212 THE SOLE. 



in immense quantities in London and elsewhere. The sole is too 

 well known to require any description at my hands. It is caught 

 by means of the trawl-net, and is in good season for a great 

 number of months. Soles of a moderate weight are best for the 

 table. I prefer such as weigh from three to five pounds per pair. 

 I have been told, by those who ought to know best, that the 

 deeper the water from which it is taken the better the sole. It 

 is quite a groun(i fish, and inhabits the sandy places round the 

 coast, feeding on minor crustaceans, and on the spawn and 

 young of various kinds of fish. Good supplies of this popular 

 fish are taken on the west coast of England, and they axe said to 

 be very plentiful in the Irish seas ; indeed all kinds of fish are 

 said to inhabit the waters that surround the Emerald Isle. 

 There can be no doubt of this, at any rate, that the fishing on 

 the Irish coasts has never been so vigorously prosecuted as on 

 the coasts of Scotland and England — so that there has been a 

 greater chance for the best kinds of white fish to thrive and 

 multiply. Seaside visitors would do well to go on board some 

 of the trawlers and observe the mode of capture. There is no 

 more interesting way of passing a seaside holiday than to watch 

 or take a slight share in the industry of the neighbourhood where 

 one may be bcated. 



The smaller varieties of the flat fish — such as Muller's top- 

 knot, the flounder, whi|f, dab, plaice, etc. — I need not particu- 

 larly notice, excepi to say that immense quantities of them- are 

 annually consumed in Loiidon and other cities. Mr. Mayhew, 

 in some of ■ his investigations, found out that upwards of 

 33,000,000 of plaice were annually required to aid the London 

 commissariat ! But that is nothing. Three times that quantity 

 of soles are needed — one would fancy this to be a statistic of 

 shoe-leather — the exact figure given by Mr. Mayhew is 

 97,520,000 ! This is not in the least exaggerated. I discussed 

 these figures with a Billingsgate salesman, and he thinks them 

 quite within the mark. 



I have already alluded to the natural history of the mackerel, 

 and shall now say a word or two about the fishery, which is 

 keenly prosecuted. The great point in mackerel-fishing is to get 

 the fish into the market in its freshest state ; and to achieve this 

 several boats will join in the fishery, and one of their number 

 wUl come into harbour as speedily as possible with the united 

 take. The mackerel is caught in England chiefly by means of 

 the seine-net, and much in the same way as the pUchard. A 



