348 LABRADOR 
squirming fish ashore, there to be swallowed alive. The 
dab’s hope of safety lies in escaping notice, and this he does 
whenever he is at rest. He flaps about till he settles in the 
mud; the mud which he has stirred up falls again, and 
covers all but his eyes and nose. At largest, the fish 
reaches twenty inches in length, and weighs up to two 
pounds. He remains all winter. As he is the first fish to 
be taken when our ice goes, he is speared by the boys, and, 
when food is short, cooked and eaten. But herring so soon 
follow the departure of the ice that even in this season the 
dab is seldom used. Visitors, however, esteem him highly 
whenever the native cook will condescend to prepare him 
for table. Probably it is the ugly face with huddled-up eyes 
and distorted mouth that tells here against his popularity. 
The cause of his ugliness is explained elsewhere by a 
strange legend. It is said that when the fish were sum- 
moned to settle who should be king, the plaice was late, 
delaying to paint on some of his beautiful red spots. When 
he heard the election was already over, his mouth so twisted 
in disdain it never came straight again. A still older legend 
accounts for his being coloured only on one side. It runs 
that Moses, having caught one, proceeded to cook it over 
an oil lamp, but when one side was broiled and grilled, 
threw the fish into the sea. 
The winter fluke (Pseudo-pleuronectes Americanus), the 
cousin of the dab, closely resembles him in size and ap- 
pearance, and is found here, as he is all along the North 
America coast, south to Cape Cod. 
The lump-fish (Cyclopterus lumpus) is very common with 
us, but is practically useless. We have been too stupid 
to find a use for him, except as a fertilizer. He has de- 
