562 THE TURBOT. 



and alarms the fishes to such an extent that they dash wildly about, 

 and mostly dart into the net, whence they never escape. Vast num- 

 bers of Soles are taken by this method of fishing, and, as the trawls 

 bring to the surface enormous quantities of crustaceans, molluscs, zoo- 

 phytes, and other marine inhabitants, the energetic naturalist cannot 

 employ his time better than in taking a sail in one of these boats, and 

 enduring a few hours' inconvenience for the sake of the rich harvest 

 which he is sure to reap. Some of the rarest and most valuable British 

 animals have been taken in the trawl-nets. The finest Sole that I ever 



saw I took in a 

 trawl-net in one 

 of the creeks of 

 the Med way. As 

 to length and 

 breadth it was 

 not very remark- 

 able, but it was 

 almost half as 

 thick again as 

 ^M any Sole that I 

 have seen. 



The Sole is 



The Sole [Soka mUgaris). iu condition 



throughout the 

 greater part of the year, the only time when it is not worth eating 

 being from the end of February to the last week in March, when the 

 fishes are full of roe and the flesh is rather soft and watery. It is a 

 liardy fish, and can soon be acclimatized to live in fresh water; and it 

 is said that under such circumstances the fish can readily be fattened, 

 and becomes nearly twice as thick as when bred in the sea. Some- 

 times the Soles venture into the mouths of rivers, passing about four 

 or five miles into the fresh water, and depositing their multitudinous 

 eggs in such localities. 



The color of the Sole is almost always brown on the right side and 

 white on the left, but examples of reversed soles are not uncommon, 

 where the left side is brown and the other is white. The scales are 

 small, and give a rough, rasp-like sensation to the hand. The dimen- 

 sions of this fish are very variable, an average specimen weighing about 

 a pound or eighteen ounces. Much larger examples, however, occur 

 occasionally, and Mr. Yarrell mentions one instance where a Sole 

 measured twenty-six inches in length, eleven and a half in width, 

 and weighed nine pounds. 



The well-kuow4 Turbot, so widely and so worthily celebrated for 

 the firm delicacy of its flesh, inhabits many of the European coasts, 



