282 SURMULLET. COMMON GURNARD. 



and the scales are large and deciduous. The back is 

 dusky, varied with blue and green ; the sides are silvery, 

 marked with broad dusky parallel lines reaching from the 

 head to the tail ; and the belly also is silvery. 



This is an excellent fish for the table, though at present 

 not fashionable. It is correctly ranged by Aristotle among 

 such fishes as prefer the shores to the ocean. It is found 

 in great abundance among several sandy coasts of our 

 island, and particularly in small bays, which have an influx 

 of fresh water. They arrive in large shoals, and are ex- 

 tremely cunning and active ; for, when surrounded by a 

 net, they will often effect their escape, to the last indivi- 

 dual, by leaping over it. In the south of France, abun- 

 dance of mullets are taken in weirs made of reeds, placed 

 in the shallows. From the milts of the males and the 

 roes of the females botargo is made. 



THE SURMULLET. 



That this fish was highly valued by the Roman epicures, 

 may be learnt from both Horace and Juvenal ; who, when 

 they inveigh against the luxury and extravagance of the 

 age in which they respectively lived, quote this circum- 

 stance in proof of their assertions. It resembles the 

 mullet in many respects, but is twice as large. The fins 

 are yellowish, slightly tinged with red ; the scales are 

 large, broad, thick, and very firmly united to the flesh; 

 and three or four straight yellow lines run down the sides, 

 parallel to each other. 



The surmullet is caught in the Mediterranean ; and in 

 the British seas, especially on the Cornish coast ; and is 

 universally esteemed a great delicacy. 



THE COMMON OR GREY GURNARD. 



This fish is frequent in the British seas, and its flesh is 

 much valued. It eagerly bites at a red rag, and is usually 

 taken by a hook. Its figure is long and slender, fre- 

 quently measuring thirty inches. The back is of a dusky 

 green colour, marked with black, yellow, and white 

 spots ; the lateral lines are dotted and rough, and under 



