings are cured either white or pickled, or red.

1. Of the first, those done by the Dutch are the most esteemed, being distinguished into four sorts, according to their sizes; and the best are those that are fat, fleshy, firm, and white, salted the same day they are taken, with good salt, and well barreled. The British cured herrings are little inferior, if not equal, to the Dutch; for in spite of all their endeavours to conceal the secret, their method of curing, salting, or cooking the herrings, has been discovered, and is as follows. After they have hauled in their nets, which they drag in the stern of their vessels backwards and forwards in traversing the coast, they throw them upon the ship's deck, which is cleared of every thing for that purpose: the crew is separated into sundry divisions, and each division has a peculiar talk; one part opens and guts the herrings, leaving the melts and roes; another cures and salts them, by lining or rubbing their inside with salt; the next packs them, and between each row and division they sprinkle handfuls of salt; lastly, the cooper puts the finishing hand to all, by heading the casks very tight, and stowing them in the hold.

2. Red herrings must lie 25 hours in the brine, in as much as they are to take all their salt there; and when they are taken out, they are spitted, that is, strung by the head on little wooden spits, and then hung in a chimney made for that purpose. After which, a fire of brushwood, which yields a deal of smoke but no flame, being made under them, they remain there till sufficiently smoked and dried, and are afterwards barreled up for keeping.

Pearl-Fishery. See Pearl.

Pilchard Fishery. The chief-pilchard fisheries are along the coasts of Dalmatia, on the coast of Bretagne, and along the coasts of Cornwall and Devonshire. That of Dalmatia is very plentiful: that on the coasts of Bretagne employs annually about 300 ships. Of the pilchard fishery on the coast of Cornwall the following account is given by Dr Borlase:

"It employs a great number of men on the sea, training them thereby to naval affairs; employs men, women and children, at land, in salting, pressing, washing, and cleaning; in making boats, nets, ropes, casks, and all the trades depending on their construction and sale. The poor are fed with the offals of the captures, the land with the refuse of the fish and salt; the merchant finds the gains of commission and honest commerce, the fisherman the gains of the fish. Ships are often freighted hither with salt, and into foreign coun..." countries with the fish, carrying off at the same time part of our tin. The usual produce of the great number of hogheads exported each year for ten years from 1747 to 1756 inclusive, from the four ports of Powy, Falmouth, Penzance, and St Ives, it appears that Powy has exported yearly 1732 hogheads; Falmouth, 14,031 hogheads and two thirds; Penzance and Mounts Bay, 12,149 hogheads and one third; St Ives, 1282 hogheads; in all amounting to 29,795 hogheads. Every hoghead for ten years last paid, together with the bounty allowed for each hoghead exported, and the oil made out of each hoghead, has amounted, one year with another at an average, to the price of one pound 13 shillings and three pence; so that the cash paid for pilchards exported has, at a medium, annually amounted to the sum of 49,532l. 10s."

The numbers that are taken at one shooting out of the nets are amazingly great. Mr Pennant says, that Dr Borlase assured him, that, on the 5th of October 1767, there were at one time inclosed in St Ives' Bay 7000 hogheads, each hoghead containing 35,000 fish, in all 245 millions.

The pilchards naturally follow the light, which contributes much to the facility of the fishery: the season is from June to September. On the coasts of France they make use of the roes of the cod-fish as a bait; which, thrown into the sea, makes them rise from the bottom, and run into the nets. On our coasts there are persons posted ashore, who, spying by the colour of the water where the shoals are, make signs to the boats to go among them to catch their nets. When taken, they are brought on shore to a warehouse, where they are laid up in broad piles, supported with backs and sides; and as they are piled, they salt them with bay-salt; in which lying to soak for 30 or 40 days, they run out a deal of blood, with dirty pickle and bitters: then they wash them clean in sea-water; and, when dry, barrel and press them hard down to squeeze out the oil, which issues out at a hole in the bottom of the cask.

Salmon Fishery. The chief salmon-fisheries in Europe are in England, Scotland, and Ireland, in the rivers, and sea-coasts adjoining to the river-mouths. The most distinguished for salmon in Scotland are, the river Tweed, the Clyde, the Tay, the Dee, the Don, the Spey, the Nevis, the Bessy, &c., in most of which it is very common, about the height of summer, especially if the weather happens to be very hot, to catch four or five score salmon at a draught. The chief rivers in England for salmon are, the Tyne, the Trent, the Severn, and the Thames. The fishing is performed with nets, and sometimes with a kind of locks or weirs made on purpose, which in certain places have iron or wooden grates so disposed, in an angle, that being impelled by any force in a contrary direction to the course of the river, they may give way and open a little at the point of contact, and immediately shut again, closing the angle. The salmon, therefore, coming up into the river, are admitted into these grates, which open, and suffer them to pass through, but shut again, and prevent their return. The salmon is also caught with a spear, which they dart into him when they see him swimming near the surface of the water. It is customary likewise to catch them with a candle and lanthorn, or wisp of straw set on fire; for the fish naturally following the light, are struck with the spear, or taken in a net spread for that purpose, and lifted with a sudden jerk from the bottom.

"The capture of salmon in the Tweed, about the month of July, (says Mr Pennant) is prodigious. In a good fishery, often a boat-load, and sometimes near two, are taken in a tide: some few years ago there were above 700 fish taken at one haul, but from 50 to 100 is very frequent. The cooperers in Berwick then begin to salt both salmon and gilts in pipes and other large vessels, and afterwards barrel them to send abroad, having them far more than the London markets can take off their hands.

Most of the salmon taken before April, or to the setting in of the warm weather, is sent fresh to London in baskets: unless now and then the vessel is disappointed, by contrary winds, of sailing immediately; in which case the fish is brought ashore again to the cooper's offices, and boiled, pickled, and kitted, and sent to the London markets by the same ship, and fresh salmon put in the baskets in lieu of the stale ones. At the beginning of the season, when a ship is on the point of sailing, a fresh clean salmon will sell from a shilling to eighteen pence a pound; and most of the time that this part of the trade is carried on, the prices are from five to nine shillings per stone; the value rising and falling according to the plenty of fish, or the prospect of a fair or foul wind. Some fish are sent in this manner to London the latter end of September, when the weather grows cool; but then the fish are full of large roes, grow very thin-bellied, and are not esteemed either palatable or wholesome.

The season for fishing in the Tweed begins November 30th, but the fishermen work very little till after Christmas: it ends on Michaelmas-day; yet the corporation of Berwick (who are conservators of the river) indulge the fishermen with a fortnight past that time, on account of the change of the flyle.

There are on the river 41 considerable fisheries, extending upwards, about 14 miles from the mouth, (the others above being of no great value), which are rented for near 5400l. per annum: the expense attending the servants wages, nets, boats, &c. amount to 5000l. more; which together makes up the sum 10,400l. Now, in consequence, the produce must defray all, and no less than 20 times that sum of fish will effect it; so that 208,000 salmon must be caught there one year with another.

Scotland possesses great numbers of fine fisheries on both sides of that kingdom. The Scotch in early times had most severe laws against the killing of this fish; for the third offence was made capital, by a law of James IV. Before that, the offender had power to redeem his life. They were thought in the time of Henry VI. a present worthy of a crowned head: for in that reign the queen of Scotland sent to the duchess of Clarence, ten casks of salted salmon; which Henry directed to pass duty-free. The salmon are cured in the same manner as at Berwick, and a great quantity is sent to London in the spring; but after that time, the adventurers begin to barrel and export them to foreign countries: but we believe that commerce is far less lucrative than it was in former times, partly owing to the great increase of the Newfoundland fishery, and partly to the general relaxation of the discipline of abstinence in the Roman church. "Ireland (particularly the north) abounds with this fish: the most considerable fishery is at Cranna, on the river Ban, about a mile and an half from Coleraine. When I made the tour of that hospitable kingdom in 1754, it was rented by a neighbouring gentleman for £620. a-year; who assured me, that the tenant, his predecessor, gave £1600. per annum, and was a much greater gainer by the bargain, for the reasons before-mentioned, and on account of the number of poachers who destroy the fish in the fence-months.

"The mouth of this river faces the north; and is finely situated to receive the fish that roam along the coast, in search of an inlet into some fresh water, as they do all along that end of the kingdom which opposes itself to the northern ocean. We have seen near Ballinaculle, nets placed in the sea at the foot of the promontories that jut into it, which the salmon strike into as they are wandering close to shore; and numbers are taken by that method.

"In the Ban they fish with nets 18 score yards long, and are continually drawing night and day the whole season, which we think lasts about four months, two sets of 16 men each alternately relieving one another. The best drawing is when the tide is coming in: we were told, that at a single draught there were once 840 fish taken.

"A few miles higher up the river is a wear, where a considerable number of fish that escape the nets are taken. We were lately informed, that, in the year 1760, about 320 tons were taken in the Cranna fishery."

"Curing Salmon." When the salmon are taken, they open them along the back, take out the guts and gills, and cut out the greatest part of the bones, endeavouring to make the inside as smooth as possible: they then salt the fish in large tubs for the purpose, where they lie a considerable time soaking in brine; and about October, they are packed close up in barrels, and sent to London, or exported up the Mediterranean. They have also in Scotland, a great deal of salmon salted in the common way, which after soaking in brine a competent time, is well pressed, and then dried in smoke: this is called kipper, and is chiefly made for home consumption; and, if properly cured and prepared, is reckoned very delicious.

"Sturgeon Fishery." The greatest sturgeon-fishery is in the mouth of the Volga, on the Caspian sea; where the Mucovites employ a great number of hands, and catch them in a kind of inclosure formed by huge flake representing the letter Z repeated several times. These fisheries are open on the side next the sea, and close on the other; by which means the fish ascending in its season up the river, is embarrased in these narrow angular retreats, and so is easily killed with a harping-iron. Sturgeons, when fresh, eat deliciously; and in order to make them keep, they are salted or pickled in large pieces, and put up in casks from 30 to 50 pounds. But the great object of this fishery is the roe, of which the Mucovites are extremely fond, and of which is made the caviar, or kavia, so much esteemed by the Indians. — See CAVIAR.

"Whale Fishery." Whales are chiefly caught in the north seas: the largest sort are found about Greenland, or Spitzbergen. At the first discovery of this country, whales not being used to be disturbed, frequently came into the very bays, and were accordingly killed almost close to the shore; so that the blubber being cut off was immediately boiled into oil on the spot. The ships in those times took in nothing but the pure oil and the whalebone, and all the business was executed in the country; by which means a ship could bring home the product of many more whales than she can according to the present method of conducting this trade. The fishery also was then so plentiful, that they were obliged sometimes to send other ships to fetch off the oil they had made, the quantity being more than the fishing ships could bring away. But time and change of circumstances have shifted the situation of this trade. The ships coming in such numbers from Holland, Denmark, Hamburgh, and other northern countries, all intruders upon the English, who were the first discoverers of Greenland, the whales were disturbed, and gradually, as other fish often do, forsaking the place, were not to be killed so near the shore as before; but are now found, and have been so ever since, in the openings and spaces among the ice, where they have deep water, and where they go sometimes a great many leagues from the shore.

The whale-fishery begins in May, and continues all June and July; but whether the ships have good or bad success, they must come away, and get clear of the ice, by the end of August; so that in the month of September at farthest, they may be expected home; but a ship that meets with a fortunate and early fishery in May, may return in June or July.

The manner of taking whales at present is as follows.—Every ship is provided with fix boats, to each of which belong six men for rowing the boat, and an harpooneer whose business is to strike the whale with his harpoon. Two of these boats are kept constantly on the watch at some distance from the ship, fastened to pieces of ice, and are relieved by others every four hours. As soon as a whale is perceived, both the boats set out in pursuit of it, and if either of them can come up before the whale finally deserts, which is known by his throwing up his tail, the harpooneer discharges his harpoon at him. There is no difficulty in choosing the place where the whale is to be struck, as some have asserted; for these creatures only come up to the surface in order to spout up the water, or blow, as the fishermen term it, and therefore always keep the soft and vulnerable part of their bodies above water. A late improvement was made in the method of discharging the harpoon; namely, by shooting it out of kind of twine or musquetoon: but it doth not appear, that, since this improvement was made, the whale-fishing ships have had better success than before. —As soon as the whale is struck, the men set up one of their oars in the middle of the boat as a signal to those in the ship. On perceiving this, the watchman alarms all the rest with the cry of fall! fall! upon which all the other boats are immediately sent out to the assistance of the first.

The whale finding himself wounded, runs off with prodigious violence. Sometimes he defends perpendicularly; at others goes off horizontally, at a small depth below the surface. The rope which is fastened to the harpoon is about 200 fathoms long, and properly coiled up, that it may freely be given out as there is a demand for it. At first, the velocity with which which this line runs over the side of the boat is so great, that it is wetted to prevent its taking fire; but in a short time the strength of the whale begins to fail, and the fishermen, instead of letting out more rope, strive as much as possible to pull back what is given out already, though they always find themselves necessitated to yield at last to the efforts of the animal, to prevent his sinking their boat. If he runs out the 200 fathoms of line contained in one boat, that belonging to another is immediately fastened to the end of the first, and so on; and there have been instances, where all the rope belonging to the fix boats has been necessary, though half that quantity is seldom required. The whale cannot stay long below water, but again comes up to blow; and being now much fatigued and wounded, stays longer above water than usual. This gives another boat time to come up with him, and he is again struck with an harpoon. He again descends, but with less force than before; and when he comes up again, is generally incapable of descending, but suffers himself to be wounded and killed with long lances which the men are provided with for the purpose. He is known to be near death when he spouts up the water deeply tinged with blood.

The whale being dead, is lashed along-side the ship. They then lay it on one side, and put two ropes, one at the head, and the other in the place of the tail, which, together with the fins, is struck off as soon as he is taken, to keep those extremities above water. On the off-side of the whale are two boats, to receive the pieces of fat, utensils, and men, that might otherwise fall into the water on that side. These precautions being taken, three or four men with irons at their feet to prevent slipping, get on the whale, and begin to cut out pieces of about three feet thick and eight long, which are hauled up at the capstan or windlass. When the fat is all got off, they cut off the whiskers of the upper jaw with an ax. Before they cut, they are all lashed to keep them firm; which also facilitates the cutting, and prevents them from falling into the sea; when on board, five or six of them are bundled together, and properly stowed; and after all is got off, the carcass is turned adrift, and devoured by the bears, who are very fond of it. In proportion as the large pieces of fat are cut off, the rest of the crew are employed in slicing them smaller, and picking out all the lean. When this is prepared, they stow it under the deck, where it lies till the fat of all the whales is on board; then cutting it still smaller, they put it up in tubs in the hold, cramming them very full and close. Nothing now remains but to sail homewards, where the fat is to be boiled and melted down into train-oil.

It were in vain to speak in this place of the advantages that may be derived to Great Britain from the whale-fishery. We shall only remark, that the legislature think that trade of so great importance, as to grant a very considerable bounty for the encouragement of it; for every British vessel of 200 tons or upwards, bound to the Greenland seas on the whale-fishery, if found to be duly qualified according to the act, obtains a licence from the commissioners of the customs to proceed on such voyage; and on the ship's return, the master and mate making oath that they proceeded on such voyage and no other, and used all their endeavours to take whales, &c. and that all the whale-fins, blubber, oil, &c. imported in their ship, were taken by their crew in those seas, there shall be allowed 40 s. for every ton according to the admittance of the ship.

Besides these fisheries, there are several others both on the coasts of Great Britain and in the North Seas, which, although not much the subject of merchandise, nevertheless employ great numbers both of ships and men; as, 1. The oyster-fishing at Colchester, Faversham, the Isle of Wight, in the Swales of the Medway, and in all the creeks between Southampton and Chichester, from whence they are carried to be fed in pits about Wevenhoe and other places. (See Ostrea.) 2. The lobster-fishing all along the British Channel, the Frith of Edinburgh, on the coast of Northumberland, and on the coast of Norway, from whence great quantities are brought to London. (See Cancer.) 3. And lastly, The fishing of the pot-fish, fin-fish, sea-unicorn, seahorse, and the seal, or dog-fish; all which are found in the same seas with the whales, and yield blubber in a certain degree; besides, the horn of the unicorn is as estimable as ivory, and the skins of the seals are particularly useful to trunk-makers.