HOLIBUT. 231 



fully hy the natives of the Orkneys, who ply their lines 

 in the slaek water and various eddies produced by the dif- 

 ferent islands, out of the race of the tides ; these quiet places 

 being more particularly the haunts of the Holibut and 

 Flatfish generally. A large quantity of oil is obtained from 

 them. 



In the Northern seas, Holibuts weighing near five hundred 

 pounds are said to have been obtained ; and examples of large 

 size have occasionally occurred nearer home. In April 1828, 

 a Holibut seven feet six inches in length, three feet six 

 inches in breadth, and weighing three hundred and twenty 

 })oimds, was taken off the Isle of Man and sent to Edin- 

 burgh market. It was said to have been the largest spe- 

 cimen ever exhibited there. 



The Holibut has occurred, as might be expected, on the 

 northern coast of Ireland, from Belfast Bay to the shores 

 of the county of Donegal ; but in consequence, probably, 

 of the word jnaximus having been applied by some authors 

 as a specific term to the Holibut, and by others to the 

 Turbot, some confusion has arisen by a misappropriation of 

 the English names. I am in doubt, therefore, whether some 

 localities on the south coast of Ireland claimed for the Ho- 

 libut do not in reality refer to the Turbot, as neither 

 Colonel Montagu nor Mr. Couch mentions the occurrence of 

 the Holibut cither in Devonshire or Cornwall, but the Tur- 

 bot is well known to be common to both. In London this 

 fish is occasionally seen in the months of March and April ; 

 here, from its large size, it is sold in slices at a low price 

 by the pound weight. The flesh, though white and firm, 

 is dry, the muscular fibre coarse, with but little flavour : the 

 head and fins are said to be the best parts. Specimens only 

 two feet long are occasionally seen, but in general the exam- 

 ples are jnuch larger. 



