Within the Deep | Page 3

packers gets to work; and
the fresh fish are soon on the rail, speeding to the great fish markets, on
the way to your breakfast table.
The story of the Herring fishery is one of deep interest, and of great
importance. Millions of Herrings are caught every year, forming a
cheap and good food. Yet there are uncountable numbers left; and there
is not the least danger that our nets can ever empty the sea of this
wonderful little fish.
The Herring has several smaller relatives, all of them being excellent
food for us. The Pilchard is one of them; the Sardine is merely a young
Pilchard. Countless myriads of Pilchards visit the Cornish coast;
strangely enough, they frequent only this corner of our seas.
Another cousin of the Herring, the Sprat, is also a fine food, and so
cheap that poor people can enjoy it. Baby Herrings and baby Sprats are
caught in great quantity, and sold under the name of "Whitebait." It was
thought, at one time, that the Whitebait was another kind of fish; but
Whitebait are really the Herring and Sprat in their baby state.

EXERCISES
1. Name several enemies of the Herring. 2. Describe the eggs of the
Herring, and where they are laid. 3. What is a "drift-net," and how is it
used? 4. What is a Sardine? What is a "Whitebait?"

LESSON II
THE STORY OF THE FLAT FISH
You see fish of many shapes and sizes in the fishmonger's shop; they
can be divided into two kinds--round fish and flat fish. Cod, Herring,
Mackerel and Salmon are round fish. The flat fish are Plaice, Turbot,
Brill, Halibut, Sole, Dab and Flounder.
Most people know the taste, as well as the look, of a Plaice; but few
know much about its life in the ocean. Indeed, there are secrets in the
life of this fish, and many other fish too, which still puzzle us.
Put a Salmon and a Plaice side by side, and it is plain that they live in
very different ways. One is made to dart like an arrow, the other to lie
flat. One is the shape of a torpedo, the other is flat like a raft. The shape
and colour of the Plaice tell their own story of a life on the sandy,
pebbly bed of the sea. And look at the eyes! Both are on the upper side
of the head! What could be better for a fish that lies flat on the ocean
floor?
The Plaice is the best known of these flat fish, so we will try to find
how its life is spent in the deep sea.
Have you ever watched those little sailing-vessels which go
a-shrimping? They carry a large net--a shrimp-trawl, it is called--which
is drawn over the sandy home of the Shrimp. When the trawl is hauled
up it may contain not only Shrimps, but the other dwellers in sandy
places. Among these, sad to say, is often a mass of baby Plaice and
other flat fish. Tiny little fellows they are, some hardly as large as a
postage stamp. They are thrown aside, being of no use to the fisherman.

Now these babies are quite flat, darkish on the upper side, white on the
other side, like the Plaice you see in the shop. They are not such new
babies after all. Though such wee mites, it is more than six weeks since
they left the egg; and, in that time, they have passed through wonderful
changes, as you will see.
Plaice lay a great many eggs, which float about in the sea. Most are
gobbled up by those sea-creatures--and they are many--who love
fish-eggs for dinner. From each remaining egg a baby Plaice escapes.
At first it floats upside down at the surface of the sea, and eats nothing
at all. Then it rights itself, and begins to swallow the tiny creatures
which swarm in sea-water.
Strange to tell, this baby Plaice is not a bit like its mother. It is not a flat
fish now, but a "round" fish. It has one eye on each side of its head, and
you would expect it to grow up like any other round fish.
For about a month this small, transparent youngster hardly alters. Then
it grows deeper in the body, and begins to swim near the bottom of the
sea. At last it lies on one side, and its life as a "round" fish is over.
A fish lying thus on its side would have one eye buried in the sand, and
quite useless, would it not? But our young Plaice is changing its
appearance very quickly. Its head is growing rather "lopsided." The eye
next the sand is, little by little, brought round to the upper side, until it