THE SALMON. 251 



A poultice made of the leaves and stalk of the marsli 

 mallow, wliicli in many places here grows wild, and is the 

 most valuable plant in the bushman's herbal, is an excel- 

 lent remedy for cuts, bruises, swellings, &c. 



The flat-fish come into the bay with the small snapper, 

 when the large fish have left, and are caught up so late 

 in autumu, principally with lines, while the boat is drift- 

 ing. The small snapper are caught with bait on the same 

 ground as the large ones ; twenty to thirty dozen cf flat- 

 head and small snapper are sometimes caught by two 

 hands in the day. They will be worth about 2s. per 

 dozen ; but the value of the fish here depends much ou 

 circumstances. The flathead is considered as fine a table 

 fish as any in the colony. 



The principal net-fish here are salmon, salmon-trout, 

 mullet, herring, seapike, and gar-fish ; and these come on 

 the coast, in large shoals, at irregular periods. 



The salmon and the salmon-trout rather resemble the 

 small salmon-trout at home in shape and appearance; 

 but they have no adipose fin, and rarely run to any large 

 size. They are both, however, clean, silvery-looking, nice 

 eating fish. jS'ow and again a good haul of salmon or 

 herrings is made on the coast, and I have known a boat's 

 crew to clear £60 in one night. But this is a rare oc- 

 currence now. The large shoals of fish don't set in to 

 these shores as formerly ; and if by chance one is seen, 

 too many are on the look out to share the prey. As I 

 said before, sea fishing is overdone in this bay. When I 

 first knew Mordialloc, I don't believe more than three 



