out the fires of their ovens.

yam season is expected."

Should there be no rain, a bad

Many of the European residents in the Fijis eat the "balolo," and look on it as quite a periodical relish. It also makes its appearance in the New Hebrides, in Tonga, and in the Samoan or Navigator Islands identically with its advent in Fiji.

CHAPTER XI.

MISCELLANEOUS FISHERIES.

The capelin fishery of Newfoundland-Chiefly used as bait for cod-Some shipped pickled and dried-The halibut fishery on the American coastThe sword-fish eaten as food-Fishing for turbots, soles, and other flat fish -Quantity sold annually in Billingsgate-Fish in India.

The Capelin Fishery.-The capelin (Mallotus arcticus; M. villosus, Cuv.) is peculiar to Newfoundland and Labrador. It is a very delicate fish, resembling a smelt. Its visits are during August and September, for the purpose of spawning on beaches. At times they are so numerous as to darken the sea for miles, while the cod feed on them with the utmost voracity. We only know them in Europe in the dried state, some quantity being imported from Newfoundland.

As an article of bait for cod and other fish of that class, the capelin is of much importance; whenever abundant, the cod fishing is excellent. Like the common smelt, it possesses the cucumber smell, but differs from the smelt in never entering fresh-water streams.

This delicious fish is now only locally sought for bait and manure, but a very small quantity are cured. This may hereafter become a great source of wealth, when we con

sider how large a trade is carried on in sardines and anchovies. If they were merely pickled and dried, a simple operation which could be performed by children, they would be worth at least 4s. a barrel; and 1,000,000 barrels would find a market if introduced into fish-eating countries, and not sensibly lessen the quantity which every summer swarms in every bay and creek of the island of Newfoundland and the Labrador coast.

The Halibut (Hippoglossus vulgaris, Cuv.).—The halibut abounds in the waters of the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Cape Hatteras. From some ports of Nova Scotia a considerable trade in halibut is carried on with the United States. On parts of the coast the fish is so abundant, and of such large size, that the localities are avoided by those engaged in cod fishing, as a boat or small vessel becomes soon heavily laden. This fish sometimes attains the weight of 400 to 500 lbs. The flesh is somewhat coarse and dry, but is much esteemed by many. It is lightly salted and smoked. The fins and flaps are delicacies, if the fish is in good condition. The halibut is also cut into slices and pickled in barrels, in which state it sells at half the price of the best herrings.

The fishing for the halibut is very important, and 5000 to 6000 barrels are taken in the British Provinces by Americans, few of the native settlers embarking in it. The fish is somewhat different from the European fish of the same name.

Sword fish. The flesh of the Tetrapturus Australis is an excellent article of food, much resembling that of the true sword-fish or "pesce spada" (Xiphias gladius) of the Mediterranean. Its flesh is much esteemed there as an article of food. The sword-fish is common in the Bosphorus, and measures 10 to 12 feet, and of proportionate girth. The

flesh, which is of a dull red colour, is very palatable, and a sword-fish steak makes an excellent substitute for a salmon cutlet. A sword-fish was shown at Boston, U.S., some years ago, which weighed over 1000 lbs., and measured, including the sword, 14 feet.

The fishermen of Sables d'Olonne, France, dry and salt the flesh of Squalus caniculata, and of another species, the dog-fish (S. galeus), for winter use.

Turbot, Soles, etc.-The British trawl vessels catch their fish on the vast submarine plateau extending from Flamborough Head to the south of Orfordness on the English coast, and from the Long Fisher Bank, north of Heligoland, to Ter Schelling, on the Dutch coast.

Soles fourteen years ago cost 2d. to 2 d. per lb. ; now they are worth 8d. to Is. 2d. per lb. Large soles are difficult to get at all. Small soles go by the name of "tongues ;" the smallest are "cat's tongues." "Slips" are 9 to 10 inches in length. A fair-sized sole would be about 12 inches. The legal sizes for the sale of fish in France limit soles and turbot to four inches.

Sole fishing is a trade carried on most extensively at various parts of the English coast, but more particularly at the Great Silver Pitts, situated betwixt the Dogger and Wellbank, east from the Humber river. Sole fishing is conducted upon exactly the same principle as oyster dredging. The vessel sails easily along at the rate of about two knots per hour, pulling the dredge after her; and as the trawler's dredge or net is fitted with inside pockets, when once the fish are fairly entered into the net, they cannot again easily get out. The depths and bottom about the middle of the Firth of Forth are similar to those about the Great Silver Pitts, and as soles are frequently caught by fishermen on their lines, the supposition is that were dredges used in

K

25 and 30 fathoms' water in the Firth, soles might also be found there lying in clusters.

On that part of the northern coast of Ireland connected with Lough Foyle, turbot fishing is carried on from March to November. Turbot average to the fishermen 3s. to 4s. per dozen, and there are about 12 dozen of turbot sent weekly from Moville to Liverpool and Glasgow. A considerable quantity of soles and plaice is also shipped from the trawlers.

One hundred millions (or about 12,000 tons in weight) of soles are said to be sold annually in Billingsgate.

Nearly every fish that swims, either in salt or fresh water, is greedily eaten by the natives in India. Sharks especially are much valued, and said to be very palatable and nutritious. The fishery for these is described in another chapter. In the bazaars of Madras it would be possible to obtain some 200 or 300 kinds of dried fish, including different preparations of the same species. In curing fish, salt, owing to its high price, is used as sparingly as possible, and hence, as a rule, the dried fish of the bazaar has anything but a pleasant odour. In some quarters saline earth is used instead of salt, as being cheaper; but fish cured in this manner is said to have an unpleasant flavour, and to be apt, when continuously used, to bring on itch. The fish most in repute for European tables in Madras are the seer (Cybium Commersonii), the pomfrets (Stromateus niger and S. argenteus), and mullets. The seer is sold in cutlets, like salmon in Europe, and is in some respects perhaps superior to salmon, more especially as regards digestibility.