PLAICE. 179 



caught near the shore. The fishing tribes on both sides 

 of the straits of Fuca would drive away any other tribes 

 which had not been accustomed to fish on the halibut 

 banks. The mode of fishing is to trail the line slowly 

 after the canoe, the hook being sunk in deep water. 

 Hundreds of canoes, with two or three men in each, 

 start at midnight for the fishing-ground, so as to arrive 

 there in the morning. After half- a- day's work, if the 

 sea is moderate, the canoes are quite laden, and the 

 fishermen return. If the sea should rise during their 

 progress to the shore, rather than throw any of their 

 fish overboard, the natives tie large inflated sealskins to 

 both sides of the canoe to increase its buoyancy. The 

 hairy side of these skins is tmTied inside and the skinny 

 side outside, and various rude devices are painted on 

 the outside, such as the sinking of a canoe, or the 

 capture of a great fish. To get so large a fish as a 

 halibut into a canoe at sea is rather a difficult matter. 

 Accidents, however, rarely happen, and the fish seldom 

 gets away after being hooked. By using bladders at- 

 tached to the line, and spearing the halibut when he 

 appears on the surface, the largest fish is finally towed 

 alongside the canoe, where he is killed by being struck 

 on the head with a club. 



THE PLAICE. 



(Platessa vulgaris.) 



German: Die Scholle. Danish: Roddspdtte. Swedish: Tunga. 

 Dutch : Be Schol. French : La Plie Franche. 



My friend Mr. Thomas informs me that there are two 

 kinds of plaice — the ordinary i)laice, which has no 

 spots ; and the diamond plaice, with spots. The latter 

 is caught in May and June on the Brown Bank and the 



