The migration of different kinds of fishes is truly astonishing; and it is pleasing to remark, that it is when fat and in season for eating, that they are taught so instinctively to throng our bays and creeks, while they disperse to the remotest quarters of the globe when lean and emaciated. "Who," in the words of the celebrated Hervey, "Who bids these creatures evacuate the shores, and disperse themselves into all quarters, when they become worthless and unfit for our service? Who rallies and recalls the undisciplined vagrants, as soon as they are improved into desirable food? Who appoints the very scene of our ambush to be the places of their rendezvous, so that they come like volunteers into our nets? Surely the furlough is signed, the summons issued, and the point of re-union settled by a Providence, ever indulgent to mankind, ever studious to treat us with dainties, and load us with benefits." Not only do the Herrings, the poor man's feast, visit our shores at stated periods, and solicit us by their numbers to partake of the bounties of Providence, but the Pilchard, the Mackerel, the Lamprey, the Tunny, and the Salmon, are regular in their migrations.

At the time the Land Crabs of the West Indies arrive upon the coast to deposit their eggs, numerous fishes of different kinds punctually attend, as if timely advised of the exact period when they might expect their annual supply, and greedily devour many of the eggs before they are hatched.-Fishes, in order to be fed, have been taught to assemble at the side of a pond by the sound of a bell. Dr George Serger asserts, that having taken a walk with some

friends in the fine gardens of the Archbishop of Saltzburg, the gardener conducted them to a very clear piece of water, in which no fish were at first to be seen, but that the man had no sooner rung a little bell, than a multitude of trout came together from all parts of the pond, to take what he had brought them, and disappeared as soon as they had eaten it up.

The Lamprey makes holes in the gravelly bottom of the river previous to depositing her ova. The SeaDog, in a storm, is said to conceal her young under her belly. A curious circumstance has been observed relative to the young Sharks, that when pursued, they will, on the appearance of danger, take refuge in the belly of the mother. It is asserted by Pliny, that the Fishing-Frog hides itself in muddy water, and makes use of a singular artifice to secure her prey. The Ink Fish seems to be well informed of the use she, ought to make of her natural bottle, and when pursued, discharges its contents in the way of her foe. The aborescent Star fish, like the Spider, spreads out her net in order to entangle her unwary victim. And the little Thresher, in order to get the better of his formidable antagonist, tumbles neck over heels, and falls down with astonishing force on the back of the Whale, while his ally, the Swordfish, wounds him from underneath.

The Uses of Fishes.

Although it has been said, that to preserve their own existence, and to continue it to their posterity,

fills up the whole circle of their pursuits, and that a ceaseless desire of food seems to be their ruling im pulse, yet we are not to consider Fishes as insulated creatures, unconnected with the general concerns and affairs of the world; as merely formed for the propagation of their kind, and to " pursue and be pursued, each other's prey." No; these also act an important and most essential part in the great theatre of the universe; and woe be to the inhabitants of the earth, did multitudes of fishes not abound in its waters. We have already had occasion to notice the necessity of a speedy decomposition of the parts of putrescent bodies on land, and notwithstanding the saline quality of its waters and perpetual agitation which prevents them for a time, the bad effects of such accumulated loads of filth and nastiness, as are continually pouring into the sea, must soon be apparent, were it not for those numerous herds of fishes, which in every quarter glide with rapidity through the liquid expanse, and catch and devour almost every thing of a digestible nature that comes in the way. For this purpose, that amazing fecundity may have been bestowed upon them, and for this purpose, those voracious appetites given, that, however remote the situation, or disgusting the substance, that enters the watery element, it might quickly meet an eye eager to catch it, and a living tomb to swallow and strip it of its noxious qualities.

As an article of food the finny tribes are greatly to be prized, and it is matter of thankfulness, that the benefits they impart are most extensively diffus

ed; for while our lakes, and rivers, and streams, abound with these living treasures, the ocean conveys them in myriads to the ends of the earth, and presents the bounties of an indulgent parent to his numerous children, however scattered among the isles of the sea; and if the Turbot has been styled for its exquisite relish the Pheasant of the waters, the Sturgeon, even in pickle, has been denominated a luxury, and while the Salmon is held in much esteem by the great, the poor have reason to praise the. Almighty for an abundant supply of cheap, wholesome, and nutritious food, in those prodigious shoals of Herrings and Pilchards which visit our coasts.

When the great colony of Herrings set out on their migrating journey from the Polar seas, it is composed of such numbers, that if all the horses in the world were loaded with them, they could not carry the thousandth part; and when the main body approaches the coast, it is generally divided into distinct colums of five or six miles in length, and three or four in breadth!

Vast shoals of Pilchards (a small species of Herring) appear about the middle of July, off the coast of Cornwall; and Mr. Pennant was assured by Dr. Borlase, that on the fifth of October, 1767, there was at one time enclosed and caught in St. Anne's Bay, no less than 7000 hogsheads of Pilchards, each hogshead containing 3500 fishes!

Nor have we less reason to be thankful for the incalculable number of Cod, and other white fish, which are drawn from the ocean; and for those in

exhaustible stores of cartilaginous flat fish, which furnish the labourer with his cheap repast.-In 1806, five hundred and seventy-seven ships, carrying about 64,667 tons, and navigated by 4,336 men, were employed by the British Government, to export the produce of the fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland, where the principle cod-fisheries are. The vessels used in the fishery, are from 100 to 150 tons burden, and catch from thirty to forty thousand fish each; 10,000 persons. being employed about this fishery, in catching, salting, and drying the fish, which are sent to all parts of Europe and the WestIndies. These fisheries are said to bring in to the proprietors a revenue of several millions yearly; and they will probably remain in an inexhausted and inexhaustible source of treasure, when the richest mines are wrought out. Happy ordination of infinite goodness and unerring wisdom, that while the monstrous and unwholesome tribes are thinly scattered or hid from our sight in the great abyss, the wholesome and nutritious kinds abound in such numbers, and are brought, as it were, to our very doors!

Even the great Greenland Whale, which abounds in such numbers in the northern ocean, is said to furnish the inhabitants of those countries, which border on his haunts, with a delicious luxury in the article of food. The Porpoise was a royal dish even so late as the reign of Henry VIII. and the negroes are said to be fond of the flesh of the voracious Shark.

The Whale is well known on account of its importance in furnishing such a supply of oil and