THE TURBOT. 479 
net, a kind of huge dredge, with a mouth that often exceeds thirty feet in 
width. As these nets are drawn along the bed of the sea, the great beam 
which edges the mouth scrapes the mud and sand, and alarms the fishes to 
such an extent that they dash wildly about, and mostly dart into the net, 
whence they never escape. Vast numbers of Soles are taken by this method 
of fishing, and as the trawls bring to the surface enormous quantities of 
crustaceans, molluscs, zoophytes, and other marine inhabitants, the energetic 
naturalist cannot employ his time better than in taking a sail in one of these 
boats, and enduring a few hours’ inconvenience for the sake of the rich 
harvest which he is sure to reap. Some of the rarest and most valuable 
British animals have been taken in the trawl-nets. The finest Sole that I 
ever saw I took in a trawl-net in one of the creeks of the Medway. As to 
length and breadth, it was not very remarkable, but it was almost half as 
thick again as any Sole that I have seen. 
The Sole is in condition throughout the greater part of the year, the only 
time when it is not worth eating being from the end of February to the last 
week in March, when the fishes are full of roe, and the flesh is rather soft 
and watery. It is a hardy fish, and can soon be acclimatized to live in fresh 
water ; and it is said that under such circumstances the fish can be readily 
fattened, and become nearly twice as thick as when bred in the sea. Some- 
times the Soles venture into the mouths of rivers, passing about four or tive 
miles into the fresh water, and depositing their multitudinous eggs in such 
localities. 
The colour of the Sole is almost always brown on the right side and white 
on the left, but examples of reversed Soles are not uncommon, where the left 
side is brown and the other is white. The scales are small, and give a 
rough, rasp-like sensation to the hand. The dimensions of this fish are very 
variable, an average specimen weighing about a pound or eighteen ounces. 
Much larger examples, how- 
ever, occur occasionally, and 
Mr. Yarrell mentions one 
instance where a Soe 
measured twenty-six inches 
in length, eleven and a half 
in width, and weighed nine 
pounds. 
THE well-known TURBOT, 
so widely and so worthily 
celebrated for the frm deli- 
cacy of its flesh, inhabits 
many of the European 
coasts, and is found in 
tolerable abundance off our 
own shores. Like all flat 
fishes, it mostly haunts the Ss 
sandy bed of the sea, but TURBOT. —( Pleuronectes maximus.) 
will sometimes swim boldly 
to the surface of the water. It is a restless and wandering fish, traversing 
considerable distances as it feeds, and generally moving in small companies. 
The Turbot is known in Scotland by the title of BANNOCK FLEUK, or 
SPAWN FLruk, the former name being given to it on account of its flat 
shape, which resembles a bannock or oatcake, and the latter because it is 
thought to be at the best while in roe. After spawning, ze. about August, its 
a its peculiar firmness, but in a very short time the fish regains its 
condition. 
YY 
