DAB. . SOLE. 



low : the belly is white. This fish is tolerably good eating, 

 both fresh and dried. 



THE DAB. 



The dab is of a better flavour than several other of the 

 flat fishes, though inferior in size. It is covered with small 

 scales, very rough at their extremities. The eyes, which 

 are placed on the right side, are very near each other. It 

 is commonly of an uniform brown colour on the upper 

 side, and the lower is white. 



The dab is found in company with the other species of 

 flat fish, but is less common. It is eaten in the highest 

 perfection during the spring months, and afterwards 

 remains flabby and watery till the return of that sea- 

 son. Another species, called the smear-dab, resembles 

 the former pretty nearly ; except that it is spotted ob- 

 scurely with yellow on the upper parts, and with dusky 

 marks on the belly. 



THE SOLE. 



This is one of the most delicate of our British fishes, 

 whence it is sometimes called the queen of the sea. It is 

 common on all our coasts : those on the western shores, 

 however, attain the largest size. They usually keep much 

 at the bottom of the deep ; where they feed on small shell- 

 fish, and are drawn up with a hawl-net. 



The irides of the sole are yellow, the pupils of a bright 

 sapphirine colour, and the scales small and very rough. 

 The upper part of the body is of a deep brown hue, and 

 the under part is white. The lateral line is straight, and 

 the tail rounded at the extremity. 



Though the flesh is delicious and white, that of the 

 middling-sized fishes is by far the best. The chief fishery 

 for soles is at Brixham in Torbay. By an ancient law of 

 the Cinque-ports, no one was to take them from the first 

 of November to the fifteenth of March; neither were 

 they to be molested from sun-rising to sun-setting, that 

 they might enjoy their night-food. 



