them. The author of the Survey of Clare,* alluding to the structure of these boats, says, that no beneficial fishery can be established there, until companies are formed, which shall be able to fit out vessels sufficiently large to navigate the sea as far as the banks of Newfoundland. It is well known that myriads of excellent fish frequent the great bank which stretches nearly from the coast of Galway, in an oblique direction to Newfoundland, at the depth of from twenty to thirty fathoms; and of various breadths, from fifty to one hundred miles and more, extending from lat. 53° N. long. 10° 10' to lat. 45° and long. 53° west. The Danes, we are told, by means of a fishery which they established here, in the ninth and tenth centuries, carried on a most lucrative trade with the south of Europe, and furnished Ireland and other countries with wine and many southern productions. The French have had, at some periods, more than 500 vessels employed in this trade, and though the western banks have been occupied by the English, the middle ones remain almost unknown; but it is highly probable that they would afford large quantities of fish, as the whales which used formerly to proceed from the eastern coasts of Greenland, towards Newfoundland, and the coast of New England, have been banished by the Americans, and now make their way across the great bank, somewhere about lat. 50°, and between 30° and 40° of west longitude; passing the western coasts of the Azores, Ascension, and St. Helena, towards the southern frozen regions, where they are caught by the southern whale fishers, who follow them from England and America. Mr. Dutton farther states, that "the western coast of Ireland is so peculiarly well adapted for an extensive fishery, that 2,000 vessels might be easily loaded in a season with fish of various kinds, and of the best quality. To accomplish this, a company, with a large capital, must be formed, and there is every probability that no speculation could be more profitable to the subscribers. To the proprietors of land it would be highly advantageous, as the improvement of land and the consumption of produce would necessarily keep pace with the prosperity of the fishing company; not only from the consumption of the fishermen, but from that occasioned by the great number of boat-builders, coopers, salt-makers, sail and rope makers, &c. and their families, which such an undertaking would require. As a nursery for the best kind of seamen, to a nation, the existence of which depends al gives a similar account of the Sabæans: πλέοντες επ' αυτα δια των στενων δερματινοις πλοίοις. Strab. Geog. lib. xvi. Amst. 1707, vol. ii. p. 1124. According to the same author, they were used by the people in Spain, vol. i. p. 234. These boats are mentioned by Festus Avienus; by Lucan, lib. iv. and by Cæsar, who employed them in Spain, having learned in Britain the method of constructing them. De Bello Civili, lib. i. cap. 54. they are used at Seringapatam, the skeleton being made of bamboo, instead of wicker. Wilkes's South of India, p. 417. * Dutton's Survey of Clare, p. 231. most entirely on her navy, the advantage of such an establishment must be incalculable."* This writer also remarks, that it is generally believed that a very productive turbot fishery might be carried on at the mouth of the Shannon; yet no exertions are made, in consequence of the poverty of the fishermen; few, if any, being able to expend fifteen or twenty guineas for a trawl. But, besides poverty, there is an impediment in the laziness of the people, which will prevent any undertaking of this kind from being conducted with spirit or success; and it appears that nothing effectual can be done in this way, unless some individual of property, or a company, would embark in the business, and oblige the fishermen to submit to such regulations as might ensure a profitable return.+ At Liscanor Bay a considerable quantity of small turbot are caught, and, in general, are sold at a reasonable rate, at least, when compared with the price at Dublin. But the banks that produce the large fish are, for the most part, too distant from the shore to permit the owners of the small boats to avail themselves of the advantages which they present. Even the fishermen of Galway and Kilrush, who have boats able to stand the sea, neglect this treasure; because they are timid, and afraid to venture to so great a distance from the shore. Smith, in his Natural History of Waterford, makes a similar remark respecting the fishermen on that part of the coast: "They are not only unskilled in the art of navigation, but their boats are open, and too thin-sided to bear or brook a tempestuous sea; the terror of which, and of going out of sight of the land, where they fear to be drove beyond their knowledge, are invincible impediments to the progress which might have long since been made.§ Skate is very common on the coast of Derry; abundance of haddocks are also caught, and are sold at from 6d. to 1s. 6d. each. Cod and whiting are also found, with plaice, flounders, soals, and turbots. No town in Ireland is better supplied with the last-mentioned fish than Derry. A large one may be bought sometimes for about 2s. 8d. One of them A fish called the sun-fish is sometimes to be met with on this coast. taken soon after the siege of the city, is depicted on a map of that day; another was caught at Culmore some years ago; and a third in the summer of 1802, near the mouth of the Bann, resembling, in its form, the head of a fish which had been amputated. This fish seems to be of a different species from another of the same name, which yields abundance of oil, and is caught on the coast of Cork.** The shad, (clupea alosa,) according to Dr. Rutty, has been found not only in Lough → Dutton's Survey of Clare, p. 229, 231. + Ibid. p. 228 and 227. ‡ Ibid. ib. p. 234. Smith's Nat. Hist. of Waterford, p. 277. Sampson's Survey of Derry, p. 339. ¶ Ibid. p. 335. ** Smith's Natural and Civil History, vol. ii. p. 299. Neagh and Lough Erne, but also in the Liffey, near Rings End. This fish, called sometimes the mother of the herring, is supposed to have been known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. It is found in the Baltic and North Sea, and also in the Mediterranean; and, like the salmon and other sea fish, goes up the rivers in spring to deposit its spawn, after which it returns to the salt-water. Dr. M'Parlan, in his Survey of Sligo, remarks that many consider sprats (clupea sprattus) as young herrings, and that, as numbers are caught, the herrings are lessened, and the survivors are frightened from the coast.* The idea of the sprat and the herring being the same fish, was adopted by Willoughby+ and other naturalists; but it is controverted by Rutty‡ and by Bloch,§ both of whom assign reasons sufficient to prove that they are of a different species. The sprat is found in the Liffey, between Dublin and Island Bridge, and also on other parts. Carp are not natives of the north of Europe; they were brought from the south, and introduced into England by Marshal, in 1514;|| and into Denmark by Peter Oxe, in 1560. They are common also in Holland and Sweden:** but it is remarked, that the further north they are taken, the more they degenerate; and, therefore, many ship loads of them are sent from the Prussian harbours to Russia and Stockholm.++ Dr. Rutty says they were first brought to Ireland in the reign of king James; and that this fish and the tench, though they grow large in gentlemen's ponds, do not breed there, but in some of the loughs in the county of Wexford. Carp and tench are found in the Barrow; but it is believed that they were conveyed thither from ponds at Low Grange, which were broken down by a flood. The tench is more commonly taken than the carp, which is a shyer fish. The Sturgeon, according to Dr. Rutty, appears sometimes in the Bay of Dublin; and he mentions one, six feet long, and three broad in the thickest part, which was caught in September 1746, between that place and the Isle of Man. Another, ten feet long, said to have weighed 300lbs. was taken, in 1754, in a river near Dundalk. Dr. Smith states that this fish has occasionally come up the Blackwater and Bandon rivers ;¶¶ and Mr. Tighe speaks of its being seen, though rarely, in some of the rivers of Kilkenny.*** Formerly the herring fishery on the coast of Ireland was thought worthy of attention, and a considerable quantity of herrings were exported, so long ago as between M'Parlan's Survey of Sligo, p. 77. + Ichth, p. 122. Rutty's Nat. Hist. of Dublin, p. 362, 363. Ekon. Naturgeschichte der Fisch Deutschlands Erster Theil, p. 265. Pennant's Brit. Zoology, vol. iii. p. 353. ¶ Pontoppidan Naturgeschichte, von Dänemark, p. 190. + Pontoppidan Naturhist. von Norwegen, part ii. p. 236. Rutty's Nat. Hist. of Dublin, Rutty's Nat. Hist.of Dublin, vol. i. p. 363. ** Linné Fauna Suceica, p. 128. n. 359. Tighe's Survey of Kilkenny, p. 156. ¶¶ Smith's Nat. and Civil Hist. of Cork, vol. ii. p. 321. *** Tighe's Survey of Kilkenny, p. 156. the years 1580 and 1655; at least, there is reason to believe so from the frequent mention of them, both fresh and salted, in the Dutch lists of articles published during that period, liable to pay increased duties on account of convoy and licenses.* Of late years, however, it seems that this branch of fishing has much' declined, in consequence of the fish having deserted the coast. Dr. Smith says, "the most noted part of the sea-coast of the county of Waterford for the herring fishery was, a few years before he wrote, at the mouth of the harbour, where they were first caught in abundance by a great number of boats which resorted thither for that purpose. The herring fishery there was the best regulated, perhaps, of any on the Irish coast; because it was under the government, laws, and inspection of the members of that corporation; but it has failed surprisingly of late, and is now almost dwindled into nothing."+ Mr. Townsend gives a similar account respecting the county of Cork: herrings and other fish, which were once found there in abundance, have disappeared; so that there is now no fishery worthy of being mentioned. mease. At Arklow, in the county of Wicklow, forty-five boats, six hands in each, are employed in the herring fishery. From eighty to one hundred mease of herrings are caught by each boat in the season, and sold at the average price of 14s. per The rent of the fishermen's cabins is from £3. to £5. Some pay one shilling a year for the ground, and raise the buildings themselves. The children, during the vacant season, are employed in making nets; and, at the same time, the fishermen dredge for oysters, which they carry to Liverpool, and bring back in return earthenware and coals. If the herring season, however, be boisterous, the profits arising from the draught of fish is very inconsiderable; because the boats, from the wretched state of the harbour, are liable to be damaged, and often wrecked. This is an inconvenience which ought to be removed, especially as the harbour, for a very small expense, might be rendered safe and commodious for boats of every description.§ About fifty fishing boats ply about Killala, and are sometimes tolerably successful; but Dr. M'Parlan remarks, that under an idea of the herrings having deserted the coast, the fisheries in the neighbourhood of Newport and Westport had been totally neglected.l In Sligo, and on the whole of the north-west coast, the herring fishery was of great importance till the years 1783 or 1784; but after that time it failed entirely. A Groot Placaet-Boeck vervattende Placaaten Ordonantien onde Edicten van de Doorluchtige Hoogh Mog. Heeren State Generael der Veernighde Nederlanden by een gebracht door M. Cornelis Cau. In s'Graven Hage, 1658, eight vols. vol. i. p. 2361-2508. + Nat. and Civil Hist. of Waterford, p. 268. Fraser's Survey of Wicklow, p. 256. Survey of Cork, by the Rev. H. Townsend, p. 396. few herrings are still caught during the summer season, but the quantity is so small as scarcely to be worth notice.* On the coast of Donegal the herring fishery was carried on with great spirit a few years ago, under the patronage of the Rt. Hon. Burton Conyngham; but the fish are said to have deserted this part of the coast in consequence of a red animalcule, perhaps, the cancer halecum, with which the whole surface of the water seemed to be covered, and which is supposed to be the food of the herrings. The establishment formed by Mr. Conyngham for pursuing this fishery was situated in Rutland Island, so called after the Duke of Rutland when lord-lieutenant, where a village, with every necessary building and accommodation for salting and curing the fish was erected, at an expense, to himself, of £38,000. and £20,000. granted by parliament. The streets of the village were 40 or 50 feet in width; and, when built, inhabitants were invited, and furnished with boats, nets, and other apparatus. Roads were cut over places before thought impassable, and every exertion was made to create a sale; but, though this undertaking proved so successful at first, as sometimes to give employment to 300 vessels and 1,200 boats, and that £135,000. was received in cash, in the course of two months, the herrings disappeared, and the whole scheme entirely failed. Mr. Dubourdieu, in his Survey of Down, says: "herrings have been frequently taken in large quantities in Strangford lake, where it is said they are to be had the whole year; but, with respect to fatness or flavour, they are much inferior to those taken on the coast of the main sea. From what cause this degeneracy proceeds, whether they go into the lake to spawn, or whether their food there is of a worse kind, I cannot take upon me to determine; but the fact is, we would rather give five shillings the hundred for those taken in the open sea, than three shillings for those caught in the lake. Sometimes herrings come close to our shores, but in general, they keep farther to the east, towards the Isle of Man; the boats from Newcastle generally pursue them there; they are brought to this country for sale, and are dispersed through it by fish-carriers, who attend upon the beach and purchase them from the boats as they arrive. The Isle of Man herrings are generally very large, fat, and well-flavoured."+ Herrings are found on the coast of Derry, but they seldom approach the shore in large shoals. They are often known to pass to the westward, pursued by the porpoises, and a few of them are taken sometimes at Portrush. The herring fishery in Ireland, from all my information, is at present in a very declining state. The assertion that these fish have deserted the coast, seems to admit M'Parlan's Survey of Sligo, p. 77. + Survey of Down, p. 251. Sampson's Survey of Derry, p. 343. |