$25. The PIKE or JACK. The pike is common in most of the lakes of Europe, but the largest are those taken in England, which according to Schaffer, are sometimes eight feet long. They are taken there in great abundance, dried and exposed for sale. The largest fish of this kind which we ever heard of in England, weighed thirty five pounds. According to the common saying, these fish were introduced into England in the reign of Henry VIII. in 1537. They were so rare, that a pike was sold for double the price of a house-lamb in February, and a pickerel for more than a fat capon. All writers who treat of this species bring instances of its vast voraciousness. We have known one that was choaked by attempting to swallow one of its own species that proved too large a morsel. Yet its jaws are very loosely connected;

and have on each side an additional bone like the jaw of a viper, which renders them capable of greater distention when it swallows its prey. It does not confine itself to feed on fish and frogs; it will devour the water rat, and draw down the young ducks as they are swimming about. In a manuscript note which we found, p. 244, of our copy of Plott's history of Staffordshire, is the following extraordinary fact: "At Lord Gower's "canal at Trentham, a pike seized the "head of a swan as she was feeding un"der water, and gorged so much of it

66

66

as killed them both, the servants perceiving the swan with its head under water for a longer time than usual, "took the boat, and found both swan and pike dead."

But there are instances of its fierceness still more surprising, and which indeed border a little on the marvellous. Gesner ↑ relates, that a famished pike in the Rhone seized on the lips of a mule that was brought to water, and that the beast drew the fish out before it could disengage itself. That people have been bit by by these voracious creatures while they were washing their legs, and that they will even contend with the otter for its prey, and endeavour to force it out of its

mouth.

When the pike lies

of the hawk or owl. dormant near the surface (as is frequently the case) the lesser fish are often observed to swim around it in vast numbers, and haltered in a noose, and taken while they in great anxiety. Pike are often lie thus asleep, as they are often found in the ditches near the Thames in the month of May.

In the shallow water of the Lincoln

shire fens they are frequently taken in a manner peculiar, we believe to that country and the isle of Ceylon. The crown-net, which is no more than a befishermen make use of what they call a mispherical basket, open at top and bottom. He stands at the end of one of the little fen-boats, and frequently puts his basket down to the bottom of the water, whether he has any booty by the striking then poking a stick into it, discovers of the fish; and vast numbers of pike are

taken in this manner.

The longevity of this fish is very re markable if we may credit the accounts given of it. Rzaczynski tells us of one relates that in the year 1497, a pike was that was ninety years old; but Gesner taken near Halibrun, in Suabia, with a brazen ring affixed to it, on which were these words in Greek characters: I am

the fish which was first of all put into this lake by the hands of the governor of the universe, Frederick the second, the 5th of October, 1230: so that the former must

have been an infant to this Methusalem of a fish.

Pikes spawn in March or April, according to the coldness or warmth of the wea ther. When they are in high season their with bright yellow; and the gills are of a colours are very fine, being green spotted most vivid and full red. When out of season, the green changes to grey, and the yellow spots turn pale.

broad, and is shorter than the lower; the The head is very flat; the upper jaw under jaw turns up a little at the end, and is marked with minute punctures.

the

gape,

is very

The teeth are very sharp, disposed only in the front of the upper jaw, but in both sides of the lower, in the roof of the mouth, and often the tongue; the slit of the mouth or the wide; eyes small. The dorsal fin is placed very back, and consists of twenty one rays; the pectoral of fifteen; the ventral of ele wrote by Mr. Plot, of Oxford, who assured ven; the anal of eighteen. he inserted it on good authority, The tail is bifurcated.

Small fish shew the same uneasiness and detestation at the presence of this tyrant as the little birds do at the sight

*This note we anerwards discovered was

sner, pisc 503.

low on the

$26. The CARP.

This is one of the naturalized fish of our country, having been introduced here by Leonard Maschal, about the year 1514*, to whom we were also indebted for that excellent apple the pepin. The many good things that our island wanted before that period, are enumerated in this old distich:

Turkies, carps, hops, pickerel, and beer,
Came into England all in one year.

As to the two last articles we have some
doubts, the others we believe to be true.
Russia wants these fish at this day; Sweden
has them only in the ponds of the people
of fashion; Polish Prussia is the chief seat
of the carp; they abound in the rivers and
lakes of that country, particularly in the
Frisch and Curisch-haff, where they are
taken of a vast size. They are there a great
article of commerce, and sent in well-boats
to Sweden and Russia. The merchants
purchase them out of the waters of the
noblesse of the country, who draw a good
revenue from this article. Neither are
there wanting among our gentry, in-
of
stances of some who make good profit
their ponds.

The ancients do not separate the carp
from the sea-fish. We are credibly in-
formed that they are sometimes found in
the harbour of Dantzick, between the
town and a small place called Hela.

Carp are very long lived. Gesner brings
an instance of one that was 100 years old.
They also grow to a very great size. On
our own knowledge we can speak of none
that exceeded twenty pounds in weight;
but Jovius says,
that they were sometimes
taken in the Lacus Larius (the Lago di
Como) of two hundred pounds weight;
and Rzaczynski mentions others taken in
the Duiester that were five feet in length.

They are also extremely tenacious of
life, and will live for a most remarkable
An experiment has
time out of water.
been made by placing a carp in a net,
well wrapped up in wet moss, the mouth
only remaining out, and then hung up in
a cellar, or some cool place: the fish is
frequently fed with white bread and milk,
and is besides often plunged into water.
Carp thus managed have been known,
not only to have lived above a fortnight,
but to grow exceedingly fat, and far su-
perior in taste to those that are immedi-
ately killed from the pond.†

Fuller's British Wortbies. Sussex, 113.
This was told me by a gentleman of the ut-

The carp is a prodigious breeder: its quantity of roe has been sometimes found so great, that when taken out and weighed against the fish itself, the former has been found to preponderate. From the spawn of this fish caviare is made for the Jews, who hold this sturgeon in abhor

rence.

These fish are extremely cunning, and on that account are by some styled the river for. They will sometimes leap over the nets, and escape that way; at others, will immerse themselves so deep in the mud, as to let the net pass over them. They are also very shy of taking a bait ; yet at the spawning time they are so simple, as to suffer themselves to be tickled, handled, and caught by any body that will attempt it.

This fish is apt to mix its milt with the roe of other fish, from which is produ ced a spurious breed: we have seen the offspring of the carp and tench, which bore the greatest resemblance to the first; have also heard of the same mixture between the carp and bream.

The carp is of a thick shape; the scales very large, and when in best season of a fine gilded hue.

The jaws are of equal length; there are two teeth in the jaws, or on the tongue; but at the entrance of the gullet, above and below, are certain bones that act on cach other, and comminute the food before it passes down.

On each side of the mouth is a single beard; above those on each side another, but shorter; the dorsal fin extends far towards the tail, which is a little bifurcated; the third ray of the dorsal fin is very strong, and armed with sharp teeth, pointing downwards; the third ray of the anal fin is constructed in the same man

ner.

$27. The BARBEL.

This fish was so extremely coarse, as to be overlooked by the ancients till the time of Ausonius, and what he says is no panegyric on it; for he lets us know it loves deep waters, and that when it grows old it was not absolutely bad.

Laxos exerces BARBE natatus,

Tu melior pejore evo, tibi contigit uni
Spirantum ex numero non in audata senectus.

It frequents the still and deep parts of

most veracity, who had twice made the experiment. The same fact is related by that pious philosopher, Doctor Derham, in his PhysicoTheology, edit, 9th, 1737, ch. 1. p. 7. n. c.

rivers

rivers, and lives in society, rooting like swine with their noses in the soft banks. It is so tame as to suffer itself to be taken with the hand; and people have been known to take numbers by diving for them. In summer they move about during night in search of food, but towards autumn, and during winter, confine themselves to the deepest holes.

They are the worst and coarsest of fresh water fish, and seldom eat but by the poorer sort of people, who sometimes boil them with a bit of bacon to give them a relish. The roe is very noxious, affecting those who unwarily cat of it with a nausea, vomiting, purging, and a slight swelling.

It is sometimes found of the length of three feet, and eighteen pounds in weight; it is of a long and rounded form; the scales not large.

Its head is smooth; the nostrils placed near the eyes; the mouth is placed below on each corner is a single beard, and another on each side the nose.

The dorsal fin is armed with a remarkable strong spine, sharply serrated, with which it can inflict a very severe wound on the incautious handler, and even do much damage to the nets.

The pectoral fins are of a pale brown colour; the ventral and anal tipped with yellow; the tail a little bifurcated, and of a deep purple; the side line is strait. The scales are of a pale gold colour, edged with black; the belly is white.

$ 28. The TENCH.

The tench underwent the same fate with the barbel, in respect to the notice taken of it by the early writers; and even Ausonius, who first mentions it, treats it with such disrespect as evinces the great capriciousness of taste; for that fish, which at present is held in such good repute, was in his days the repast only of the canaille.

Quis non et virides vnlgi solatia 'Tincas
Norit?

It has been by some called the Physi-
cian of the fish, and that the slime is
healing, that the wounded apply it as a
styptic. The ingenious Mr. Diaper, in
that even
his piscatory eclogues, says,
the voracious pike will spare the tench on
account of its healing powers:
The tench he spares, a medicinal kind:
For when by wounds distrest, or sore disease,
He courts the salutary fish for ease:
Close to his scales the kind physician glides,
And sweats a healing balsam from his sides.

Ecl. II.

Whatever virtue its slime may have to the inhabitants of the water, we will not vouch for, but its flesh is a wholesome and delicious food to those of the earth. The Germans are of a different opinion. By way of contempt, they call it Shoemaker. Gesner even says, that it is insi pid and unwholesome.

It does not commonly exceed four or five pounds in weight, but we have heard of one that weighed ten pounds; Salvianus speaks of some that arrived at twenty pounds.

They love still waters, and are rarely found in rivers; they are very foolish, and easily caught.

The tench is thick and short in propor tion to its length; the scales are very small, and covered with slime

The irides are red: there is sometimes, but not always, a small beard at each corner of the mouth.

The colour of the back is dusky; the dorsal and ventral fins of the same colour; the head, sides, and belly, of a greenish cast, most beautifully mixed with gold, which is in its greatest splendor when the fish is in the highest season.

The tail is quite even at the end, and very broad.

§ 29. The GUDGEON. Aristotle mentions the gudgeon in two places; once as a river fish, and again as a species that was gregarious: in a third

place he describes it as a sea fish: we must

therefore consider the Kweos he mentions, lib. ix. c. 2. and lib. viii. c. 19, as the same with our species.

This fish is generally found in gentle streams, and is of a small size; those few however, that are caught in the Kennet and Cole, are three times the weight of those taken elsewhere. The largest we ever heard of was taken near Uxbridge, and weighed half a pound.

They bite eagerly, and are assembled by raking the bed of the river; to this spot they immediately croud in shoals, expecting food from this disturbance.

The shape of the body is thick and round; the irides tinged with red; the gill covered with green and silver: the lower jaw is shorter than the upper; t each corner of the mouth is a single beard; the back olive, spotted with black; the side line strait; the sides be neath that silvery; the belly white.

The tail is forked; that, as well as the dorsal fin, is spotted with black.

§30. The BREAM, The bream is an inhabitant of lakes, or the deep parts of still rivers. It is a fish that is very little esteemed, being extremely insipid.

It is extremely deep and thin in proThe back rises portion to its length. very much, and is very sharp at the top. The head and mouth are small: on some we examined in the spring, were abundance of minute whitish tubercles; an accident which Pliny seems to have observed befalls the fish of the Lago Maggiore, and Lago di Como. Thescales are the sides flat and thin. very large;

The dorsal fin has eleven rays, the second of which is the longest; that fin as well as all the rest, are of a dusky colour; the back of the same hue; the side yellowish.

The tail is very large and of the form of a crescent.

31. The CRUCIAN.

This species is common in many of the fish ponds about London, and other parts of the south of England, but I believe is not a native fish.

It is very deep and thick, the back is much arched; the dorsal fin consists of nineteen rays; the two first strong and serrated; the pectoral fins have (cach) thirteen rays; the ventral nine; the anal seven or eight; the lateral line parallel with the belly; the tail almost even at the end.

The colour of the fish in general is a deep yellow; the meat is coarse and little esteemed. 32. The RoACH

'Sound as a roach,' is a proverb that appears to be but indifferently founded, that fish being not more distinguished for its vivacity than many others; yet it is used by the French as well as us, who compare people of strong health to their gardon, our roach.

It is a common fish, found in many of our deep still rivers, affecting like the others of this genus, quiet waters. It is gregarious keeping in large shoals. We have never seen them very large. Old Walton speaks of some that weighed two pounds. In a list of fish sold in the London markets, with the greatest weight of each, communicated to us by an intelligent fishmonger, is mention of one whose weight was five pounds.

The roach is deep but thin, and the back is much elevated, and sharply ridged; the scales large, and fall off very

easily. Side lines bend much in the wid-
dle towards the belly.

33. The DACE.

This like the roach is gregarious, haunts the same place, is a great breeder, very lively, and during summer is very fond of frolicking near the surface of the water. This fish and the roach are coarse and insipid meat.

Its head is small; the irides of a pale yellow; the body long and slender; its length seldom above ten inches, though in the above-mentioned list is an account of one that weighed a pound and a half; the scales smaller than those of the roach.

The back is varied with dusky, with a cast of a yellowish green; the sides and belly silvery; the dorsal fin dusky; the ventral, anal, and caudal fins red, but less so than those of the former; the tail is very much forked.

$ 34. The CHUB.

Salvianus imagines this fish to have been the squalus of the ancients, and grounds his opinion on a supposed error in a certain passage in Columella and Varro, where he would substitute the Columelword squalus instead of scarus. la says no more than that the old Romans paid much attention to their stews, and kept even the sea fi-h in fresh water, paying as much respect to the mullet and scarus, as those of his days did to the murana and bas.

That the scarus was not our chub is very evident; not only because the chub is entirely an inhabitant of fresh waters, but likewise it seems improbable that the Romans would give themselves any trouble about the worst of river fish, when they neglected the most delicious kinds; all their attention was directed towards those of the sea: the difficulty of procuring them seems to have been the criterion of their value, as is ever the case with effete luxury.

The chub is a very coarse fish, and full of bones; it frequents the deep holes of rivers, and during summer commonly lies on the surface, beneath the shade of some tree or bush. It is a very timid fish sinking to the bottom on the least alarm, even at the passing of a shadow, but they will soon resume their situation. It feeds on worms, caterpillars, grasshoppers, beetles, and other coleopterous insects that happen to fall into the water; and it will even feed on cray fish; this fish will rise to a fly.

3 T