The fishing grounds of Van Diemen’s Land are periodically visited by a splendid fish named arbouka, a well-known piscatory visitant on the coast of New Zealand. Great numbers of these beautiful denizens of the deep have been caught, varying in weight from 60 lbs. to 100 lbs. each. The trumpeter is one of the most magnificent of Tasmanian fish; and is unrivalled in the quality of its flesh by any visitant in those waters. A demand has been created for them in Victoria; and before long, a stirring trade will be established between the two colonies in these beautiful fish.
The native cooking-oven of New Zealand, called the unu, is a very curious contrivance, and is thus described by Mr. S. C. Brees. It consists of a round hole, about two or three feet in diameter, and twelve inches deep, in which some wood is placed and lighted. Largepebble-stones are then thrown on the fire and heated, which remain at the bottom of the hole after the wood is consumed; the stones are next arranged, so as to present a level surface, and sprinkled with water; wild cabbage or other leaves are moistened and spread over them, upon which the food intended to be cooked is laid; the whole is then covered over with leaves and flax-baskets, and lastly, filled over with earth, which completes the operation. After allowing it to remain a certain time, according to circumstances, which the cook determines with the utmost precision, the oven is opened and the food removed. Eels and potatoes are delicious when cooked in this manner, and every other kind of provision.
The seer-fish (Cybium guttatum) is generally considered the finest flavoured of the finny race that swims in the Indian seas; it has a good deal the flavour of salmon.
There are several esteemed fish obtained round Ceylon. The Pomfret bull’s eye (Holocentrus ruber) is found at certain seasons in abundance on the southern coast of Ceylon, in deep water. It is greatly esteemed by the natives as an article of food, and reaches a considerable size, frequently nearly two feet in length. The flesh is white and solid. For splendour and beauty, this fish is almost unsurpassed.
A fish called by the natives great-fire (Scorpæna volitans) is eaten by the native fishermen, the flesh being white, solid, and nutritive. Linnæus describes the flesh as delicious.
The pookoorowah (Holocentrus argenteus) is a very delicious fish, seldom exceeding twelve or thirteen inches in length. The gal-handah (Chætodon araneus), a singular and much admired fish, only about three inches in length, has a delicate and white flesh, and is greatly esteemed.
In Java and Sumatra, a preparation of small fish, with red-rice, having the appearance of anchovies, and the colour of red-cabbage, is esteemed a delicacy. So in India, the preparation called tamarind fish is much prized as a breakfast relish, where the acid of the tamarind is made use of for preserving the white pomfret-fish, cut in transverse slices. The mango-fish (Polynemus longifilis, Cuvier;P. paradiscusof Linnæus), about eight or nine inches long by two deep, is much esteemed in India. At Calcutta theLates nobilis, different species ofPolynemus, and theMugil Corsula, daily cover the tables of Europeans, who will more readily recognize these fishes under the names of theBegtiorCockup,Sudjeh,Tupsi, and the Indian Mullet.
At the Sandheads may be found some of those delicious fishes, which are more familiar to the residents of Madras and Bombay, for instance, the Indian soles, the roll-fish, and above all, the black and white pomfrets, and the bummolah, which latter in a dried state is known by the name of the Bombay duck. The bummolah is a small glutinous transparent fish, about the size of smelt.
There are many excellent fish obtained from the sea round the Cape Colony, and about 2,500 tons are shipped annually to the Mauritius, forming nearly three fourths of the island consumption; the principal consumers being the coolie labourers or Indian population.
Geelbeck, or yellow mouth, sometimes called Cape salmon (Otolithus æquidens, Cuv. and Val.), is the finestas to quality; they are taken abundantly with the hook and line, or net, and weigh about 14 lbs. The cost of preparation ready for shipment is about £12. It forms an article of food for the poor and lazy. The Malays at the Cape cure a great deal in vinegar (for home consumption), the same as pickled salmon in England; and it is not a bad representative of it. For exportation they are opened down the back, the intestines taken out, head cut off, salted for a night, and dried in the sun.
Snook (Thyrsites atua), similar to the baraconta, is a long, slim, oily fish, taken with any shining bait; it is a perfect salt-water pike, very strong and ferocious, and is dispatched, after being pulled on board, by blows on the head with a kind of knob-kerrie. These are cured the same way as the geelbeck; the cost of production is about £16 per ton. They are highly prized by the colonists, and esteemed before any fish imported into Mauritius, fetching about £2 per ton more than cod. These fish are very fine eating when cured fresh. They are also much esteemed in Ceylon. The Malays cure them without salt by drying in the sun, with a little pepper and spice; they are then delicious.
Silver fish (Dentex argyrozona) are similar to the bream of England; each weighs from 6 to 8 lbs. They are got up for shipment the same as the others; the cost of production is about £10 per ton. They are the least esteemed of any at the Mauritius market, but when fresh they are very nice eating. The bastard silver fish (D. rupestris) is considered one of the very finest fishes in the colony. It is esteemed for foreign markets. Harders are a mullet, about eight inches long, which are principally cured in small casks in brine, for up-country use. The Cape farmers are very fond of them,but few are exported. They have also mackerel very large, very fat, which are better cured than fresh.
The Jacob Evertsen (Sebastes capensis), so called after a Dutch captain, remarkable for a red face and large projecting eyes, is a fish which, though common in Table Bay almost at all seasons, is highly prized for its flesh by most colonists. Another species, the sancord (S. maculatus), which is not so common, is a very delicious fish. The kabeljauw (Sciæna hololepidota) is a large fish from two to three feet long, common on the coast, being caught with the hook and the drag-net. It is one of the staple fishes in the Cape Town market; dried and salted like cod it is exported to the Mauritius and elsewhere. Its flesh when young is good, but firm and dry in adult individuals. The baardmannetje (Umbrina capensis, Pappe), another newly described fish of the same family, which is chiefly caught in False Bay during summer, measures from 2 to 2½ feet, and is reputed for its delicious flesh.
The hangberger (Sargus Hottentotus), a fish about 18 inches long, which is common in Table Bay from June to August, is much in request, particularly at the time when it is with roe. It is also cured and pickled for economical purposes. It feeds on shell fish, and is caught with the hook.
The Hottentot fish (Sargus capensis), from 12 to 14 inches long, which is mostly confined to Table Bay and the West Coast, may be caught at all seasons with the hook. It is not only a superior table fish, but forms when salted and dried an article of export.
The roode steen brassem of the Dutch (Chrysophrys laticeps, Cuvier) is a bulky fish, often exceeding 3½ feet in length and 14 inches in breadth. It is veryvoracious, and feeds generally on crabs and cuttle fish (SepiaandLoligo). As food it is much prized, and is also cured for exportation.
The Roman fish (Chrysophrys cristiceps) is one of the prettiest and most delicious fish met with in the Cape markets. It is generally acknowledged to be a superior dish.
The daggerath (Pagrus laniarius) is of a dark rose colour, about 12 inches long. It is highly prized in the colony for its delicious flesh. This handsome fish owes its surname,laniarius(butcher), both to its colour and to its sharp teeth and voracity.
The windtoy (Cantharus Blochii) is a delicious table fish, more commonly caught in winter, and often put up in bundles along with the Hottentot fish (Sargus capensis). The flesh of the dasje fish, another species (Cantharus emarginatus), is also highly esteemed as food.
There is a fish called by the colonists the bamboo fish (Boops salpa), from feeding on algæ and being caught principally in localities where there is an abundance of sea-weed. On account of its vegetable nourishment, it exhibits at times a particular smell when embowelled, and is for that reason called stink-fish by some of the fishermen. It is a rich and delicate fish, and though scarce in the Cape Town market, is common in Saldanha Bay, where it is dried and salted for home consumption.
The flesh of the bastard Jacob Evertsen (Pimelepterus fuscus) is well flavoured and very nice. This fish is of a uniform dusky brown colour. It feeds on shell-fish.
The galleon fish (Dipterodon capensis) is more plentiful in the western division of the Cape Colony; it ishighly esteemed as food and always fetches a good price. It is, however, disliked by some on account of the many black veins traversing its flesh, and is at times rather unwholesome, from being too rich and requiring good digestive organs.
The elft-fish (Temnodon saltator) is uniformly lead coloured, shaded with dark green on its back. From leaping now and then out of the water it has obtained its name ofsaltator(jumper). It is held in great esteem as a table fish, and the younger individuals are truly deemed a dainty.
There are several species of mullet recorded as inhabitants of the bays and rivers of the Cape Colony. All of them are caught with the net. They make good table fish, but are more frequently salted or smoke-dried (under the name of bokkoms) like the herring, and thus preserved, form a very considerable article of home consumption as well as of export.
The klip-fish (Blennius versicolor, Pappe) is greatly reputed for its flesh, which is nice, well flavoured, and wholesome.
The flesh of the bagger (Bagrus capensis) is extremely delicate, and bears a greater resemblance to that of the eel than that of any other sea fish in the colony. Owing to its ugliness, this curious fish, which hides itself among stones in muddy water the better to entrap its unsuspecting prey, is from popular prejudice less prized than it deserves.
English writers on Ichthyology comment very unfavourably on the merits of the hake (Gadus merluccius) and call it ‘a coarse fish, scarcely fit for the dinner table.’ At the Cape its qualities are generally and fully appreciated; in fact, its flesh is highly delicate andlittle inferior to that of the haddock (Gadus æglefinus). At times it makes its appearance in large shoals. It is then abundantly caught, salted, and dried, for exportation. The cured or dried Cape stock-fish is an excellent dish, far superior to that insipid stuff introduced from Holland or other countries.
The rock-cod (Serranus Cuvierii) is highly esteemed as an article of food.
Sardines in myriads swarm round Table Bay, at one season of the year; klip-fish, king klip-fish, and soles (rather scarce), are considered a luxury.
It is hardly requisite to say much of that cosmopolitan fish, the sole, which is for its delicacy prized as well at the Cape as elsewhere.
Thousands of cray-fish are caught daily; four of the largest can be obtained for a penny; but it is not fashionable to eat them, although they are very good.
The quantity of fish throughout the whole extent of the coast, bordering on the Agulha’s bank, is immense, and would be the richest fishery in the world. Exports of sardines in the French style, of potted cray-fish in the American, and the choicest fish preserved fresh in tins, might be made profitable.
I may add here that Dr. L. Pappe, of Cape Town, to whom I am indebted for my information on the Cape fishes, has published in the Colony an interesting synopsis of the edible fishes at the Cape of Good Hope, in which he furnishes much new and interesting descriptive scientific detail.