366 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



went out with spreading Sole after Sole upon a thwart, occa- 

 sionally throwing one overboard." "What are you up to?" 

 asked Buckland. "See them snotches cut there?" asked the 

 man ; " well, them as don't touch 'em, nose and tail, goes over- 

 board again ! " 



Mr. Everitt, with a smile, assured me that the wily fellows, 

 who had wind of Buckland' s enquiries, had cut these purposely 

 for his edification. It was easy to obliterate the newness of the 

 notches with a finger-print of grease or tar. 



In a letter received later in August from Mr. B. J. Canova, 

 he referred to " a considerable quantity of Salmon-Trout caught 

 here in May and June, and in the autumn in draw-nets along 

 the shore. The trawlers," he continues, "catch Brill in Sole 

 Bay. ... At this time of the year [August] you probably know 

 that the alongshore boats are catching the finest Soles possible. 

 . ... I do not know of a better place for good, well-fed Soles." 

 This inshoreing of Soles takes place all along our eastern coasts 

 in the warmer months, undoubtedly for the purposes of spawn- 

 ing. There are a number of suitable spawning-grounds, an old 

 and intelligent trawler* assures me, as at Sizewell Bank and 

 some other adjacent " spots." He told me an interesting in- 

 cident of falling across a spawning resort for Soles near Palling 

 (Norfolk). By accident he dropped his small trawl in " a likely 

 spot," and brought up some fine examples packed with spawn, 

 filling a fish-trunk with excellent fish, but some actually shed 

 their full-ripe ova in the boat, so that the bottom-boards were 

 covered and made slippery, and they had to mop them free of 

 it. He and his two partners made preparations for another 

 day's foray, highly elated, but they " didn't get a bloomin' Sole 

 in the net." His opinion was that they " came to the day, shed 

 their spawn, and wor gone !" I am astonished that this species 

 should be so plentiful inshore, considering the constant pursuit 

 of it. Buckland asserts that a Sole one pound in weight carries 

 about 134,000 eggs. 



Sprat-fishing at Southwold is pursued contemporary with that 

 of Aldeburgh. From Mr. H, J. Sayers, of Southwold, who kindly 

 replied to several questions submitted to him, I learn that the 



* Bob Colby ; an interesting character figuring in two or three of my 

 recently published books on the East Coast. 



