113 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Port Bay. They are so truly herbivorous that their bodies are 

 greenish tinted within. When cooked they are deUcious, notwith- 

 standing the multitude of small bones to be discounted. I never 

 ate fish possessing so many bones. We have heard rheumatic 

 subjects say every bone in their body ached. If Strangers are 

 ever liable to such an ailment, I feel sure, judging by the number 

 of their bones, they must endure a very bad time of it. 



The crowd has now swelled to about 400 persons. I survey it. 

 The typical fish-hawker is a well-conditioned being, with heavy, 

 clean-shaved jaws and short, round moustache. His stentorian 

 voice is somewhat husky from ever shouting in the streets, " Fish 

 alive, O ! " whether they have been stone dead for a week or 

 more. A few women are in the crowd ; being the weaker vessel 

 they cling to the picket partitions near the auctioneer's stand. 

 In the throng I am jostled in the back by the shoulder of a horse 

 drawing a waggon-load of fish. In this case the weaker vessel 

 must " cave in," and I clear for the pickets too. 



Having been crowded out of one stand I seek another, where 

 two burly hawkers, with each a hand on a basket of fine golden 

 perch ( Cie?iolates a/nbiguiis), are quarrelling about the bid, whether 

 it is 4j^d. or 5d. per lb. While they are wrangling I have an 

 opportunity by the bright gaslight to view the fish. Their dull 

 gold colour is much enhanced by sprays of green fragrant 

 eucalyptus leaves. I also detect a few catfish ( Copidoglanis 

 kindaims), likewise a freshwater fish, amongst the perch, but not 

 so valuable, and easily distinguished by the hair-like appendages 

 about the mouth. Both are taken by trammel or bag-nets set 

 across the River Murray or its affluents. A few Murray cod-perch 

 (Oligorus macqiiariensis) are knocked down at the same figure as 

 the golden perch. An " old man " fish of this species has been 

 known to weigh 100 lbs., but the most marketable is about 7 lbs. 

 weight. 



Then some eels ( Angidlla australis), all writhing and wriggling, 

 are weighed in scoop scales by a score of pounds at a time. 

 One big specimen, probably from Lake Connewarre, decidedly 

 objects to be knocked down for 3d. per lb., and clears out of the 

 balance on to the market floor several times. In sheer desperation, 

 a salesman brings the eel's head in violent contact with the edge 

 of the counter, and before it can recover itself the scales are 

 turned, and the contents shot into a sack. 



For the reason I could not approach the next stand, I content 

 myself with an outside position, where a hawker of small stature 

 had climbed on to an empty fish-basket to get a glance at some 

 small flounders (Pseudorhombiis), which went for a shilling each. 

 There are several species of flounders off" our coast, and they are 

 considered a great delicacy. In colour they are great mimics, 

 varying in hue in accordance with the ground they inhabit. At 



