348 1'L.EURONECTID.E. 



The Sole is found northward as far as the Baltic and the 

 seas, of Scandinavia ; and southward, along the shores of 

 Spain, Portugal, and the Mediterranean. It was first de- 

 scribed by Bellon. 



Soles and of these an enormous quantity are caught 

 almost entirely by trawling ; they seldom take any bait. It 

 is usual to send them to market in baskets, within which the 

 Soles of small size, called Slips, are arranged nearest the 

 wicker-work forming the outside of the basket : the larger 

 Soles, being more valuable, arc packed in the middle. 

 Eighty-six thousand bushels of Soles have been received at 

 Billingsgate market only within twelvemonths. 



The Sole is found full of roe at the latter end of February. 

 They are then for a few weeks soft and watery ; but they soon 

 recover, and throughout a great portion of the year are de- 

 servedly in high estimation : the flesh is white, firm, and of 

 excellent flavour ; those in deep water are the finest in 

 quality. 



The principal trawling-ground in England is along the 

 south coast from Sussex to Devonshire : the Sole has also 

 been taken on the shores of various counties in Ireland, viz. 

 Cork, Watcrford, Antrim, Londonderry, and Donegal. On 

 the Devonshire coast the great fishing station is at Brixham 

 in Torbay ; the boats from which, using large trawling-nets 

 from thirty to thirty-six feet in beam, produce a continual 

 supply. Soles of very large size are occasionally taken. I 

 have a record of one pair taken in Torbay which measured 

 twenty- three inches in length each, and weighed together ten 

 pounds ; but for the particulars of the largest I have heard 

 of, I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. W. F. Cor- 

 nish, of Totness. This specimen, a remarkably fine-grown 

 fish, and very thick, was twenty-six inches long, eleven inches 

 and a half wide, and weighed nine pounds. Totness market, 

 June 21st, 1826. 



