attached to a fine thread-both baits were alive in the morning, some pike teeth marks, however, being visible upon the hooked fish. These facts I mention, however, for what they may be worth, without expressing any opinion as to the truth or otherwise of the theories before alluded to. The notion is at least a poetical one, and as such in this utilitarian age deserves to be encouraged. We are all getting so confoundedly prosaic and matter of fact that the introduction of a little idealism can but be an improvement. It would be quite refreshing to encounter a few angling troubadours on Marlow Bridge, or fishermen-serenaders, in gondolas à la Venice, outside Pope's Villa at Twickenham. Anyhow, the hypothetical relationship between pike and tench has been related in verse as well as in prose :— The pike, fell tyrant of the liquid plain, He courts the salutary fish for ease, Close to his scales the kind physician glides And sweats a healing balsam from his sides. So much for the poetical explanation. A more prosaic one is given by Bingley, who suggests that, as the tench is so fond of mud as to be constantly at the bottom of the water, where the pike cannot find him, the self-denial of the latter may be attributed to more natural causes. However, as I said before, whether true or false, I am for the more poetical solution of the vexata quæstio. The flesh of the tench is white and firm and not unnutritious, though, like the eel, it would appear to be palatable in a precisely inverse ratio to the cleanliness of its abode, improving in gustatory attractions as it approaches more nearly in colour and diet the composition of its habitual mud. Thus, tench were taken out of Munden Hall Fleet, Essex, which was so thick with weeds that the flue-nets could hardly be sunk through them, and where the mud was intolerably fœtid and had dyed the fish of its own hue, which was that of ink; yet no tench could be better grown, or of a sweeter flavour.' . . . ‘In a clear pond at Leigh's Priory a quantity of tench were caught of about 3 lbs. weight each, of a colour the most golden and beautiful; but when dressed and brought to table they smelt and tasted so rankly that no one would eat them.' By washing the slime off the fish with warm water before cooking the muddy taste is said to be removed. Walton says the tench 'eat pleasantly' and form a desirable addition to the cuisine,—also the dictum of the late Mr. Grantley Berkeley, whose experience of tench in stew ponds I have already referred to. Indeed, it is stated that in extensive tracts of water near Yarmouth tench are still bred in large quantities as a marketable commodity, being fattened, until fit for the table, upon a mixture of greaves and meal. Characteristics of the Common Carp.-Body covered with large scales, in about twelve rows between ventrals and back fin; a single very long back fin. Lips fleshy. Mouth small, and without teeth. Throat-teeth in three rows on each side, the inner row composed of three with broad flat crowns which are furrowed, somewhat resembling those of ruminating animals. Two barbels or beards at each corner of the mouth. First back-fin, ray, short and bony; the second also bony, notched on the posterior surface, as likewise the first ray of the anal fin. Tail deeply forked. Colouring, generally, golden olive-brown, head darkest; belly, yellowish-white; fins, dark brown. Scales covered with a thick mucus or epidermis. Vertebræ 36. Finrays D. 22; P. 17; V. 9; A. 8; C. 19. : Characteristics of the Common Tench.-Length of head compared to total length of body, excluding tail, as 2 to 7. Head rather large and blunt. small barbel at each corner. Mouth small, toothless, with a Throat-teeth in a single row on Scales very Ventral fins each side, 4 on the right side and 5 on the left. small. Back and anal fins destitute of bony rays. in the male very large, and concave on the inside, reaching far enough to cover the vent; in the females smaller and less powerful: the males and females may be distinguished by the size of these fins. Pectoral fins large and rounded. Tail, in young fish, concave, afterwards straight, and in old fish convex. General colour, greenish olive and golden; fins, darker; lips, flesh-colour. Finrays D. 11; P. 17; V. 10; A. 10; C. 19. 299 BARBEL1 AND BREAM2 BARBEL and bream, though not so intimately associated as carp and tench, are yet linked together by many common ties in the domain of angling; one of their principal similar characteristics being that they are usually fished for, at any rate so far as rivers are concerned, in the same place, with the same tackle, and the same baits. The barbel, however, so far as my experience goes, is never found in anything but running water. The bream, on the contrary, thrives best in large open lakes and in slow rivers alternating with broads or lagoon-like reaches. In Although from an angler's point of view infinitely less wary and difficult to capture than the carp, the barbel, both in its natural state and in confinement, is the shyest and most untameable of all our fish, except perhaps the roach, exhibiting a degree of reserve and intolerance of observation rarely met with. the spring, however, when the fish seek the gravelly shallows to spawn, they become very lively, and at this season may frequently be seen tumbling and rolling about, with their bodies half out of the water, like a shoal of porpoises. Amongst some specimens kept in a vivarium, it was observed that, when they fancied no one was looking, they would plunge and rub themselves against the brickwork, and otherwise show considerable signs of playfulness. Barbel are numerous in many parts of the world, but their natural habitat appears to be the warmer parts of Europe, and it is stated by Cuvier that in localities favourable to them they will grow 10 feet long. They are plentiful in the Danube, the Elbe, and the Weser; in almost all the rivers flowing into the Black Sea; and in the Volga, where they attain the weight of 40 and 50 lbs. On the banks of this river the natives make a kind of fish glue or isinglass of the bladder, boiling the roe and feeding their geese and poultry with it. The fish themselves are sold at Astrakan at about 97. the thousand. The flesh of the fish, to be guilty of what sounds like a bull, very much resembles that of the sturgeon, to which also, in shape, it bears a strong resemblance. As is well known the flesh of the sturgeon is very solid and almost meat-like, standing, in fact, apparently about half-way between fish and flesh. I used, when living in the neighbourhood of the Thames, often to see a dish of barbel on the sideboard at breakfast time, and very good it was. I have not the recipe for the cooking, but I know that the principal secret lies in its being baked in an open dish with some cloves and perhaps other spices. When cold, the liquid it was baked in became a stiff jelly, which shows unmistakably the, so to speak, meaty, and probably nourishing qualities of the fish. The barbel is a native of many parts of England, and is exclusively a river fish. It abounds particularly in the Trent and the Thames, in the latter being so numerous that in the neighbourhood of Walton and Weybridge as much as 280 lbs. weight are said to have been taken by a single rod in one day. The name of Barbel is derived from the barbs, or beards, at the corners of the mouth, which are given to the fish to assist it in feeling its way about in deep and, consequently, more or less dark waters, and probably also for the purpose of enabling it to detect the nature of the substances with which it comes in contact. Of the species provided with these barbs, viz., the carp, tench, gudgeon, loach, and burbot, all find their food principally or wholly on the bottom; and generally the fact of the fish being 'bearded' affords a correct index to its habits. Thus the barbel frequents the deepest parts of pools and weirs, -for example, Temple Pool, just on the right hand of the lock above Marlow, and New Lock, on the Harleyford side |