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.”

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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.

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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 black pepper, by steeping them for a while in water, and then gently rubbing them, so as to remove the dark outer coat.  It is milder than the other, and much prized by the Chinese, but very little is imported into England. Genuine white pepper is merely the blighted or imperfect grains picked from among the heaps of black pepper.  It is, of course, very inferior.

From the Singapore Chronicle we learn, that the average annual quantity of pepper obtained from different countries is 46,066,666 lbs, avoirdupois.

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THE GATHERER.

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