:BILLmGSGATE. 



59 



impossfliie they, can ever exceed, either in productive power or 

 money value, the fisheries of our own coasts. If, without the 

 trouble of taking a long journey, we desire to witness the results 

 of the British fisheries, we have only to repair to Billingsgate 

 to find this particular industry brought to a focus. At that 



BILLINGSGATE. 



piscatorial bourse we can see in the early morning the produce 

 of our most distant seas brought to our greatest seat of popula- 

 tion, sure of finding a ready and a profitable market. The 

 aldermanic turbot, the tempting sole, the gigantic codfish, the 

 valuable salmon, the cheap sprat, and the universal herring, are 

 all to be found during their difierent seasons ia great plenty at 

 Billingsgate ; and ia the lower depths of the market buOdings 

 countless quantities of shell-fish of aU kinds, stored ia immense 

 tubs, may be seen ; while away in the adjacent lanes there are 

 to be found gigantic boilers erected for the purpose of crab and 

 lobster boiling. Some of the shops in the neighbourhood have 



