The Dory Or John Dory, which is one of the quaintest-looking fish that swim, is not, so far as I know, commonly taken by anglers. Naturalists call it Zeus faber. ' Dory,' no doubt, is derived from the French, and means golden ; John Dory being probably a corruption of jaune dorée. It was a dory which, so says one legend, St. Peter took hold of when he was collecting the tribute, in evidence of which are the marks on the fish of the Saint's finger and thumb. But, like the haddock, of which the same story has been related, dories are not found in the Lake of Genesareth.

When a dory is seen cruising round a fishing boat, there is no better plan of capturing it than to pay out an unleaded line, baited with a small live fish. Couch tells a story of having caught with his hand a dory so gorged with food that it could not save itself by flight. He found within it twenty-five flounders, some of which were two and a half inches long, three father lashers—not to be confounded with the shark of that name—and five small beach stones.

Being a fish eater, it will of course take slow-moving whiffing baits which represent small fish, but a live bait is undoubtedly better. Chad, the young of the sea bream, should be tried when available. Care should be taken when handling dories, for they are armed with spines close to the dorsal and anal fins with which very nasty and sometimes even dangerous wounds are occasioned. Of the excellence of the John Dory on the table I need say nothing. One high authority ranks it next after the turbot, but I would certainly give it the first place. Sometimes it is boiled in sea water ; in Italy spring water and wine are used. Small ones are occasionally baked, being well basted with butter; but this method is, I think, a mistake. One of the largest dories caught of late years was mentioned in ' Land and Water,' August 1879, as having been sold at Norwich. It weighed fourteen pounds. Couch records one of eighteen pounds.