Miscellaneous Fisheries. 129 



flesh, which is of a dull red colour, is very palatable, and a 

 sword-fish steak makes an excellent substitute for a salmon 

 cutlet. A sword-fish was shown at Boston, U.S., some 

 years ago, which weighed over 1000 Ibs., and measured, 

 including the sword, 14 feet. 



The fishermen of Sables d'Olonne, France, dry and 

 salt the flesh of Squalus caniculata, and of another species, 

 the dog-fish (S. galeus), for winter use. 



Turbot, Soles, etc. The British trawl vessels catch their 

 fish on the vast submarine plateau extending from Flam- 

 borough Head to the south of Orfordness on the English 

 coast, and from the Long Fisher Bank, north of Heligo- 

 land, to Ter Schelling, on the Dutch coast. 



Soles fourteen years ago cost 2d. to 2\d. per Ib. ; now they 

 are worth &/. to is. 2d. per Ib. Large soles are difficult to 

 get at all. Small soles go by the name of " tongues ; " the 

 smallest are " cat's tongues." " Slips " are 9^ to 10 inches 

 in length. A fair-sized sole would be about 12 inches. 

 The legal sizes for the sale of fish in France limit soles and 

 turbot to four inches. 



Sole fishing is a trade carried on most extensively at 

 various parts of the English coast, but more particularly at 

 the Great Silver Pitts, situated betwixt the Dogger and 

 Wellbank, east from the Humber river. Sole fishing is con- 

 ducted upon exactly the same principle as oyster dredging. 

 The vessel sails easily along at the rate of about two knots 

 per hour, pulling the dredge after her; and as the trawler's 

 dredge or net is fitted with inside pockets, when once the 

 fish are fairly entered into the net, they cannot again easily 

 get out. The depths and bottom about the middle of the 

 Firth of Forth are similar to those about the Great Silver 

 Pitts, and as soles are frequently caught by fishermen on 

 their lines, the supposition is that were dredges used in 



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