HOLIBUT. 31 



fully by the natives of the Orkneys, who ply their lines 

 in the slack water and various eddies produced by the dif- 

 ferent islands, out of the race of the tides ; these quiet places 

 being more particularly the haunts of the Holibut and 

 Flatfish generally. A large quantity of oil is obtained from 

 them. 



In the Northern seas, Holibuts weighing near five hundred 

 pounds are said to have been obtained ; and examples of large 

 size have occasionally occurred nearer home. In April 1828, 

 a Holibut seven feet six inches in length, three feet six 

 inches in breadth, and weighing three hundred and twenty 

 pounds, was taken off the Isle of Man and sent to Edin- 

 burgh market. It was said to have been the largest spe- 

 cimen ever exhibited there. 



The Holibut has occurred, as might be expected, on the 

 northern coast of Ireland, from Belfast Bay to the shores 

 of the county of Donegal ; but in consequence, probably, 

 of the word maximus having been applied by some authors 

 as a specific term to the Holibut, and by others to the 

 Turbot, some confusion has arisen by a misappropriation of 

 the English names. I am in doubt, therefore, whether some 

 localities on the south coast of Ireland claimed for the Ho- 

 libut do not in reality refer to the Turbot, as neither 

 Colonel Montagu nor Mr. Couch mentions the occurrence of 

 the Holibut either in Devonshire or Cornwall, but the Tur- 

 bot is well known to be common to both. In London this 

 fish is occasionally seen in the months of March and April : 

 here, from its large size, it is sold in slices at a low price 

 by the pound weight. The flesh, though white and firm, 

 is dry, the muscular fibre coarse, with but little flavour : the 

 head and fins are said to be the best parts. Specimens only 

 two feet long are occasionally seen, but in general the exam- 

 ples are much larger. 



