roughs, "doe yield such a continued harvest of gain and
benefit to all those that with diligence doe labour in the same, that no
time or season of the yeare passeth away without some apparent meanes
of profitable employment, especially to such as apply themselves to
fishing; which, from the beginning of the year unto the latter end,
continueth upon some part or other of our coastes; and there in such
infinite shoals and multitudes of fishes are offered to the takers as
may justly cause admiration, not only to strangers, but to those that
daily are employed amongst them."--"That this harvest," says Mr. Barrow,
"ripe for gathering at all seasons of the year,--without the labour of
tillage--without expense of seed or manure--without the payment of rent
or taxes--is inexhaustible, the extraordinary fecundity of the most
valuable kinds of fish would alone afford abundant proof. To enumerate
the thousands, and even millions of eggs which are impregnated in the
herring, the cod, the ling, and, indeed, in almost the whole of the
esculent fish, would give but an inadequate idea of the prodigious
multitudes in which they flock to our shores. The shoals themselves
must be seen, in order to convey to the mind any just notice of their
aggregate mass." Mr. Macculloch, however, observes, that "notwithstanding
this immense abundance of fish, and notwithstanding the bounties that
have been given by the legislature to the individuals engaged in the
fishery, it has not been profitable to those by whom it has been carried
on, nor has it made that progress which might have been expected."
* * * * *
NANKEEN.
Nankeen, or Nanking, takes its name from Nanking in China, where the
reddish-yellow thread of which the stuff is made was originally spun.
In England, we erroneously apply the term Nankeen to one colour; though,
in the East Indies, vast quantities of white, pink, and yellow nankeens
are made.
* * * * *
WHITE PEPPER.
The relative value of black and white pepper is but imperfectly
understood. The former is decidedly the best. It grows in long, small
clusters of from 20 to 50 grains. When ripe, it is of a bright red
colour. After being gathered, it is spread on mats in the sun, when it
loses its red colour, and becomes black and shrivelled as we see it.
White pepper is of two sorts, common and genuine. The former is made by
blanching the grains of the common
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