may be pretty sure of what we
shall _not_ get, but even in our most familiar creeks and rivers, who
can say that the fish which is tugging at our line is certainly a
perch, a cat-fish, or an eel? We know that we shall not pull up a shad
or a salmon, but there is always a chance for some of those great
prizes which are to be found, by rare good luck, in every river and
good-sized stream; a rock-fish, or striped-bass perhaps, or a pike, or
enormous chub.

But there are some fish which would not only gratify but astonish
most of us, if we could be so fortunate as to pull them out of the
water. For instance, here are some fish with both their eyes on one
side of their heads.

[Illustration]

These are Turbots, and are accounted most excellent eating. They
resemble, in their conformation but not in their color, our flounders
or flat-fish, which some of you may have caught, and many of you have
eaten. These fish lie on one side, at the very bottom of the water in
which they live, and consequently one eye would be buried in the mud
and would be of no use, if they were formed like common fish. But as
their enemies and their food must come from above them, they need both
their eyes placed so that they can always look upwards. In the picture
at the head of this article, you will see some Soles lying together
at the bottom. These are formed in the same way. They are white on one
side, which is always down except when they are swimming about, and a
very dark green on the other, so that they can scarcely be
distinguished from the mud when they are lying at the bottom. The
Turbot, however, as you see, is very handsomely spotted.

But there are much stranger fish than these flat fellows, and we must
take a look at some of them. What would you say if you were to pull up
such a fish as this on your hook?

[Illustration]

This is a _Hippocampus_, or sea-horse. He is a little fellow, only a
few inches in length, but he is certainly a curiosity. With a head and
neck very much like those of a horse, he seems to take pleasure in
keeping himself in such a position as will enable him to imitate a
high mettled charger to the greatest advantage. He curves his neck and
holds up his head in a manner which few horses adopt, unless they are
reined up very tightly. I have seen these little fellows in aquariums,
and have always regarded them as the most interesting of fishes.

But although it is by no means probable that any of us will ever c