[416] At the present time the Halibut (Hippoglossus) is seldom caught near the shore or in shoal water. It is taken by the Gloucester fishermen along the outer banks, in depths of a hundred to two hundred fathoms. The New England Turbot (Lophopsetta) of our coasts is a different fish, and rarely ventures to the north of Cape Cod. The fishermen frequently sell our turbot as chicken-halibut.
[417] The Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes), whereof there are several species.
[418] Hake (Phycis) are still somewhat common.
[419] Morton probably means the Menhaden (Brevoortia). The European Pilchard, the adult of the Sardine, is not found on our coast.
[420] Probably the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax dilophus). The Common Cormorant (P. carbo) also occurs in New England, but it is rare to the southward of Maine. Both species breed abundantly on rocky shores about the Gulf of St. Lawrence and northward, visiting New England waters during the autumn and winter. While with us they are exclusively maritime, frequenting by choice the vicinity of outlying ledges and small, rocky islands. When passing from place to place, they often fly in large flocks, which are usually arranged in long lines or single files. They live on fish, which they capture by diving.
[421] This paragraph, and the one on clams immediately following it, throw considerable light on the formation of the shell-heaps, a question which has been recently much discussed. See the paper of Professor F. W. Putnam, read at the meeting of the Maine Historical Society in Portland, in December, 1882, which will appear in the report of the proceedings of that meeting in the Collections of the Society.
[422] We, in this country, have not retained the European taste for mussels and for razor-shells (Solen).
[423] The eating of scallops (Pecten) has been revived within a few years.
[424] A strong spirit of emulation existed in the early years of the seventeenth century, between the advocates of New England and those of Virginia, as sites for colonization. Morton was always a stanch New Englander, and in this chapter, as well as in those which immediately precede and follow it, he loses no opportunity to assert the superiority of the Massachusetts climate and products over those of the country further south. It is needless to point out that his advocacy led him into ludicrously wild statements.
[425] There is no natural spring of any kind at Mount Wollaston, though water is easily obtained by digging.