Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/138

 frying pans. These were probably alewives, which were described by subsequent writers as being infinite in number. Smith also observed in the same voyage many fish swimming about among the reeds growing in the water at the mouth of the Rappahannock. The sheepshead, always so much esteemed for its delicacy, was almost as common as the alewife; it is interesting to note that one of the early authors who gave a description of Virginia, attributed the origin of the name not to the resemblance which this fish bore to the sheep in the shape of its mouth and head, but to the alleged fact that a broth could be made of its flesh exactly like the broth of mutton. There were countless numbers of shad, sturgeon, herring, and rock. The shads were frequently a yard in length. Far more remarkable in size as well as in number were the sturgeons. In one cast of the seine, Sir Thomas Dale secured over five thousand of these fish as large as a cod. Dale was reluctant to use his net because he was apprehensive lest it should be broken by the weight of sturgeon, but this fear does not seem to have influenced the men who were stationed at Smith&#8217;s Isles, since it is recorded that on one occasion they drew to the shore a struggling mass of sturgeon and other fish that would have afforded a full cargo for an ordinary frigate. It is also stated that in the course of a few hours two men had killed forty enormous sturgeon with axes in the river near Jamestown. From the end