226 AN EAST COAST NATURALIST 



On 19th September 1899 a 10-inch Sole was ex- 

 posed for sale in the town. The upper surface of it, 

 save what might be roughly termed the " cheek " of 

 the fish, was perfectly white even to the extremities 

 of the fins. 



THROWN UP BY THE SEA 



One of the most beautiful and rare of British 

 fishes is the Kingfish or Opah (Zeus lund). Its 

 colours are resplendent although its shape is not 

 comely, it being an exceedingly clumsily built 

 creature. I was passing along the street on 18th 

 October 1891 when I saw a group of persons 

 examining some object on a countryman's cart. 

 Joining them, I found a splendid example of this 

 fish that had been toppled ashore the day before 

 after a heavy gale. Its length was 38 inches, girth 

 41 inches, and its weight 51 Ibs. The rich colours 

 of blue, vermilion, and green, spotted with white, 

 made it a creature of conspicuous beauty, which the 

 scimitar -shaped dorsal and ventral fins and the 

 forked tail of richest crimson tended to intensify. 

 It had evidently found itself astray amongst the 

 sandbanks and there got knocked about until ex- 

 hausted, when it was finally washed ashore at Caister. 



