"Some idea of the almost incalculable multitude of pilchards caught on the Cornwall shores," says Mr. Collins, "may be gathered from the following data: At the small fishing cove of Trereen six hundred hogsheads were taken in little more than a week, during August, 1850. Allowing two thousand four hundred fish only to each hogshead (three thousand would be the highest calculation), we have a result of one million four hundred and forty pilchards caught by the inhabitants of one little village alone, on the Cornish coast, at the commencement of the season's fishing."
The Anchovy (Engraulis) is chiefly taken in the Mediterranean, and is much sought after for its delicate flavour when salted and cured. It is a small, slender fish, about four to four and a half inches in length; head pointed, mouth very wide, gill-openings large, abdomen smooth; when living it is greenish on the back, silvery beneath; after death it changes to a bluish black. The fishery which gives the most abundant results takes place on the shores of the Mediterranean, principally on the coast of Sicily, the isles of Elba, Corsica, Antibes, Frejus, Saint-Tropez, and Cannes. They are also taken on the Dalmatian coast, and in the neighbourhood of Ragusa.
The anchovy is only fit for food after being preserved and salted. The process of curing commences by throwing it into a strong brine; then, the head and entrails being removed, they are arranged in rows in barrels or boxes of tin, in alternate layers of salt and fish; finally, after some days of exposure, they are hermetically closed and despatched to market. Those prepared on the Provençal coast were formerly carried to the fair of Beaucaire, whence they found their way all over France, and to many parts of Europe. Now, the anchovies cured at Marseilles, and other Provençal ports, are sent direct to the various markets of Europe.
The Acanthopterygeans
include the Perch family, which is altogether a fresh-water fish, and, however interesting in itself, foreign to our present purpose. It includes also the cat-fish, which is also known as the bar, and more commonly the wolf-fish, in Bas-Languedoc and Provence. It is common in the Mediterranean, and in many of the great rivers which empty themselves into it. The Cat-fish (Fig. 386) has the appearance of an elongated perch; its colour, in the adult state, is of a uniform silvery hue, marked with brown and yellow spots in the young.
The Weevers (Trachinus), forming another division of this family, are characterised by their very compressed head and the strong spines of the operculum. They are elongated in shape, with short muzzles; they have a habit of burying themselves in the sand, and are formidable to fishermen, from the dangerous wounds they inflict with their spines. Trachinus communis (Fig. 387) is widely diffused in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
The genus Uranoscopus are so named from the position of their eyes, which are directed towards the sky, from οὐρανὸς, the heavens, and σκοπέω, I regard. From this peculiar arrangement, they can only see above them. They are closely connected with the cat-fish. Uranoscopus vulgaris (Fig. 388) belongs to the Mediterranean, and is remarkable for its thick cubical head and erect spiny dorsal fins.
Fig. 386. The Cat-fish.
