JULY. FLOUNDERS. 255 



verdict of the doctor, who at once saw that some 

 strong narcotic had been given to the man. 



Among the available products of the sandy 

 creeks and bays on this coast are immense quan- 

 tities of excellent flounders. These fish come in 

 with every tide, and though the great bulk of them 

 return to the deep water, vast numbers remain in 

 the pools which are formed at low water upon the 

 sands. We occasionally drag some of these pools 

 with a small trout-net, and are sure to catch a large 

 quantity of these fish in one or two hauls. The 

 flounders are of two kinds, the gray-backed flounder 

 and a larger sort which has red spots. The latter, 

 however, is a far inferior fish, the flesh being soft 

 and flabby. Notwithstanding the abundance and 

 excellence of the flounders, left, as it were, for any 

 person to pick up, with scarcely any exertion, the 

 country people very seldom take the trouble to 

 catch them, excepting now and then by the line, 

 in a lazy, inefficient way. 



July, although not a month during which the 

 sportsman finds much employment for his gun, is 

 still to me a most interesting season. Every day 

 that I walk by the lochs and swamps I see fresh 

 arrivals in the shape of broods and flocks of young 

 teal and wild-ducks, and this year there are numbers 

 of pochards swimming about in compact companies. 



