GEN. RHOMBUS. THE TURBOT. 235 



twelve hours on the hook, it is vain to expect that 

 it will be taken. The most attractive bait is a small 

 fish of a bright silvery hue, put on the hook alive, 

 and continuing to live for a good while after the 

 lines are sunk. The atherine, sea-scorpion, and 

 river lampern have been much used ; herrings and 

 haddocks, cut in small pieces, have also been em- 

 ployed with success, and even bullock's liver. The 

 line and hook is the common mode of fishing : the 

 fishermen of Scarborough often fasten their lines to- 

 gether till they extend nearly three miles in length, 

 and to these are attached no fewer than 2520 hooks. 

 The trawl-net is likewise much used both in this 

 country and in Holland. 



The ordinary length of the Turbot is from eighteen 

 inches to two feet, and the weight from four to ten 

 pounds. Individuals of twenty, thirty, seventy, and 

 even 190 pounds weight, have been met with. The 

 extent of the demand for this fish in the London 

 market appears from the fact, that the annual sup- 

 ply at Billingsgate has been about 87,958. A pre- 

 ference is given to those brought by the Dutch, who 

 are supposed to have drawn, for many years back, 

 not less than £ 80,000 a year for the supply of this 

 market alone. * Up to the present year, a duty of 

 £ 6 was paid for each boat-load, which might con- 

 sist of from one hundred to one hundred and fifty. 



* Lobster sauce is much used with this luxury. The annual 

 supply of lobsters at Billingsgate market is 1,904,000 : many 

 of them come from Norway, and the Danes derive fi-om 

 £ 12,000 to £ 1 5,000 a year from this traffic. 



