158 



TmiJOT. 



refers to the sndis, or spikes, which were on the back of the fish, 

 an exiDressioiL not correct in reference to the fin rays of either 

 of these fishes, but strictly applicable to the upper surface, or 

 what fishermen term the back, of the Turbot. It is to be 

 observed further that this presentation to the emperor of an 

 immense Adriatic Turbot was scarcely a voluntary act, since 

 informers would have been ready to carry the news to the 

 prince, and thus have ruined the fisherman. 



The Turbot is a fish of northern or temperate climates, and 

 is said to grow to a larger size generally on the coasts of 

 Britain and France than further south; but it is also known 

 along the shores of Italy and Greece, and it is found also in 

 the Black Sea. It prefers sandy ground, or where there is 

 gravel; and it is also reported to choose a bottom of mud, in 

 which to embed itself for the j^urpose of hiding its bodv, in 

 order the better to entrap unwary fishes; but this faculty of 

 intelligence will require more positive support from observation 

 than it has yet received. It appears to wander much, and in 

 small companies; and I have been informed by fishermen that 

 in many instances, when one has been drawn up with a line, 

 a companion has followed it so closely as to be taken with 

 the aid of the usual hooked stick (gafi") employed in lifting 

 on board the larger fishes. But although the usual habit of 

 the Turbot is to lie close to the ground, it is seen to mount 

 occasionally to the surfiice, and maintain its station there at 

 one stay for a considerable time, as if enjoying the flowing of 

 the current; but in that situation it has seemed less eas-er to 

 take a bait. 



The ocean north of the Straits of Dover is a favourite 

 resort of these fishes; and it is there more particularly that a 

 regular fishery with long lines, or bulteys, is carried on for 

 catching them, the bait being a portion of a Herring or a 

 Lamprey, large quantities of this last-named fish being coUected 

 for sale to the Dutch for this purpose. Mackarel is also a 

 favourite bait, but only for a short time in the season. The 

 fish which are thus taken are brought for the most part to 

 the London market; and in the middle of the last (eighteenth) 

 century, the fishermen of Holland are said to have received 

 one hundred thousand pounds in one year for what they had 

 brought to England of these fislies. 



