Daily national Republican. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1862-1866, 1865-10-03

a. usual, excited the professors piscatory
rsge and he invited me to jump into the
dory with him, and 60 and catch q mess
for breakfast, for which meal the pilot was
leisurely making preparations. The wind
was 80 light that the furnace assembled
Ike the smoke Of q sacrifice, and at the
rate at which the sloop was going we
could easily overtako her. As we were
now getting fairly into the region OF
msckerel-6shing, the Skipper had taken
care 70 provide bait; which he purchased
from . vessel with a bait-mill on board.
Taking bucket of the stuff, composed
of hard-heads ground up, which the mack
erel-hshers use to toll their prey within
reach, we entered the dory and rowed
towards the nearest school, Its presence be.
ing easily detected by the ripple which the
fishes make In passing through the water
When within two or three rods Of them
the Professor dropped the oars and threw
several handouts of bait towards the
mackerel. Our lines, which were loaded
only with light sinkers, were already baited
with pieces Of hardhead, and we threw
them quickly out. Instantly there was a
rush al tn en-, q sharp, quick bite, and we
each pulled In q maekerel. For q few
minutes We drew In fish as fast as we could
bait and throw out our lines: often, indeed
not stopping toput on fresh, fol- the meresi
shred Of .skin hanging 70 the hook was
sufficient. Wehad caught about thirty In
quick succession, the fish following as our
boat foated along on the tide, when sud
denly they ceased TO bite. something had
alarmed them, and they had gone of IKE
q fash 10 reappear at the distance of an
eighth Of amile. AS we had already more
than enough for breakfast, we did not pur-
sue them, but regained the sloop and
turned our captures over to the pilot, who
soon had the choicest Of them in his frying
pan.
have not yet seen any fish 90 handsome
- the mackerel, so elegant In form, 30
beautiful and brilliant in color. The up.
per part Of the body is dark green In hue,
the lower part silvery white, but along the
aides are wavy bands OF mixed and huctu-
ating colors like those Of changesble silk.
The size ofthe hsh varies from ten to TWEEN
ty inches In length, and the average weight
IL two pounds. Those we caught were
small, weighing not more than a pound
each.
The mackerel was well known to the
ancients, ind those taken near the Island
of Paros were particularly celebrated.
The famous hsh-sauce called JarlDn, made
from their entrails, was invented by the
Greeks. The mackerel of the Mediterra-
mean, however, are poor and tasteless,
compared with those of the Atlantic; and
though Apieius wrote many receipts for
sauces 70 dress them in, and pour over
them at table, Il Is certain that the ancients
hardly considered them ft to eat fresh,
but preferred them sailed, as the spaniards
do 70 this day. The physician CELSIUS,
eighteen hundred years ago, pronounced
them very heavy food, - graUisSimtan
ALUMINIUM. Oppia1, q Greek of the Sc
cond century, who wrote a long poem on
fish and fishing, compares the msckerers
fondness for brilr mt colors and his readi-
ness 70 bite at bit Of red rag, to the
rashness Of an infant playing with FIRE.
Il has been supposed, until recently,
that the mackerel was q migratory fab,
and that towards winter 1t retired to the
polar regions, where 1t kept itself warm by
getting under the Ice. DR.. Anderson
gives minute description of their line OF
march In spring, and represents them as
pouring In succession along the coasts OF
Iceland, Scotland, and Ireland, dividing as
they approach the English. Channel, into
two columns, one Of which continues its
onward course along the west OF France,
Spain, and Portugal, and streams through
the straits OF Gibralter into the Nediterra-
neanI while the other passes up the Chan.
mel, along the northern coast of France and
the opposite coast of England, and, swarm
Ing through the North Sea, arrives about
July of the shores of Jutland, whence IL
sends detachment into the Baltic, while
the main army continues along the coast
OF Norway till II again reaches its Artic or
winter quarters. The facts, however, do
not sustain this theory; for while mackerel
are seldom seen In English waters till MAY,
they appear still earlier in the Mediterrs.
mean, and at Montpelier, in the South OF
France, the fishermen call them, in their
peculiar dialect, poiS'd Asril, or April fish,
from their recurrence in that month.
Another theory, once In vogue TO ac-
count for their disappearance during the
winter, was that they plunged themselves
In the mud at the bottom of the ocean few
miles from shore. A French admiral,
quoted by Lacepede, declared that he had
seen them with their heads stuck In the
sand In such compact masses that the
bottom Of the sea was literally paved with
them.
Is now believed that the mackerel re.
tires to mid-ocean 10 spend the winter, as
great schools have occasionally been seen
far out In the Atlantic, as low as the wen
tieth degree of north latitude. in NAV.
swimming northward; while on the other
mana, tney nave been seen In December in |
higher latitude, swimming southwark. -
Summer CruiJe.