scious, that whenever they find themselves in danger, they sink into the mud, and continue perfectly motionless. This is a circumstance so well known to fishermen, that within their palings on the strand they are often under the necessity of tracing furrows with a kind of iron sickle, to detect by the touch what they are not otherwise able to distinguish. But the Turbot does not thus hide itself for security alone. It resorts to this stratagem as an ambush for obtaining its prey, whence it pounces forth on the smaller kinds of fish that incautiously approach it.

The finest Turbot in the world are found off the northern shore of England, and some parts of the Dutch coast. The manner of fishing for them off the Yorkshire coast, is as follows: three men go out in each of the boats, each man provided with three lines; every one of which is furnished with two hundred and eighty hooks, placed exactly six feet two inches asunder. These are coiled on an oblong piece of wickerwork, with the hooks baited, and placed very regularly in the centre of the coil. When they are used, the nine are generally fastened together so as to form one line with above two thousand hooks, and extending near three miles in length. This is always laid across the current. An anchor and buoy are fixed at the end of each man's line. The boats for this purpose are each about a ton burthen; somewhat more than twenty feet in length, and about five feet in width. They are well constructed for encountering a boisterous sea, and have three pair of oars, and a sail, to be used as occasion requires.

The general bait used for taking Turbots is fresh herring cut into proper sized pieces, at which they bite most readily; they are also partial to the smaller lampreys, pieces of haddocks, sand-worms, muscles, and limpets; and when none of these are to be had, the fishermen use bullock's liver. They are so extremely

delicate in the choice of their baits, as not to touch a piece of herring or haddock that has been twelve hours out of the sea; nor will they touch any bait that has been bitten by another fish.

THIS well known and delicious fish is remarkable for one very extraordinary circumstance; among various other marine productions, they have been known to feed on shell fish, although they are furnished with no apparatus whatever in their mouth for reducing them to a state calculated for digestion. The stomach, however, has a dissolvent power, which makes up for the want of a masticating apparatus. But the most usual food for Soles is the spawn and young of other fish.

These fish are found on all the British coasts; but those off the western shores are much superior in size to what are taken in the north, since they are sometimes found of the weight of six or seven pounds. The principal fishery for them is in Torbay. In the winter they usually retire into deep water; but frequent the seashores, and the mouths of rivers, at the approach of spring. On the sand banks out at sea, they are caught in trawl nets, and on the shore they are taken in seine nets. The Sole will keep longer sweet out of water than almost any other fish, and is even much better for being kept awhile.

THE Flounder bears a close resemblance to the plaise, from which it principally differs in wanting the row of six tubercles behind the left eye, which distinguishes the latter. It is also a little longer in the body, and when full grown somewhat thicker. It is found in great abundance in most of the European seas, and ascends the rivers, even beyond the influence of the tide. The best season for Flounders is from the spring to the autumn, and those which inhabit fresh water are usually considered as the best.

THE head of this curious fish is large; the eyes are small and placed near the top; the pupil is black, the

iris gold yellow. The aperture of the gills is wide, and at the covert there is a spine. The lateral line is made up of white dots. The ground colour is brown, which towards the back inclines to black; and looks as if covered with velvet, and inlaid with ivory. The tail is not divided. This species inhabits the coasts of Brazil, and other parts of South America; and grows from three to six inches in length.

In winter or the rainy seasons, they lie in deep holes near the shore, which they quit in spring to come into the shallows near the land: during the summer, when the sun in those climates blazes the whole day with irresistible fierceness, they keep at the depth of twenty or thirty yards, which protects them from its intense heats.-They spawn in the coldest time of the year and being a lively fish, great numbers of the young fry are caught for the sake of being kept in vases, but in which they seldom come to maturity, and never increase.

THE BEAKED CHÆTODON.

THIS fish, which is by far the most curious of the tribe to which it belongs, frequents the shores and mouths of rivers in India, and about the Indian islands. Its length is somewhat more than six inches, and its colour is whitish, or very pale brown, with commonly four or five black bands running across the body, which is ovate and compressed. The dorsal and anal fins are very large, and on the former there is an eyelike spot of considerable magnitude. The snout is lengthened and cylindrical, and is the instrument by means of which the animal obtains its subsistence. Flies and other small insects that hover over the water constitute the principal food of this fish. When it sees a fly on a plant it slowly and cautiously ap proaches, as perpendicularly as possible under the

object, puts its body in an oblique direction, with its mouth and eyes near the surface, fixes the latter on the insect, remains for a moment motionless, and then, without showing its mouth above the surface, darts a drop of water from its tubular snout. So dexterously does it take aim, that, at the distance of four, five, or six feet, it scarcely ever fails to bring the fly into the water. From this circumstance it derives the name. which some naturalists give to it, of the Jaculator, or Shooting Fish.

THIS fish has a truncated head, which is broad in front, compressed at the sides, and furnished with pretty large spines and fringed barbles; the longest of which are over the eyes, and the broadest near the corners of the mouth. On the body and head are several brown stripes, with yellow and white streaks alternately shining between. The mouth is large; the jaws are of equal length, and armed with a great number of little sharp teeth. The tongue is loose, thin, and pointed at the end; the lips are also moveable; the upper lip is composed of two bones, which form a furrow in the middle where they join. The