^ 
 
 ,v*\ 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
Jjh 
 
PAGE 
 
 CALLORHY.NC H US ANTARTICA 
 
 ELCPH/^NT r/SH . 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL BREEDING OF FISH, 
 
 THEIR LOVES, PASSIONS, AND INTELLECTS. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTEATIVE FACTS 
 
 BY W. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 SURGEON AURI8T TO HER LATE MAJESTY QUEEN CHARLOTTE, TO 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE LATE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE, 
 
 FIELD-MARSHAL HIS GRACE THE LATE DUKE OF 
 
 WELLINGTON, AND HER ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 THE LATE DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER. 
 
 LECTURER ON THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE EAR; 
 
 ON CHEMISTRY, AND THE MEDICAL APPLICATION OF 
 
 ELECTRICITY ; AUTHOR OF MANY WORKS ON 
 
 DISEASES OF THE AUDITORY ORGANS ; 
 
 AND OF NUMEROUS PAPERS IN THE 
 
 LANCET FROM 1831 TO 1843, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 THOMAS CAUTLEY NEWBY, PUBLISHER, 
 
 30, WELBECK STREET. 
 
 1858. 
 

 ^W 
 
 TO 
 
 THE NOBLEMEN AND GENTLEMEN, 
 
 WHO HAVE IN STJCH A PRAISEWOKTHY MANNER 
 
 ASSOCIATED THEM8ELYE8 
 
 TO PROTECT OUR NOBLE EIVER FROM POACHERS, 
 
 ** iljj f liamBS Ingling 'f rusFniatrDii Inrirtij, '* 
 
 THIS WORK 
 IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY 
 
 THEIR YERY OBEDIENT SERVANT, 
 
 W. WllIGHT. 
 
 [Ko. 4, Duke Street, St. James' Sciuare. 
 
 m51 84S 
 
EERATA. 
 
 Page 125, " Wrus " should be " Wrass," 
 
 Page 190, last paragraph beginning " I bad enough," and 
 
 ending, " good sport in taking perch," should come in page 
 
 193, after *• rights of the Church," and immediately before 
 
 "Perch are a very voracious fish." 
 "Wherever the name of "Sir Francis Chantry" is mentioned, 
 
 read " Chantrey." 
 
ADDRESS TO ANGLERS. 
 
 I 
 
 During a great number of years I have been 
 in the constant practice of entering in abook 
 the result of my own observations, or authentic 
 facts gleaned from sources which could be de- 
 pended upon, and worthy of being remembered, 
 relative to Angling, in all its branches; and 
 I hope I shall be rendering an acceptable 
 service to those fond of the recreation, by giv- 
 ing my Memoranda to the admirers of that 
 fascinating and health-inspiring amusement. 
 Should my experience assist any worthy brother 
 of the angle to increase his sport or amuse him 
 at seasons when he cannot enjoy the reality, 
 I shall feel myself amply repaid. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 As Oppian is often referred to in the following 
 pages, it may be proper to give some account of him, 
 more particularly as he was the first who ever wrote 
 upon Fishes, and Fishing. 
 
 He was the last of the Greek poets, and flourished 
 about 1 652 years ago, in the reign of Severus Septi- 
 mus, Emperor of Rome, who succeeded to the throne 
 about A.D. 192. Oppian's father, Agesilaus, was a 
 man of wealth and distinction, at Anazarbus, in 
 Cilicia, where Oppian was born, a.b. 183. Agesilaus 
 being of a studious and philosophical disposition, 
 avoided the fatigue and hurry of public meetings ; 
 and when the emperor, in his progress through Cilicia, 
 entered Anazarbus, the old gentleman hoped his stu- 
 dious habits would excuse his attendance on Severus. 
 But the emperor being of a very tyrannical dispo- 
 sition,* considered the non-attendance of Agesilaus as 
 
 * Of all the Eoman emperors whose busts are in the British 
 Museum, his is the most handsome. 
 
Vlll INTHODUCTIOJT. 
 
 a mark of such disrespect, that he banished him to 
 the island of Halta. Oppian, with filial piety, accom- 
 panied his father in his exile, and there wrote his 
 Halieuticks ; or, the nature of Fishes, and Pishing ; 
 thought to be one of the finest remains of antiquity. 
 
 According to the custom of those times, Oppian 
 recited his Halieuticks in a public theatre, before the 
 emperor, who was so delighted with the sweetness of 
 the composition, the novelty of the subject, and pro- 
 bably the flattery of himself, and his son Caracalla, 
 who reigned jointly with his father, diffused through- 
 out the whole poem, that in order also to support his 
 character as a patron of learning, of which he wa;i 
 proud, he desired Oppian to ask what he would, — 
 nothing should be denied to him. Oppian prayed 
 for the restoration of his father to liberty, and to his 
 country ; the emperor not only granted this, but pre- 
 sented him with 3,506 staters of gold, each stater 
 being about I65. 4.d., or together then of the value of 
 £2863 2s. 8d. The munificent gift at the present 
 time would be enormous in value. 
 
 Oppian was, no doubt, personally engaged in the 
 diversions he so well describes, and also availed him- 
 self of all the knowledge of more ancient philosophers 
 in the prosecution of his studies as a naturalist ; he 
 united the utile et dulee, the philosopher with the 
 
INTEODirCTION. IX 
 
 gentleman, and though a heathen, his morality and 
 religious sentiments would put to the hlush many 
 who consider themselves wiser men. 
 
 Soon after his favourable reception at the court of 
 Severus, he returned to his paternal home ; but he 
 did not long enjoy the pleasures resulting from having 
 obtained the liberty of his father, for the plague cut 
 oif this last of the ancient poets, in the thirtieth year 
 of his age. The citizens of his native city, to mark 
 their grief for his loss, gave him a most honourable 
 funeral, and erected a statue to his memory, with 
 this inscription : — 
 
 " Though much they lov'd, no Heliconian maid 
 Could Oppian save, or sullen Fate persuade. ' 
 
 The rigid Destinies' superior power 
 Snapt quick the thread, and fix'd the hastened hour, 
 But had these Sisters, like the nine, been kind, 
 Nor Oppian's life to thrice ten years confin'd, 
 All the inspired had hira their chief allow'd, 
 And all to him their humbler laurels bow'd." 
 
 Many of the fishes which, when Oppian wrote, 
 swam in the Mediterranean, are totally unknown in 
 our seas, or have not been caught by the fishermen of 
 this part of the world ; others puzzle modern Ichthy- 
 ologists to determine what fishes are intended by the 
 ancient descriptions of them ; and large allowances 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 must be made for the talented translators, Messrs. 
 Diaper and Jones, in their endeavours to give English 
 names to those, to which they had no guide, but the 
 Greek ones, by which they were distinguished. 
 
 Oppian chiefly studied the fishes of the ocean ; but 
 there is little doubt those inhabiting fresh water are 
 analogous in their nature, habits, passions, generation, 
 senses, and enemies ; however, it is not proposed, 
 neither would it be possible, to follow him relative to 
 all the fish he mentions. 
 
 Oppian wrote three poems, each containing five 
 books ; of that on beasts, and hunting, the last book 
 is believed to be totally lost ; and of that on birds and 
 fowling, there is only a Greek paraphrase remaining. 
 This on fishes and fishing is perfect ; and there are 
 several translations. I have referred to the Univer- 
 sity of Oxford edition. 
 
 According to him, the implements used by ancient 
 fishermen were — 
 
 " The slender woven net, vimineous weel, 
 The taper angle, line, and barbed steel, 
 Are all the tools his constant toil employs ; 
 On arms like these the fishing swain relies." 
 
 It was supposed by the ancients, that immense fish, 
 much larger than whales, peopled the depths of the sea 
 
INTEODUCTION. XI 
 
 beyond where soundings could be obtained, namely, 
 300 fathoms, or 1800 feet ; below that depth, it was 
 supposed the line only appeared to sink, but realW 
 did not. 
 
 On the 26th December, 1850, in latitude 28" 21' 
 south, longitude 29° 11' west, the bottom was reached 
 at 3,100 fathoms, 18,600 feet (3^ miles); and since 
 that, an American ship has sounded in coming over 
 to this country, and found the bottom, and the state 
 of it, by a very ingenious apparatus, at the depth of 
 above nine miles ! 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 At a very distant period from the present time, I 
 found myself the inmate of a large, old-fashioned 
 mansion-house, surrounded with extensive walled-in 
 gardens, beautiful pleasure grounds, a bowling-green, 
 a wilderness, a canal with small summer-houses, 
 under weeping willows at one end, and a handsome 
 stone temple at the other, and a clear trout stream run- 
 ning at the bottom of the garden ; numerous stables, 
 coach-houses, laundries, poultry-houses, and yards, 
 with other offices, were attached to the premises. 
 All these were situate down a lane called Water 
 Lane, leading out of the main street on entering 
 Dartford, in Kent, a posting town, then of very con- 
 siderable notoriety, being the chief direct road to the 
 continent. The middle of this lane was occupied by 
 a shallow stream of clear water ; on one side of it was 
 a raised fjot path : on the other side, the water washed 
 
 B 
 
2 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the hedge, within which were a few detached cottages, 
 with small gardens, reached by stepping from one little 
 post or stump, to another ; these stumps were placed at 
 certain distances apart, so that a carriage could pass 
 down the lane with a dexterous, accustomed driver ; 
 to a stranger it appeared wonderful, how easily men, 
 women and children, stepped from one of these little 
 posts to the other, without ever falling into the 
 water. As this stream approached the mansion- 
 house offices, the ground was raised artificially, and 
 the water was conducted in an open brick channel, 
 over gravel, under a small parlour window, but being 
 confined in space, it was consequently deeper, and 
 ran with more velocity, and a rippling sound over its 
 pebbly bed, till it passed under an arch, over which 
 was the large porch of the mansion. A few yards 
 from the house, the stream re-appeared and occupied 
 the middle of the lane, having dwelling-houses, and a 
 continuous pathway on one side, and a long walk 
 shaded with fine lime trees, on the other ; outside of 
 the high walls of the garden of the mansion-house, 
 the water in the middle continued in its course into 
 a creek called Dartford Greek, which fell into the 
 Thames, and at spring tides the water was a good 
 depth, even up to the porch of the house. I am thus 
 particular, for a reason which will be seen hereafter j 
 the trout river which bounded the garden, orchard^ 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 3 
 
 and grounds just below them, expanded into a very 
 large pond, and the superfluity of the water not re- 
 quired for the mill, passed over a tumbling bay by 
 the side of that building. In Doomsday Book, a mill 
 was mentioned ; but it was then, and had been long 
 before, a mill for grinding corn. According to Mr. 
 Dickens, Sir John Spielman, Jeweller to Queen 
 Elizabeth, whose tomb (that is. Sir John's) is in 
 Dartford Church, built a paper*mill for the making of 
 writing-paper, and Her Majesty granted him a license 
 " for the sole gathering for ten years of all rags," &c. 
 " necessary for the making of such paper." It is 
 said that Sir John, in coming to this country from 
 Germany, brought with him two young lime trees, 
 which he set before his dwelling-house at Dartford. 
 This house, therefore, in which I was born, leased 
 with the mill, was no doubt the mansion built by Sir 
 John Spielman, in a style of magnificence suitable to 
 his position in life ; and the ball room, grounds, and 
 gardens, where I ^used to play, had been formerly 
 graced by royalty, courtly knights and dames. 
 
 A paper-mill was erected at Dartford in 1588, 'but 
 this was not the first of the kind set up in England, 
 as is generally stated* In the above year, Thomas 
 Churchyard published a poem entitled, " A descrip- 
 tion and playne discourse of Paper, and the whole 
 benefits that Paper brings, setting forth in verse a 
 
 B 2 
 
4 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Paper Myll built near Dartfoord, by an high Ger- 
 maine, called Master Spilman, Jeweller to the 
 Queenes Majestie." According to the Harleian MS., 
 2296, a special license was granted in 1589 to John 
 Spilman, *' for the gatheringe of all manner of linen 
 ragges, scroUes or scrappes of parchment, peace o 
 lyme leather, shredds and clippings of cardes, and 
 oulde fishinge nettes, fitte and necessarie for the 
 makinge of all or anie sorte or sortes of white wright- 
 inge paper for the space of tenne years next ensuing." 
 Spilman was knighted by James I. in 1605, and not 
 by Queen Elizabeth as is commonly said {see Nichols' 
 Progresses of James I.). Churchyard alludes to a 
 paper-mill built by Sir Thomas Gresham ; this was 
 most likely in Osterly Park. But the priority is to be 
 claimed for Hertford; that one was standing there in 
 the reign of Henry the Seventh, is clearly proved by 
 three independent authorities. 1st. One of the notes 
 to Vallans's " Tale of Two Swannes, 1590," affirms that 
 in 1507 there was a paper-mill at Hertford, and be- 
 longed to John Tate, whose father was Mayor of Lon- 
 don. 2nd. This John Tate is shewn to have been the 
 first paper-maker in England, in a very valuable work 
 in the British Museum, the English translation of 
 Bartholomew Glanvile's "DeProprietatibusRerum,** 
 printed by Wynkyn de Worde, about 1495 ; at the 
 end are these lines : — 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 6 
 
 •' And John Tate the younger joye mote he broke, 
 Which late hathe in England doo make this paper thynne, 
 That now in our Englysshe this boke is printed inne." 
 
 This book is said to be the first printed on paper of 
 English manufacture ; our principal supplies pre- 
 viously to this, and for some time afterwards, being 
 from France and Holland; and even so late as 1662, 
 paper-making in this country had made little pro- 
 gress. 
 
 3rd. Henry YII. visited Hertford on the 23rd of 
 May, 1498, and in the privy purse expenses of this 
 sovereign occurs the following entry : — 
 
 '' 1498. — May 25. For a reward given at 
 the Paper Mj/lne .... 16s. 8d." 
 
 The " Express," October 9, 1855. Upon the autho- 
 rity of what Shakespeare has coined as part of Jack 
 Cade's charge against Lord Say, that he. Lord Say, had 
 ** contrary to the king, his crown, and dignity, built a 
 paper-mill;'* this is in the Second Part of Henry the 
 Sixth, Act iv. Scene 7, but is no proof that there was 
 a paper-mill in Henry the Sixth's reign, any more 
 than it is, that Lord Say either built or exercised any 
 kind of instrumentality in erecting any such building, 
 or that Jack Cade spoke so learnedly of "The King, 
 his crown, and dignity." 
 
6 PISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 How I became the inmate of this antiquated man- 
 sion, I know not ; but I was, as I found after a little 
 time, as knowledge began to dawn upon me, born in it, 
 and was the only son of a gentleman and his wife, 
 who were the much-respected inhabitants of this 
 large building, and the only persons enjoying it, and 
 the luxuries of its prolific gardens ; but how I ac- 
 quired that title is a mystery beyond the finite com- 
 prehension of human beings; we find ourselves in 
 that relationship to certain individuals, but when or 
 how we came into existence, we are in a state of 
 complete ignorance. 
 
 One of the earliest of my reminiscences is that of 
 seeing a large basket brought into the garden through 
 a door near the mill pond, on to the grass plot which 
 surrounded the lake or canal, and a great number Of 
 fish turned out upon the green sward, which my 
 father, aided by one or two of his men, were placing 
 in rows side by side, shifting them from one place to 
 another ; this, I since know, was for the purpose of 
 assorting them into braces or pairs, as nearly alike as 
 could be, to send away as presents; some were sent 
 into the house to be cooked for dinner, and some were 
 given to the workmen. It is now nearly, or quite 
 eighty-three years ago, yet the scene is fresh in my 
 memory, the beauty of their red spots now flash in 
 my eyes, and their fragrance even now, I can fancy 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 7 
 
 regales my olfactory nerves. Such are the lasting im- 
 pressions made upon ns in our days of early childhood. 
 My mother never having tasted fish, when I, as a child, 
 saw a lady partake of it for the first time, I regarded 
 her with astonishment, and could scarcely believe that 
 the person I saw before me was of the feminine 
 gender : indeed, I thinks I looked closely at the chin 
 to see if there were any appearance of a beard. 
 
 These scenes of the assortment of fish, which I since 
 know were trout, were repeated frequently during the 
 fine warm weather ; after a time, I was allowed to be 
 present at these fishings, either in care of my mother, or 
 a servant. The manner of conducting them was thus : 
 a portion of the water in the mill-pond was allowed 
 to run oif, then two men went into the water with a 
 long net, having a pocket in the centre, bungs at the 
 top, and leads at the bottom ; at each end of the 
 net was a staff five or six feet long ; one man placed 
 himself close to the bank, and the other took a good 
 circuit, and came round to the bank; persons on shore 
 and behind the net, as soon as the semicircle was com- 
 plete, beat the water with poles, both to prevent the 
 trout from springing over the net, and to drive them 
 into the pocket of it, when the men came nearer each 
 other, and finally the net was drawn ashore, the pocket 
 was untied, the small fish were returned to the pond, 
 and I have since understood that none were taken 
 
8 riSHES AND FISHING. 
 
 under the estimated weight of three quarters of a 
 pound. My father kept an account of all the trout 
 he killed during nine years, and to whom he gave 
 them, and I have heard him say, in after- years, that 
 he generally took two hundred brace per annum. 
 
 The water which gave motion to the wheels of the 
 mill, was discharged into the creek leading into the 
 Thames ; and one day, when I was about four years 
 old, my father was leading me along at the back of 
 the furnaces, where there was an open door, facing 
 and nearly down to the water of the creek when the 
 tide was up. I was frightened, and my parent 
 startled, by a large fish, a salmon, springing in 
 through the door, and falling nearly amongst the 
 cinders of the furnace ; my father secured the fish, 
 which weighed 14lbs. About a year after that, I 
 was disturbed, very early one morning, by a consider- 
 able noise, and when I went down to breakfast, there 
 lay on a table in the great marble entrance-hall, a 
 large salmon, above 20 lbs. as I was told, which had 
 been captured close to the mansion-house, having 
 come up with the spring tide, and endeavoured to get 
 upward ; but being discovered by one of my father's 
 men, he aroused his master, and they two placed a 
 net behind it, and when the tide receded, it became 
 an easy prey. Often large salmon were killed by the 
 water-wheels in trying to go up stream ; this demon- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 9 
 
 strates how powerful must be the instinct of this 
 genus of the finny tribe to get out of salt, or brackish 
 water, into fresh, at certain seasons of the year ; 
 further, and most splendid examples of it are to be 
 seen in various parts of the world ; and this American 
 ^^ go a-head'^ propensity was exhibited by the artifi- 
 cially bred little salmon endeavouring to make their 
 way from the lower water to the higher, and over- 
 coming the obstruction, to the great amusement of 
 Her Majesty at the Dublin exhibition, for the water 
 these young fish endeavoured to escape from was not 
 salt or brackish. 
 
 When I grew a little older, I sometimes accom- 
 panied my father and mother to the tail of the mil), 
 where they caught a large dish of fine flounders in a 
 very short time, with what, I knew a few years after, 
 was very rough tackle — but these fish are not par- 
 ticular. 
 
 In the large lake, or canal in the garden, through 
 which always flowed a supply of fresh water, were 
 very large eels ; proper lengths of line, with baited 
 hooks were attached to bungs, into each of which 
 were fixed a good-sized white feather ; these wer® 
 thrown into the canal on favourable nights, and in 
 the morning the bungs were easily discovered, and I 
 often saw them taken out by my father with a long- 
 handled rake, generally with a fish attached, and I 
 
10 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 have heard my father say, none of these lines were 
 ever totally lost. 
 
 Owing to some legal disputes about the quantity of 
 water by millers higher up the river, the mills, man- 
 sion-house belonging, with its delightful gardens and 
 grounds, where I had for the first six years of my 
 life revelled in abundance of the most choice wall, 
 and other fruits, and sat down daily to an amply 
 supplied table, whereon fish, poultry, and every 
 vegetable and fruit which the skill and industry of a 
 professed gardener and assistants kept on the premi- 
 ses, in proper season, could produce, we removed to a 
 village thirty-five miles distant. Immediately after 
 my father left the house, it was pulled down, and 
 about six years ago, when I visited the spot, there 
 was a railway station erected thereon ; a heap of 
 rubbish as high as a moderate-sized house, occupied 
 the place of the once beautiful grounds and garden, 
 and the mill-pond, which used in my infancy to have 
 some graceful swans on it, and was a large expanse of 
 water, was now an expanded sheet of mud, with a 
 rivulet of water meandering through it. 
 
 Before I say anything further of the miserable 
 change the whole family experienced by the removal, 
 a few reminiscences occur to me of this my native 
 place. 
 
 When I was about four years old, I went to school 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. " 11 
 
 in the High Street of the town ; on one occasion 
 when my father was taking me there, and had nearly- 
 reached the door of the school, we were astonished to 
 see two short, fat, middle-aged, well-known inhabi- 
 tants, rush out of the church, where there had been 
 a vestry meeting, and the moment they reached the 
 street, they each knocked off the cocked hat and 
 bushy powdered wig of his opponent, then the 
 fashionable dress of that class of persons, and began to 
 pommel each other most furiously. A crowd soon col- 
 lected, and the post-boys (an impudent and numerous 
 
 set of fellows) called out, ** Well done, B n ; hit 
 
 him again B ^r." They were not separated until 
 
 they had drawn blood from each other, and it was 
 some time before either could walk the streets with- 
 out eliciting the same cry from idle urchins or others ; 
 and I believe the circumstance gave rise to some em- 
 ployment for gentlemen of the long robe. 
 
 I also remember seeing large bodies of troops pass 
 through the town to form a camp at Coxheath, and 
 the King, George III., also going through to inspect 
 it. Many ladies on horseback, and in phaetons, at- 
 tired in military costume, as to the upper part of 
 their dress, alone, or accompanied by officers, were 
 continually passing to the same place. 
 
 The comforts and luxuries of my father's house at- 
 tracted a succession of visitors from London, and 
 
12 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 many chief and second mates of Indiamen, with whom 
 he had become acquainted, who at that time brought 
 up in the river, on their homeward voyage, my father 
 sent presents of poultry, vegetables, and fruit, on 
 board to his nautical friends ; and my recollection is 
 quite perfect of going on board with both my parents, 
 and being hoisted up on deck in a chair in my mo- 
 ther's lap, and being let down in the same way into 
 the boat on our return. My mother was fond of 
 china, and bought on board at different times enough 
 to fill her large china closet, which was conveyed 
 somehow safely home, and she was much envied by 
 many ladies for having such a collection. 
 
 I knew a Mr. T d, a superior and most acute 
 
 officer of the Customs, the terror of smugglers ; he 
 and my father were intimate, and he often dined at our 
 house. One day, just as our family were setting down 
 to dinner with him, two mercantile gentlemen, whom 
 my father slightly knew arrived, and being, as they 
 said, rambling about the country, they called to visit us. 
 A very pleasant afternoon was spent by all ; the wine 
 circulated, of which I was allowed to partake, as I 
 had a small glass which held about a thimbleful. A 
 postchaise and four had been ordered by these gen- 
 tlemen, to be in waiting, at a certain hour, a little way 
 up the London road. They slipped away from the 
 company under some pretence, reached the chaise, in 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 13 
 
 -which was already another person, as was known 
 afterwards, and arrived safe in London, with, it was 
 believed, many thousand pounds* worth of valuable 
 
 lace. T d had by scouts gained information of 
 
 this intended contraband affair ; but the parties were 
 too artful for the officers, for they walked, or in some 
 way, as it was supposed, came across the country from 
 the coast. My father was so much displeased at being 
 thus, though innocently, made in some way instru- 
 mental to the scheme, that he never allowed either of 
 those two persons to enter his house again. 
 
 My mother's brother had married a female belong- 
 ing to a family respectable in their position, but in- 
 ferior in habits, occupation, and manners to my 
 father and mother, whose station and education were 
 of a superior order. My aunt's brother, whom my 
 father did not know, and who was a journeyman 
 cabinet-maker, made an arrangement with a fellow- 
 workman, presuming on the very slight relationship, 
 to start from London on a Saturday night, or rather 
 Sunday morning, and walk down to my father's 
 to breakfast, where they arrived so dusty, travel- 
 stained, and differently apparelled to those persons 
 usually visiting at our house, that my father was 
 obliged to lend them clean linen, &c. He was so 
 vexed at the occurrence, that he wrote to my aunt 
 next day, saying he had no objection to receive her 
 
14 FISHES AXD FISHING. 
 
 relatives as occasional visitors, but requested they 
 would come so conveyed and attired as not to Id jure 
 his respectability amongst his neighbours, workmen, 
 and servants. The result was a total cessation of all 
 intercourse between the families during about seven 
 years. 
 
 Strange indeed are the mutations of this life, and 
 an illustration may not be improperly introduced. 
 My aunt's brother, who could at that time merely 
 read and write English tolerably well, became under 
 usher to a clergyman, who kept a school at or near 
 Cambridge, and had married into my aunt's family. 
 From that station this cabinet-maker, by diligence, 
 came to be bead usher of the clergyman's school ; and 
 at that time, when ^^ literate persons*^ were freely 
 ordained, he entered the church, subsequently mar- 
 ried a person with a little property, became incum- 
 bent of one, if not two benefices in the county and 
 diocese of Lincoln, and died respected by his parish- 
 ioners. His fellow workman married the widow of 
 a person who kept a colour shop. This second hus- 
 band invented an article for the embellishment of a 
 portion of ladies' persons, which became so fashionable 
 that he acquired a good fortune by its most extensive 
 sale ; though now, such are the vagaries of fashion, 
 that any lady wearing blue silk stockings, would be 
 considered as having a very extraordinary taste in 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 15 
 
 dress. He was fortunate in the invention and sale of 
 other articles, of colours, magic lanterns, &c., and 
 through industry and integrity he became wealthy, 
 highly esteemed as a tradesman, and by observation 
 acquired a perfect knowledge of the world. "We 
 became intimately acquainted, and I regarded him as 
 a friend. 
 
 JS'ear his residence were several old houses, whose 
 inhabitants paid no rent to any one, and whose only 
 title was possession, the property being said to belong 
 to a young lad then at sea. This property he ob- 
 tained for a mere trifle, pulled down the old houses, 
 and built a small theatre (which he named the Sans 
 Pareil) upon the site, where he exhibited a variety of 
 most ingenious divertisements, and at last obtained a 
 license for theatrical performances. A few years 
 previous to this period, some excise officers lodged 
 information against the owners of most of the theatres, 
 for not stamping their scenery, and paying a duty of 
 threepence halfpenny a yard. The proprietors of the 
 scenes then pleaded that it was an old act, and that 
 they had erred through ignorance. The Attorney- 
 General said that he would not press for convictions 
 for the penalties, upon the understanding that the 
 scenery should be stamped, and pay the duty in 
 future ; and the judges considered that the proprietors 
 of theatres had been treated very leniently, by being 
 
16 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 let off SO easily as only to pay the costs of tte solicitor 
 of the Excise. Just as an offer was made (partly in 
 my presence, and I advised it to be accepted) to 
 purchase this theatre (now the Adelphi) as it stood, 
 for £25,000, some excise officers, tempted by the 
 prospect of a share of the very heavy penalties, ob- 
 tained powers from the Commissioners to seize and 
 leave a man in possession of the scenery in every 
 theatre, panorama, and wherever a piece of unstamped 
 painted canvas could be detected. Consternation 
 most extreme was caused amongst theatrical and 
 other persons concerned. Attornies and eminent 
 counsel were consulted, reference was made to East's 
 Eeports of the former proceedings, the legal gentle- 
 men shook their heads, and offered no hope ; the only 
 thing they could advise was to petition the Board of 
 Excise, which was done, praying that they would 
 accept of bonds with sufficiently responsible sureties, 
 for the value of the scenery, and the duties, that if on 
 trial the scenery should be declared forfeited, the 
 whole amount should be paid. To which the Board 
 replied, " That the scenery must be measured, the 
 duty paid immediately, a bond given for the value of 
 the scenery ; but should the result of the proposed 
 trial be even in favour of the theatres, no return of 
 the duty must be expected; and until the scenery 
 was measured, and the duty paid, the men must re- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 17 
 
 main in possession of every theatre, &c., &c. And 
 all old and useless scenery must also be stamped and 
 paid for, or removed to the Excise Office and de- 
 stroyed." These were the generous (?) terms proposed 
 by the Commissioners, as appears by a letter from 
 the attorney of Mr. John Astley, now before me, 
 after he had had an interview with the solicitor of 
 the Excise Board, and received this as their determi- 
 nation. Desirous of serving Mr. John Astley, my 
 friend, Mr. Scott, the proprietor of the Sans Pareil, 
 as it was then named, and the other parties whom I 
 considered harshly treated, and thinking I could read 
 and understand an Act of Parliament, I sought, and 
 with some difficulty found and purchased, the Act 10th 
 of Anne, cap. 19, when reading it over most carefully, 
 almost word by word, I discovered that the statute 
 only applied to painted canvas, &c., which was fok 
 SALE, and as scenery was not foe sale, it was evident 
 that, in defiance of the dictum of judges, the opinions 
 of counsel, attornies, or the determination of the 
 Board of Excise and its officers, I could extricate my 
 friends and all concerned from their difficulties'; and 
 though I felt I had the power in my hands to do so, I 
 induced Mr. Astley and Mr. Scott, with myself, to go 
 in Mr. Astley's carriage to the Excise office, and seek 
 an interview with the Commissioners, without saying 
 why I wished it ; which if that conference had been 
 
18 PISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 granted, I intended to have given them, the Commis- 
 sioners, the opportunity of gracefully recalling their 
 tyrannous decision, by showing them the section of 
 the Act. But no ! the solicitor, earwigged by the 
 interested Excise officers, treated us as if we were 
 paupers, and induced the Commissioners to refuse us 
 an interview; which so irritated me, that I said to my 
 friends, " Come away, let us go and apply to these 
 gentlemen's masters." Mr. Astley and my friend 
 were much vexed at what they considered was hasty 
 impetuosity of temper on my part, which they said 
 would ruin the cause ; but when we were again in 
 the carriage, I showed them the section of the Act, 
 which astonished and delighted them. I proposed 
 drawing up a memorial referring to this section, for 
 presentation to the Lords of the Treasury ; which I 
 did, and sent it to Mr. Astley, after I had shown it 
 to my friend Scott. I went to Mr. Astley that even- 
 ing, 17th Sept., 1819, who had a person there to 
 make a fair copy, which was signed by him, my 
 friend, andparties belongingto the two Theatres Royal, 
 presented to the Lords of the Treasury, who imme- 
 diately ordered the men in possession to withdraw, 
 and gave directions that the Board of Excise should 
 pay for any damage or loss such seizure had occasioned. 
 Thus, through me, were all the theatres relieved, 
 probably for ever, from this annoyance, and the poor 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 19 
 
 fishermen upon the coast, who were often mulcted by- 
 some Excise officer for painting their old sails as 
 floorcloths for their little rooms, may do so now with- 
 out danger. Yet I never demanded or received any 
 reward whatsoever, nor even accepted the price which 
 the old Act of Parliament cost me ; certainly I and 
 my family were free of Astley's and my friends' 
 theatres whilst in the hands of the then proprietors. 
 
 With a view to placing the Commissioners of Ex- 
 cise in a good position with the public, a statement 
 appeared in the papers on the 12th of November, 1819, 
 that *' the Supervisors of the Excise have for some 
 weeks past had their officers in possession of the 
 scenery in the different theatres; last week the ques- 
 tion was decided by the Honourable Board of Excise, 
 in favour of the theatres.*' 
 
 This is wholly false ; the facts are exactly and 
 truly as I have stated, and I have the documents to 
 prove them, and the conduct of the then Commissioners 
 is most strictly true ; and as those documents will 
 show, I have told the plain unvarnished truth. 
 
 I remember a Mr. H ds, as a good-looking and 
 
 pleasant gentleman, a frequent visitor at our house, 
 who I think had some dealings in corn or malt, and 
 some of his descendants are still influential inhabi- 
 tants at Dartford. Some time after we left this part 
 of the country, he (Mr. H») was returning from 
 
 c 2 
 
20 FISHES AKD FISHING. 
 
 London, with a friend in his (Mr. H.'s) chaise, whefl 
 about three miles from his home he was attacked by- 
 seven footpads ; Mr. H. shot the man who held the 
 horse's head, the animal ran away into the next vil- 
 lage, an alarm was given, parties went out, and found 
 the wounded man in a chalk pit, stripped by his com- 
 panions, and nearly dead. Medical assistance was 
 immediately rendered, and the robber stated that 
 their gang consisted of about seventy men, but he 
 would only impeach the dastardly companions who 
 had treated him in such a cruel manner. The six 
 men were taken, but before he could legally identify 
 these fellows he expired ; and as nothing could be 
 brought home to them, they were reluctantly dis- 
 charged. Mr. H. received many threatening letters, 
 supposed to emanate from the gang, and he never 
 went out unarmed with pistols. One afternoon, in 
 walking home from Crayford, two men begged of 
 him ; he gave them some halfpence, but immediately 
 after thought he recognised their faces as being two 
 of the six who had been taken up, and as they were 
 following him closely, he took his pistols from his 
 pocket, and said, " I have seen you before my lads, 
 and I do not like you ; now either go before me into 
 Dartford, or go back." They chose the former alter- 
 native, and he thus by his determination probably 
 saved his life, and was afterwards left in peace. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 21 
 
 Some time before we left our delightful home, a 
 succession of farewell dinners, or suppers, were in- 
 terchanged between my family and our local friends, 
 at which I was always present. One of these enter- 
 tainments was at the house of a Mr. Latham, our 
 medical attendant, and he amused us in the evening 
 with some experiments in electricity, which made a 
 great impression upon my mind, young as I was, and 
 induced me to study the science when I became older ; 
 and I think it can be proved, that I have carried its 
 successful medical application far beyond any other 
 person. 
 
 At last came the sad morning of our departure. 
 The chaise was engaged to go throughout, as we had 
 much luggage ; and after travelling post about thirty- 
 five miles (no trifle then), we arrived, one chilly night 
 in the month of April, at cheerless furnished lodgings, 
 where everything was so different to the happy home 
 I had left, that I felt quite wretched, and went to 
 bed with a very heavy heart. In the morning I ac- 
 companied my parents to see the village, the mill, 
 and its dependencies, and to look for a house. My 
 mother felt so acutely the difference between our 
 former and present situation, that, in the bitterness 
 of her heart, she declared this village must be the 
 very last place which was created, when everything 
 good had been used up. 
 
22 FISHES AND TISHING. 
 
 My father was very anxious to have a garden ; 
 there was a large piece of ground belonging to the 
 works, but the last proprietor had had it made into a 
 succession of fish-ponds, supplying them with water 
 from the navigation which was the head of the mill, 
 conducting it through the several ponds, and letting 
 it pass out into the water which led to the tail 
 of the mill. These ponds he stocked, at great ex- 
 pense, with carp, intending to assist in supplying the 
 London market with that species of fish ; but the 
 winter brought the usual tremendous floods, common 
 to that locality of the Thames, and the carp escaped 
 into the river, which formed the backwater, and that 
 stream became well stocked with them. When we 
 first saw the land by the mill, nothing could be more 
 desolate ; there were four or five large apple trees, a 
 walnut tree, and the rest large excavations with a 
 little water in them, separated by wide banks ; a very 
 unpromising state of the ground to convert into a 
 garden. My father, nevertheless, drew a plan of the 
 ground, and made his calculations; and as his ma- 
 nagement may give to others some useful information 
 how to make the most of unpromising ground, I will 
 state them. 
 
 He marked out one broad walk the whole length 
 of the ground, and cross walks ; all these he caused 
 to be trenched six feet deep, and threw the loamy 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 23 
 
 mould into the fish-ponds, mixed with many barge- 
 loads of road scrapings, and other manure, which 
 made with the natural loamy soil most prolific ground. 
 The trenches made for the walks he caused to be 
 filled with clinkers, ashes, and scoria of the iron, 
 covering the whole with a thin coat of road- 
 scrapings, which made them very dry and firm. He 
 cut down two, and lopped some other large horse 
 chesnut trees, which he had made into wattles to 
 protect a quickset hedge, which he had planted within 
 them ; put up a door-case and a door, with a lock, 
 which caused persons who knew the locality to smile, 
 and assure my father that he was only providing 
 abundant vexation for himself, for that the bargemen, 
 who continually passed by the side of his embryo 
 garden, between their vessels and the village, would 
 never let him enjoy the produce of it. My father 
 proved^ that these opinions were badly founded ; for 
 as soon as the garden became productive, which it 
 was very soon abundantly, my father freely offered 
 these men, as they passed, vegetables or apples, and 
 none of them ever took even an apple without per- 
 mission ; indeed, had any one of them done so, he 
 would have been scouted by the rest of his compa- 
 nions. 
 
 "When my father first entered upon the mill, he 
 found the workmen very irregular in their habits, 
 
24 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 and drunkenness was of common occurrence ; but he 
 was a man to whom might be applied with great 
 truth, the line suaviter in modo, fortiter in re ; and 
 having brought his foreman and deputy-foreman, from 
 his other works, he made it known as his irrevocable 
 determination, that he would immediately, and for 
 ever, dismiss any man who became intoxicated a 
 second time, during the period when he ought to be 
 at work ; for though it was no injury to the concern 
 in a pecuniary point of view, because the men were 
 paid by the quantum of work performed, yet it was 
 an injury to the other men if one of their number 
 was incapable of taking his share of the duty, as they 
 were obliged to have a man from another branch of 
 the works as a substitute. The^^r*^ time any work- 
 man became intoxicated he was fined, had to pay his 
 substitute, and was wheeled to his lodgings or house 
 in the village, in a large barrow, the bell of the mill 
 tolling all the time. Under my father's judicious 
 management, the workmen became steady, and most 
 of them respectable householders in the parish ; 
 some kept a cow upon the common, pigs, and poul- 
 try, until the rage for inclosing, got up by country 
 attornies for their own especial benefit, reached this 
 village : many were deprived of advantages enjoyed 
 for ages by their ancestors, and some died in the 
 village workhouse in consequence of losing them. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 25 
 
 Our residence was about three-quarters of a mile 
 from the works, and in going there we had to cross a 
 tolerably wide river, the backwater, on a foot-bridge 
 about two feet wide, placed high above the water, on 
 account of the floods ; numberless bleak sported below. 
 I caught and killed a large quantity of house flies, 
 and when I went with my father I was much amused, 
 and I believe so was he, by seeing the fish take them. 
 Sometimes I threw in a large blow- fly, which would 
 go down the river a considerable way, and then dis- 
 appear with a sudden plunge ; these I soon learned 
 were taken by chub. I bent a pin, tied a long piece 
 of fine thread to it, put on a fly, and dropped it over 
 the bridge ; the bleak came up and looked at it, but 
 were not to be caught by such clumsy tackle. At 
 last, one day, just as my fly touched the water, a 
 large bleak, more careless, or more hungry, I suppose, 
 than the rest, took my fly, bent pin included; my 
 heart beat quickly, I pulled him nearly to the top of 
 the bridge, when, to my great disappointment, he 
 fell off*, and this was my dehut in angling. I told 
 one of my father's men, an experienced old fisherman, 
 of my loss, and he gave me a small fish-hook tied on 
 hair; this I attached to my thread line, and baiting 
 with a bluebottle fly, I had the great triumph of 
 hooking and killing a chub about six ounces weight. 
 I was then seven years old, and thought myself a 
 
26 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 very clever angler, only wanting proper tackle to be- 
 come first-rate. 
 
 Mr. AUaday, the lock-keeper at Thames lock, who 
 devoted his leisure to angling, told my father there 
 were plenty of carp in the backwater, but that we 
 must fish for them early. My father said if I would 
 get up at six o'clock the next morning, he and I 
 would try if we could catch some. Accordingly 
 worms were provided, and tackle which had served 
 for flounder-catching at Dartford, cork floats, bullets, 
 &c., were produced, and we had a spell of three 
 hours without a single nibble, when Mr. AUaday 
 coming to see what sport we had had, soon convinced 
 my father that fishing for flat fish, and fishing for 
 carp were different things, and required tackle of a 
 kind my father, who had no knowledge of Izaak 
 Walton, or his art, was wholly unacquainted with. 
 Mr. A. gave us some hooks, we bought better floats, 
 and in the afternoon my father, mother, and myself, 
 seated in chairs, tried our skill again in another part 
 of the river ; we caught two or three flounders, and 
 some little eels, and there ended my father's attempt 
 at angling. I, by degrees, under the tuition of Mr. 
 A., managed to capture gudgeons, roach, dace, and 
 chub ; from him I learned the qualities of gut, hair, 
 and hooks, how to make my own floats, and other 
 tackle, tie on hooks, &c., and the advantage of ground 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 27 
 
 baiting. All my pocket money was expended upon 
 these objects, but I had to encounter the opposition 
 of my father, who having been unsuccessful himself 
 as an angler, and being devoted to his garden, looked 
 on angling in a very unfavourable point of view, and 
 what with my attendance at school, and my father's 
 discouragement, my pursuit of piscatorial knowledge 
 was enveloped in difficulties. My mother having 
 given my father another son, never angled but once, 
 and that was on the occasion of a visit of a friend 
 from town, when I went with him and her in a punt 
 gudgeon fishing in the Thames, I being occasionally 
 allowed to hold one or other of the rods. 
 
 In 1780, the No-Popery riots took place in London, 
 
 and a Mr. L , whose house and furniture were 
 
 burned, and he himself escaped with difficulty, he 
 being a Catholic, was sent by the firm in town 
 in which my father was a partner, for shelter in 
 our house. My mother dispatched me to my father, 
 who was at the works. I took with me my bow, 
 which was a most excellent one, and some sharp, 
 steel-pointed, and feathered arrows, I had crossed 
 more than half the first enclosure of the paddock, 
 when a bull who was there grazing, espied me and 
 gave chase. I ran for my life, and reached a high 
 stile over which I was in the habit of pitching a sum- 
 mersault, throwing my bow and arrows first over; 
 
28 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 but I never performed that saltatory feat so quickly 
 as I did on this occasion. "When once over, I knew 
 I was safe, and waved my bow at my enemy, and 
 struck him on the horns with it gently, so as not to 
 injure my bow; he, finding his attempt useless, 
 retreated a little way, and stood watching me, stamp- 
 ing the ground. I, to revenge myself for the run he 
 had given me, and the fright he had occasioned, fitted 
 one of my sharpest arrows to my bow, and sent it 
 with all the strength I could command into his flank, 
 which made him run and bellow to my great satisfac- 
 tion. I searched for, and found my arrow a day or 
 two after, when the bull was removed to another 
 pasture ; but I had bled him tolerably well, as was 
 evident by his hide. About a year after that, a strong 
 active young man, one of our workmen, determined 
 to cure this bull of attacking people, contrived to 
 dodge the animal round a tree, caught hold of his tail, 
 and beat him with a flat piece of oak paling which he 
 had prepared on purpose, till the bull fairly sunk 
 on the ground, partly with fright, and .partly with 
 exhaustion, — the workmen looking out of the mill 
 windows, laughing and cheering their companion ; 
 after that, the animal was as civil and well-behaved a 
 bull as any person might wish to meet : but he was 
 very careful to avoid any proximity to man. Dis- 
 couraged as I was in my favourite pursuit by my 
 
FISHES AT7D FISHING. 29 
 
 father, I did very little more than look at others en- 
 joying it, treasuring up in my own mind everything 
 worth remembering, until I was about ten years of 
 age, when looking in the book-case of an old gentle- 
 man, a neighbour, and intimate acquaintance of my 
 family, I found an excellent edition of "Walton aad 
 Cotton's Angler ; this I borrowed and read, until I 
 had impressed it upon my memory, and having had 
 the present of a solid rod, winch, line, &c., I now 
 and then obtained permission from my father to angle 
 for an hour or two, as a reward for performing an 
 abstruse arithmetical calculation, or making a correct 
 drawing of some geometrical figure, and giving a cor- 
 rect calculation of the contents of its area. One day, 
 whilst standing rather insecurely on a narrow piece 
 of planking, I hooked a large fish, and the sudden 
 impetus given to me, caused me to fall over into the 
 river ; the water was rather too deep for me, but the 
 depth only extended a little way. I held on to my 
 rod, and aided by the pulling of the fish, and by my 
 own paddling with one hand, I got on a bank of sand 
 in the middle of the river, where the water was only 
 about two feet deep, and there I stood, and played my 
 fish, which turned out to be a barbel, weighing nearly 
 five pounds. One of my father's men waded off to 
 me, with a bushel-basket in his hand, a common sub- 
 stitute at the works for a landing-net ; he carried me 
 
30 PISHES AND FISHING. ' 
 
 through a deeper part ashore. I went to the porter's 
 lodge, got into his bed, between the blankets, whilst 
 my clothes were being dried at the furnace-fires, and 
 my father never knew I had been in the water till 
 some years afterwards. All of us, except my mother, 
 enjoyed our barbel, baked, with a pudding in his 
 belly, with some savoury gravy; and a friend of ours 
 having come from London to our house, on an angling 
 excursion, dined with us, and anticipated what rare 
 sport HE should have with his beautiful tackle, if a 
 boy like me could take such a fish. I had three or 
 four holidays to go out angling with him. I shewed 
 him all the best spots, and we had capital sport ; 
 when he went away, he gave me quite a stock of 
 tackle, so that I was completely furnished as an an- 
 gler for bottom fishing ; and my father, after the visit 
 of our friend, did not object to my reasonable use of 
 the amusement, to which he saw I was attached. 
 
 Amongst my father's men, there was one who had 
 been all his life-time a fisherman, and I now believe 
 was not very particular tmw he caught fish, so that he 
 only obtained them. "We had a great number of 
 pike in our waters, and large eels, which were very 
 destructive of other species of the finny tribes. This 
 man taught me how to lay trimmers, and I often suc- 
 ceeded in taking pike from three to eight pounds in 
 weight, and eels two to three pounds. When I came 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 31 
 
 home for my holidays in winter, I used to shoot 
 snipes, wild ducks, wood pigeons, starlings, &c. ; and 
 in summer, I angled with great success for barbel, chub, 
 roach, dace, and gudgeons. The Thames fishermen 
 often came up our back-water with their nets ; my 
 father, therefore, had piles driven into the bed of the 
 river, rails laid across, and a gate, through which I 
 could go in my boat ; the gate was secured with a 
 chain, and lock, with copper wards, which effectually 
 blocked all persons from coming into our waters. 
 I had not yet paught a carp. I refrained from all 
 other angling for a whole month, endeavouring to 
 catch one of these cunning fish, without success, 
 though I tried all the scents, and different things I 
 read or heard of. I had seen them taken close to me 
 by a person who performed the bricklayers' work for 
 the mill, with tackle very much inferior to mine. I 
 observed that he kept throwing in small pellets of 
 paste, which he took out of his pocket,* but that he 
 baited his hook with paste out a horn that hung to 
 his button. I asked-him for a bit of paste; he put 
 his hand in his pocket to give me some, but I took a 
 piece out of his horn, saying, "this will do." I put 
 part of it into my mouth, and found out the secret, — 
 
 * See Oppian's Halieuticks, Book iii. verse 625. The ancient 
 Greek fishermen threw in a shower of pills made of odorous 
 cheese and flour, formed into a paste, and baited their hooks 
 with the same, — he does not say for what fish. 
 
32 ■ FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 it was made up with honey ; after that, I could catch 
 carp as well, or better than him. To make this paste 
 your hands must be very clean, and well rinsed from 
 soap ; dip a piece of wheaten bread that is a day old, 
 in clean water for a moment, then press, and squeeze, 
 and work it up into a stiff paste with honey ; ascer- 
 tain the depth of the spot where you propose to angle 
 the day before, and make a mark so that you may 
 know whether the water have risen or fallen ; ground- 
 bait the place with bread made into paste, mixed with 
 a little barleymeal, and a small quantity of honey, 
 the night, or even two nights before you angle ; your 
 hook must be short in the shank, and the hook should 
 be hidden by the paste ; the whole bait should be 
 about the size of a marrow-fat pea. You must ap- 
 proach the bank very quietly, not too close, drop in 
 your bait gently, and let your rod lie down ; the shot 
 should nearly rest on the bottom, but not quite, so 
 that your float, which should be very light, will have 
 its lower end a little depressed ; the bait will be 
 about nine inches from the shot ; the gut must be 
 fine, but round and strong : throw in, one at a time, 
 very quietly, little pellets of plain paste, about the 
 size of peas. Angle in a still place near an eddy, in 
 from four, to six or more feet of water. The carp 
 will suck in the bait, the end of the float will dip 
 under water. As soon as you see this, cai'efully, and 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 33 
 
 without shaking it, put your hand to your rod, and 
 in a second or two after, the float darts off; then 
 firmly, but not violently, only with a mere turn of 
 your wrist, strike, and the struggle commences ; the 
 fish will endeavour to run in amongst roots of trees, 
 if there be any near, and if large, will put your skill 
 to the test. On the front of the dorsal or back fin, 
 the bone is like a sharp saw. When he is hooked, 
 he will make many very short turns in his endeavours 
 to escape ; and it is possible, that the line, from bad 
 management on the part of the angler, will, in some 
 instances, pass across this bone, and if so, will be 
 instantly severed. 
 
 An angler should calmly watch the route the fish 
 he has hooked takes ; let him have more line as may 
 be absolutely necessary, and wind up whenever prac- 
 ticable, with safety ; be in no haste to see the fish, 
 for many a good fish has been lost through the angler 
 throwing himself into a flurry ; and be cautious to 
 play yourfish away from the spot where he was hooked, 
 or other fish near will be driven away. This you 
 can easily do as soon as yOu strike him, probably in 
 consequence of the surprise the fish must experience, 
 at having his motions so suddenly controlled. 
 
 I have had excellent sport in taking barbel, some- 
 times from six to twenty in a day. The largest 
 I ever took, weighed above ten pounds; and the 
 
34 FISHES AND PISHING. 
 
 heaviest I believe on record in England, was one 
 taken in the river Lea, weighing nineteen pounds. 
 Eut Cuvier says, in localities favourable to them, 
 they will grow to ten feet long. In the Danube, 
 during the autumnal equinox, ten to twelve tons are 
 annually taken. 
 
 In the Volga, a river of Russian Tartary, the 
 largest river in Europe, and which I shall have occa- 
 sion hereafter to mention, barbel are taken more than 
 lour or five feet long, weighing from thirty to fifty 
 pounds ; the air bladder of these fish the natives on 
 the banks convert into an inferior kind of fish-glue, 
 or isinglass ; their roe they either throw away, or 
 boil and feed their geese and other poultry with it ; 
 for though it is inimical to the human race, it is not 
 injurious to birds of any kind. Barbels are sold there 
 at about nine pounds, English, per thousand. 
 
 The beljugas were sold at Astrachan at so much a 
 hundred pieces, which are thus reckoned : a fish of 
 eighteen to thirty- six inches long, from eye to tail, 
 is reckoned as one piece ; those under eighteen inches 
 long, two for one piece; one of thirty-six inches 
 counts as two pieces; thirty-nine inches for three 
 pieces, forty-two for four pieces, and so on. A hun- 
 dred of such pieces of this fish at the first hand then 
 sold for seventy or seventy-five roubles, or £15 15s., 
 to £16 17s. 6d. Sewrjuge, without being measured, 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 35 
 
 were sold at ten to fifteen roubles per hundred, or 
 £2 5s. to £3 78. 6d. Barbels were valued at forty- 
 roubles per thousand, or £9. — See Travels of Dr. Pallas, 
 
 Four gentlemen, named respectively, Ernes, Atkin- 
 son, Hall, and Moore, on the 9th of August, 1807, in 
 Shepperton Deeps, the two first in one punt, caught 
 forty-two barbel, weight SO^lbs ; the two others, in 
 a second punt, caught forty-five barbel, weight 
 70^1ba. It has been said that two hundred weight of 
 barbel, from one to fifteen pounds each, have been 
 caught with one rod in a day. I think it must 
 have been a long day, not beginning as the above four 
 gentlemen did, between ten and eleven o'clock in the 
 morning. 
 
 A barbel taken in the old river Wey, or in the navi- 
 gation from Weybridge Bridge to Thames Lock, of 
 twenty inches long, will weigh more by a pound, 
 than one of the same length taken in the Thames, 
 and the former is much more firm, fat, and better 
 flavoured than the latter ; this may be accounted for 
 by the great quantity of horse mussels there are in 
 the "Weybridge navigation, and the old river, and 
 thence to Byfleet ; these mussels are of large size, and 
 when they are moving from one place to another 
 they expose so very large a portion of themselves 
 outside their thin shells, which no doubt proves 
 tempting and nutritious food to any fish ; for on the 
 
 d2 
 
36 riSHES AND FISHING. 
 
 water of the navigation being drawn down, the im- 
 mense number of empty shells, evinces the correctness 
 of this opinion. Barbel are best in season the latter 
 end of summer, before the weather gets too cold, as 
 they then retire, if they can, into brackish water, or 
 deep holes. It is a very pleasant way of angling for 
 them with a large float, where the bank is excavated 
 under ; let your bait be within half an inch of the 
 bottom ; bait with maiden lob worms, or three or 
 four gentles, or chandlers' greaves, broken into pieces, 
 in cold water, then put on the fire and allowed to 
 simmer up once ; select the fine white pieces. 
 
 These fish spawn in April or May, each female 
 giving out from seven to eight thousand ova, or eggs, 
 which vivify in nine or ten days, as it is said, but I 
 do not believe that any egg vivifies in so short a time, 
 it being proved salmon take "ninety-four days ; the 
 parent fish recover in about six weeks, and are in 
 prime season the latter end of July, August, Septem- 
 ber, and if fine, to the middle of October. In fishing 
 with a float, strike the moment it is pulled under ; in 
 angling with a ledger bait, a large round, or oval 
 bullet is better than the flat leads, becausfe the former 
 rolls about, and by keeping the bait moving, attracts 
 the fish sooner. 
 
 If in ledger fishing you feel your rod shake once, 
 you seldom hook the fish, though you strike ever so 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 37 
 
 rapidly, but generally lose the worm, for the barbel 
 will take hold of its head, and strip it clean off the 
 hook ; to prevent this, have a smaller hook whipped 
 on the gut, a little above the larger one, and hook the 
 head of the worm on that, and you will sometimes 
 catch the barbel with that hook. It is the natural 
 instinct of all fish, many birds, and reptiles, who, if 
 they do not seize their prey by the head at first, 
 always turn and swallow it headforemost. "When a 
 barbel gives two or three pulls, strike quickly, and 
 you are tolerably sure to hook him. If you angle 
 late in the evening, with two rods from a bank, place 
 a small squirrel's bill on the point of the rod which 
 is lying down. 
 
 The improvement in the navigation of the Thames 
 has caused a great deterioration of it as far as angling 
 is concerned ; when a boy, I have gone into an osier 
 ait, with a tolerably long rod, a short line, a few 
 cockchafers, and screened by the leaves, could pick 
 out of a shoal as many chub as I chose ; or more re- 
 cently, with an artificial fly, I have filled a large bag 
 with dace, six to eight ounces each, and chub from 
 one to five pounds; besides occasionally, though rarely 
 a trout of a pound, or pound and a half, during a walk 
 by the side of the Thames fromWeybridge to Sunbury. 
 The most expert angler could not do one quarter, or 
 a sixteenth as much at the present day. 
 
38 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 In 1824 and 1825, a Select Committee of tlie House 
 of Commons was appointed to enquire into the state 
 of the salmon fisheries of the United Kingdom (from 
 which and other authorities, I have extracted the oh- 
 servations on salmon). They examined in the course 
 of thirty-six sittings, at very great length, many most 
 intelligent witnesses; amongst others, Mr. John Hal- 
 liday, George Little, Esq., and the Eeverend Dr. John 
 Fleming, minister of Plisk, in the county of Fife, a 
 great naturalist, who had published some works on 
 the natural history of fish. He mentioned seven 
 species of the genus Salmo, that inhabit, or frequent 
 the estuary of the Tay, viz., 
 
 1 . Salmo salar, — or common Salmon. 
 
 2. Salmo hucho, — presumed to be the bull Trout. 
 8. Salmo eroix, — the grey or shewn. 
 
 4. Salmo trutta, — the common sea Trout. 
 6. Salmo albus, — the "Whiteling, or Finnock. 
 
 6. Salmo fario, — the common river Trout. 
 
 7. Salmo eperlanus, — the Spirlin, or_^ Smelt. 
 Some of these are migratory to the sea, and the 
 
 others not : those which frequent the sea, are found 
 full of roe in August, September, and October, and 
 deposit their spawn from I^ovember to January, In 
 the first of these three months they pass up the mid- 
 channel, almost always, of the river wherein they 
 were bred, or had been accustomed to frequent j 
 
FISHES AND FISHING, 39 
 
 should an insurmountable obstacle present itself to 
 their passage upwards, in the main stream, or any- 
 thing occur to alarm them, they will pass up any 
 tributary stream, from whence fresh water flows ; 
 and it is well known will make repeated and astonish, 
 ing leaps, to arrive at a fit place to deposit their 
 spawn : the male is equally prompted by instinct to 
 make the same exertions. This accounts for the 
 salmon leaping into the mill, and the one taken in 
 the fresh water which ran in the road-way, mentioned 
 in the former pages : and many a noble salmon b^ing 
 dashed to pieces in the attempt to pass the wheels of 
 the mill, in order to arrive at the fresh water, as I 
 have before stated. 
 
 r^ These three gentlemen, the two first from an ex- 
 perience of forty years each, coincided in positively 
 stating to the committee, that one male salmon asso- 
 ciates himself with one female fish ; that they play 
 together for a short time, either very early in the 
 morning, or late in the evening, round their intended 
 spawning ground, which they have selected as fit for 
 the purpose, and then together] make a furrow, by 
 working up the gravel with their noses, against the 
 stream. When that furrow is completed, they throw 
 themselves on their sides, and, rubbing against each 
 other, are mutually stimulated to shed the eggs and the 
 milt simultaneously, into the hollow they have made, 
 
40 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 which they carefully cover with loose gravel ; they 
 then proceed to make another furrow, and the same 
 process is repeated, until the whole of the eggs of the 
 female are excluded, amounting to from seventeen 
 to twenty thousand ; these being dropped singly, 
 occupies several days. 
 
 The horny excrescence at the end of the lower jaw 
 of the male, is only a character of his sex, and not as 
 has been supposed, to enable him to make the above 
 furrows in the gravel, for both male and female work 
 to make them ; probably, if any difference, the male 
 most. 
 
 Should the fish be disturbed, or frightened away 
 from the spot where they have begun to spawn, they 
 return to it as soon as the cause of their alarm has 
 ceased ; and in the case of the male fish being cap- 
 tured or destroyed, the female leaves the place, and 
 seeks a deep pool, from whence she soon returns with 
 another male partner, who aids her in completing 
 the work ; and this she will repeat several times if 
 her then male partner be taken away. Poachers are 
 BO well aware of this fact, that they constantly take 
 tiie male fish, which is then easily done, always 
 allowing the female to escape, who thus becomes a 
 decoy for them. Mr. Young gives an instance of a 
 female salmon, from the side of which nine male sal- 
 mon were killed in this manner ; she then repaired 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 41 
 
 to the pool, and brought with her a large male com- 
 mon river trout, when the poacher leistered, i. e. 
 speared, both of them. So that this fish had a dispo- 
 sition to have a hybrid progeny ; but the poacher 
 being, no doubt, a man oi great moral rectitude, would 
 not allow of any such disgraceful proceedings, and so 
 took the lady away from the temptation of doing so 
 again. It is a matter of speculation for the naturalist 
 how fish communicate with each other, and how this 
 female salmon seduced nine salmon to their ruin. 
 Examples of a similar kind are too often to be found 
 amongst the human race. 
 
 It appears from the evidence, that the eggs remain 
 covered with the loose gravel for several weeks, and 
 they first show signs of life by a very slight fin, at- 
 tached to the %%^, appearing above the gravel ; the 
 ^g^ has considerable motion by means of that fin, 
 and so probably becomes emancipated from the place 
 where it was deposited, unless, as I have suggested, 
 the female returns to assist in the work. 
 
 The evidence of Messrs. Little and Halliday go to 
 prove that they have detected something like amorous 
 passions in the salmo genus ; and if Oppian is to be 
 credited, and he was a very acute observer, many fish 
 have a predilection for a particular mate of the oppo- 
 site sex, some are constant to that one, others keep a 
 complete seraglio, and guard it with most jealous 
 
42 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 care ; and again, there are a few species which are 
 attracted by and follow promiscuously any of the 
 females to their own ruin. Fishermen of that period, 
 sixteen hundred and fifty-two years ago, . understood 
 these propensities of fish, how to take advantage of 
 their passions, and to thereby entrap them. The 
 above author devoted nearly half the first book, and 
 almost all of the fourth of his Halieuticks, to the most 
 curious description of the loves of the fishes, whose 
 desires, he asserts, are more ardent than those of ter- 
 restrial animals. 
 
 Francis "Willoughby, who wrote in 1686 a most 
 elaborate folio work in Latin, giving an account of 
 all fishes then known, with plates of them, mentions 
 a species of salmon, denominated by him '' salmo 
 griscus,^' or the grey; this fish was then scarce, and 
 was considered so much more delicate than the sal- 
 mon, as to command more than double the price. 
 Another author, who wrote above a hundred years 
 ago, describes this fish as being equal to the salmon 
 in magnitude, but very unlike in shape, being con- 
 siderably broader and thicker, the tail as large, but 
 not forked, the body stained everywhere with grey or 
 ash-coloured spots, whence he supposes it takes its 
 name. He confirms Willoughby as to the superior 
 excellence of this fish, and the consequent price it 
 obtains ; he says they enter the rivers from the sea 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 43 
 
 with wonderful swiftness, and surmount almost all 
 obstacles with the greatest ease, by their superior 
 strength and agility ; they come into the fresh water 
 early in August to spawn, that they are seldom taken, 
 and are therefore known to very few persons ; they 
 have never been caught with any bait. He thinks 
 it is the same fish that is* known in some parts of 
 Scotland by the name of the ^^ grey lord'* This ap- 
 pears to be a valuable species of fish, but it is to be 
 feared is now extinct. In the Volga are large quan- 
 tities of what are denominated white salmon; probably 
 these may be the fish called by Willoughby " salmo 
 griscuSf or the grey." 
 
 The analogy between salmon and birds will, after 
 reading the evidence of Dr. Fleming, Messrs. Little 
 and HaUiday, be very striking. Birds pair, make 
 nests for their progeny, and deposit their eggs as much 
 out of sight as possible ; salmon make furrows, and 
 conceal their ova. It appears that one species of fish 
 make nests, and it may be that others do so whose 
 habits are not yet discovered ;* but, for want of more 
 acquaintance with the habits of fish, at present we 
 can go little farther with the analogy. 
 
 It had long been believed that female fish shed 
 
 * In an early volume of the Edinburgh Philosophical 
 Journal, there is a curious account of the nests made by the 
 Gasterosthus SpinU'tria of Linnaeus (a peculiar species of 
 stickleback). 
 
44 FISHES AND PISHING. 
 
 their spawn when it arrived at complete maturity, 
 and that any male fish indiscriminately endued it with 
 the germs of life, without contact with the female ; 
 the evidence adduced before the Committee of the 
 House of Commons, proves that this opinion and be- 
 lief was unfounded in fact ; and some future scientific 
 naturalist may discover whether the female fish re- 
 turns to the spawning bed, and assists to emancipate 
 the young fry from the gravel ; for it appears she 
 does not go down to the sea for some time after the 
 eggs are vivified, and if, as the evidence shows, the 
 female salmon have sufficient knowledge, or instinct 
 to seek for a fresh mate, when the first, or other 
 succeeding ones are taken away, and to conduct him 
 consecutively to the same spawning bed, it is not un- 
 reasonable to suppose that she may have instinct 
 enough to perform that service for her progeny ; and 
 the tales told offish eating their own spawn, may arise 
 from the misunderstood efforts made by the female 
 fish to attain the above object. The work of E. and 
 T. Ash worth, Esqs., with which they have favoured 
 me, p. 46, however, appears to show that the females 
 are the greatest enemies of the young fry, and the 
 males the most zealous defenders of them.* This, if 
 
 * See Treatise on the Propagation of Salmon and other 
 Fish ; published at Stockport, and by Simpkin and Marshall, 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 45 
 
 true, (?) is contrary to all known laws regulating 
 created beings. Instances are often occurring of ter- 
 restrial animals, when disturbed in parturition, eating 
 some of their young, but these are exceptions to the 
 general rule. 
 
 The male salmon as well as the female, are driven 
 to seek the fresh water, not only for the purpose of 
 propagating the species, but in order to free them- 
 selves of the parasitical insects which annoy them, — 
 the Monoculus piscinus of Linnaeus ; but Dr. Fleming 
 does not entertain that opinion. How then are their 
 violent desires and exertions to get into fresh water 
 to be accounted for ? Do salmon pair before they 
 leave the sea ? Dr. Fleming admits that the Ler- 
 ncea Salmonce of Linnaeus infests the gills of salmon 
 very much, even to eating away a great portion of the 
 gills, if they stay too long in the fresh water. These 
 insects are vulgarly called maggots ; but, according 
 to Dr. Fleming, very improperly so, as they do not 
 change their state. Salt water removes them, and 
 cures the fish ; therefore, instinct, or some reasoning 
 faculty, induces them to return to the sea. 
 
 The generation of fish, as well as of all animated 
 creation, if the subject be rightly considered, cannot 
 fail to excite wonder in every mind capable of reflec- 
 tion. Those who have been blessed with the advan- 
 tages of education, are better able to appreciate the 
 
46 FISHES A^^D FISHING. 
 
 stupendous arrangements of the great Architect of the 
 Universe, and are capable of investigating the subject 
 more closely ; they must be impressed with greater 
 and more profound veneration for, and admiration of, 
 the great beneficent Supreme Being, as each arrange- 
 ment of his bounty and goodness becomes developed 
 to their view. 
 
 The first male and female of every living creature, 
 contained in themselves the germ from which all 
 of that species were in future to be produced. Ee- 
 ferring to fish, if it be possible, take a male fish as 
 early as his sex can be discovered ; let him be placed 
 where he cannot see, or have contact with any other 
 fish, yet has proper food ; do the same with a fe- 
 male : as soon as she attain, even a comparatively 
 trifling age, the female will have within her the roe 
 or eggs, and the male the milt ; shewing the inhe- 
 rent principle of reproduction in each, yet such repro- 
 duction cannot take place, unless the ova be vivified 
 by the male. To keep the male and female apart, we 
 know there would be no yonng fish in this case ; but 
 it would be an illustrative experiment, to ascertain 
 the effect produced on the health of both these fish. 
 
 It is affirmed by the fishermen of the Yolga, that 
 they sometimes take fish of the sturgeon species, 
 which are hermaphrodites, having a milt on one side, 
 and a roe on the other ; the same thing has been ob- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 47 
 
 served in Holland amongst the chevins or large codfish. 
 This is a curious fact for the investigation of the natu- 
 ralist. But how it is to be accomplished is the diffi- 
 culty, as only by considerable and most close observation 
 it could be ascertained, even if it were possible at all 
 to ascertain whilst the fish were alive, whether it were 
 in such a state ? If that could be done, the fish might 
 then be confined, and it would be seen whether it had 
 any productive power. 
 
 Every judicious gardener knows, in backward sea- 
 sons, when there are no bees abroad, that he must 
 fructify his melons and cucumbers, by introducing 
 the farina of the male flower, to the female flower. It 
 is a very plain example of the inherent reproductive 
 property of flowers, to shake the fine farina from a 
 sunflower, which is indeed so minute that it can 
 scarcely be seen with the naked eye; place this 
 under a very moderate power of the microscope, and 
 every single speck is a perfect sunflower, with its 
 leaves and farina, in miniature ; but no seed will be 
 produced unless the farina of the male flower be wafted 
 by the wind, or conveyed byinsects to the female flower. 
 To bees, and other winged insects, man is much in- 
 debted, for conveying the farina of the flowers of 
 fruit trees to those of the opposite sex; in which 
 process the wind also very much assists ; indeed, 
 without these aids, female flowers would bring forth 
 
■^ 
 
 FISHES AlfD FISHING. 
 
 neither seed or fruits. Animals in like manner 
 kept sexually separate from each other, lose their 
 energies, or become diseased, or soured in temper, 
 and often die early. In the human race, where the 
 forms of the world, or other circumstances arising in 
 civilised society, prevent the laws of nature from 
 being fulfilled at the proper season, great nervous 
 irritability, even extending to insanity, or a state of 
 occult disease a little removed from it, shewing itself 
 in a disposition to regard every circumstance of life in 
 an unfavourable light, or some more apparent malady, 
 total, or partial privation of one or more of the senses, 
 is almost sure to occur. That a great cause of in- 
 sanity may thus be traced, is a well-known truth 
 amongst those of the professional world, who have 
 the supervision of lunatics. 
 
 The experiment I have alluded to, of keeping the 
 two sexes of fish apart, would probably develope a 
 curious physiological fact. 
 
 Fifty years ago, when the water of the Serpentine 
 river was quite clear, angling in it was an exclusive 
 privilege possessed by few ; all beyond the superin- 
 tendent's house was a green bank down to the water, 
 to which the road was over the foot-bridge by the 
 guard-house, which idlers, and those who had no right 
 there, were not allowed to pass. I was one whose 
 name was inscribed on the free list. The roach then 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 40 
 
 were from six ounces to three quarters of a pound, or 
 sometimes a pound each, and they were eager after a 
 well-prepared bait. I often took carp from four to 
 six pounds each ; tench, from one pound to two, and 
 once, a tench weighing five pounds three quarters ; 
 and eels, one to three pounds. I do not think there 
 have been any pike in this water for many years, or 
 I believe many perch : of the latter, one was taken in 
 the year 1800, as one of the keepers (Bonham) in- 
 formed me, weighing nine pounds ; but though I 
 fished there during several years, I only took two of 
 the weight respectively of one pound, and one pound 
 and a quarter. Bonham also stated, that about 1796, 
 a pike was taken nearly on the opposite side to the 
 receiving house, in a most curious manner. As a foot- 
 man was walking by the side of the Serpentine one 
 morning, very early, he saw something struggling in 
 the weeds near the shore ; thinking it was some one 
 drowning, he rushed into the water, and found it was 
 an immense fish, nearly powerless ; the man got be- 
 yond the fish, and gradually lifted him nearer the 
 shore, and at last threw him out. It proved to be a 
 pike, that had attacked a carp of nearly seven pounds 
 weight, which, in endeavouring to swallow, had stuck 
 fast in the throat of the pike, and disabled him; on 
 being weighed, he proved to be more than thirty 
 pounds. I have not angled in the Serpentine for 
 
60 FISHES AND PISHING. 
 
 many years ; for since a road has been made beyond the 
 receiving house, the annoyance of the questions of 
 curious promenaders, and the hosts of blackguard boys 
 looking out to see what they can steal, and the state 
 of the water, effectually prevented me from doing so ; 
 independent of which, the fine roach which used to be 
 there, are supplanted by a sort of hybrid, apparently 
 between a crusian carp and a roach, or a bream and 
 a roach ; they are extremely numerous, may be taken 
 in any number, and from being very bony, are useless 
 when caught. It would be an excellent plan to turn 
 two or more pike in, of a good size, to fatten upon 
 these myriads of fish, which eat the food that ought 
 to support more valuable kinds ; but in placing pike 
 therein, care should be taken to have all of one sex, 
 otherwise, the water would soon swarm with young 
 pike ; and as the large ones should only be put there 
 for twelve months or so, the state of celibacy during 
 that period would not injure the fish ; when these 
 were fat, they might be caught, and others placed to 
 undergo the same process. 
 
 The fecundity of fish is truly astonishing,"' Pro- 
 fessor Blumenbach states, that there are more than 
 two hundred thousand eggs in a carp. M. Petit found 
 nearly three hundred and fifty thousand in a tench, 
 three hundred thousand in a perch, twenty-five thou- 
 Band in a pike, above fifty thousand in a roach, sixty 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 51 
 
 thousand in a smelt, six thousand in a shrimp, twelve 
 to twenty-one thousand in a lobster, four thousand in 
 a crab, thirty-six thousand in a herring, one million 
 in a sole, the same number in a flounder, of a large 
 size, above one million four hundred thousand in a 
 sturgeon. This account of the fecundity of a stur- 
 geon must apply only to those of southern climes ; 
 for in the Volga, where this fish is from thirteen to 
 sixteen feet long, and the weight of 1200, 1800, 
 or 2300lbs., two hundred pounds of roe have been 
 taken from one fish ; now, as Dr. Pallas asserts that 
 five eggs weigh only a grain, it is easy to calculate 
 that the eggs in this sturgeon were seven millions ! 
 But this is nothing compared with one caught in that 
 river in the winter of 1769, seventeen feet long; 
 weight, 2,5001bs. ; from which were taken 720lbs. 
 of roe, which, by the same calculation, would give 
 25,200,000 ova. 
 
 To take fish of the large size mentioned by Dr. 
 Pallas, called the beljuga, or bjeluga sturgeon, a 
 species of trap or weir is constructed. Another 
 method is to ascertain where the fish are lying side 
 by side in a state of torpidity, in deep holes. Make 
 apertures in the ice, and with long poles, having a 
 large sharp hook at the end, disturb them, and aa 
 they rise, the fish are hooked, and drawn up on the 
 ice ; if too heavy for one fisherman, others assist. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 A third method is by netting. Upon one occasion 
 (as described in Trusler's Habitable World, vol. ii. 
 p. 189), five hundred of these fish were taken; the 
 generality of which were thirteen, fourteen, to 
 twenty-three hundred weight each. 
 
 A fourth mode of taking them is by strong lines 
 and hooks, baited with a small fish, called in Eussia 
 Obla {Cyprinas Griflagine). 
 
 All these modes are adopted at certain seasons, 
 and under strict regulations. In winter, those fish 
 caught, are sent on sledges, frozen, to Astrachan, and 
 100 of these fresh beljugas then sold for 120 roubles, 
 of 4s. Qd. each, or £27. Of the roe of the female fish, 
 the cavear is made thus : the roe is pressed through a 
 coarse sieve, to cleanse it from the skins and blood- 
 vessels ; one pud of roe placed in a trough, will take 
 five pounds of salt ; it remains in the trough an 
 hour ; it is then spread over fine sieves to drain away 
 the brine, and then pressed down into barrels; this is 
 the granular cavear, and sold at one rouble, eighty co- 
 pecs (or kopecks) the pud, or 7*. lOd. English. There 
 is another kind of cavear made thus : the roe is sepa- 
 rated from the skins and blood-vessels, is placed for 
 half an hour in strong brine ; it is then taken out, 
 and laid on sieves to drain ; then put into pointed 
 bags, like jelly bags, each bag containing 18lbs. In 
 these bags it is squeezed till all the brine is out j it is 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 53 
 
 then placed in barrels, and trodden down by a man 
 wearing leather stockings. The casks are well se- 
 cured against leakage, and this cavear sells for two 
 roubles the pud. A pud then was 40lbs. Eussian, 36lbs. 
 English. A rouble was then 4*. 6c?. English, and a 
 copec one half-penny ; now, the value is very different. 
 
 No part of these fish is lost except the lower part 
 of the abdomen and bowels, which are thrown away. 
 The fat off the milt from the male fish is scraped thence 
 with knives into a pail, it is then boiled and cleaned. 
 This fat, when fresh, is very good tasted, and may be 
 used instead of butter or oil. In Astrachan it is sold 
 from forty to fifty copecs per pail, then \s. Sd. to 
 2s. Id. ; but how much the pail contained is not 
 stated. 
 
 In the Caspian-sea fisheries, the beljuga stone, 
 which (Dr. Pallas says) has always remained proble- 
 matical, is often found in the larger species of this 
 fish, and commonly sold at the price of a few roubles ; 
 according to the fishermen's accounts, this stone, 
 when found, is in a sac of the rectum. They are 
 also found in the largest sorts of sturgeons; they 
 weigh (he says) occasionally from one to three ounces, 
 and may with difficulty be scraped with a knife: they 
 are amongst other Russian domestic medicines, but he 
 says it does not merit to be so placed. It is said to 
 be the petrified roe of the fish. 
 
54 
 
 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 There are more than nine millions of ova in a cod, 
 more than half a million in a mackerel, and seven to 
 eight thousand in a barbel. By the evidence given 
 before the Committee of the House of Commons, as be- 
 fore mentioned, salmon have from seventeen to twenty 
 thousand eggs, and trout probably, being of the same 
 genus, have as many. But the quantity of ova varies 
 according to the age of the fish ; as an instance, a 
 flounder of two ounces will contain 133,407 eggs, 
 whilst one of twenty-four ounces contained 1,857,403. 
 It must not be supposed that these enormous quantities 
 of eggs are all vivified ; many are greedily devoured by 
 other fish whilst in the ova state, and many more im- 
 mediately the ova attains vitality, and a very large 
 proportion when they assume their proper character. 
 A little well-known fish, called a stickleback or sharp- 
 ling, which I have elsewhere mentioned, is most 
 destructive of the spawn of all species ; it is a matter 
 of doubt, whether small eels or the stickleback de- 
 stroy most spawn. It is unsportsmanlike to take any 
 fish when full of spawn, for then man becomes a 
 wholesale destroyer of fish by tens, or even hundreds 
 of thousands; another practice is adopted by some 
 persons of using salmon roe as a bait, a practice inju- 
 rious to the breeding of this noble fish, and which 
 cannot be too strongly reprehended, for hundreds are 
 taken for the sake of the roe, which causes a diminu- 
 
FISHES AND PISHING. 55 
 
 tion of millions of salmon, — and for what ? Why, to 
 excite a species of taste for cannibalism amongst that 
 class of animals, and to gratify some would-be- angler, 
 who has not skill enough to take fish by legitimate me- 
 thods recognised by all true sportsmen! I have been 
 told by a gentleman, upon whose word I think de- 
 pendence may be placed, that a tackle-maker, who 
 professes publicly to point out the necessity of pro- 
 tecting salmon from being unfairly caught by small- 
 meshed nets, obtains, and sells SOOlbs. weight of this 
 roe nearly every year ! 
 
 The liquor of the oyster, it is asserted, contains 
 incredible multitudes of small embryo, covered 
 with little shells, perfectly transparent, swimming 
 nimbly about. One hundred and twenty of these 
 in a row, would not exceed one inch. Besides these 
 young oysters, the liquor contains a great variety of 
 animalculse, five hundred times less in size, which 
 emit a phosphoric light. The list of inhabitants, how- 
 ever, does not conclude here ; for, besides these last- 
 mentioned, there are three distinct species of worms, 
 called the oyster worm, half an inch long, found in 
 oysters, which shine in the dark like glow-worms. 
 A good microscope is necessary. 
 
 Amongst the voluminous evidence obtained by the 
 Committee of the House of Commons, there is no 
 mention of southern rivers ; the fact is well authenti- 
 
66 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 cated, that salmon were formerly very plentiful in 
 the Thames ; and the fishermen, within my recollec- 
 tion, added very materially to their incomes by the 
 capture and sale of that noble fish, some of which 
 were very large, I perfectly remember rowing ofi" to 
 see one in the year 1789, which was enveloped in 
 nets between two punts, kept apart by short spars 
 lashed head and stern. This fish was caught near 
 Laleham, and the weight was said to be seventy 
 pounds. Salter, in one of his publications, confirms 
 the fact, and states that it was sold to Howel, a fish- 
 monger in the Minories, opposite America Square, for 
 one shilling a pound]; shewing, by the price, the great 
 plenty there were of them. Formerly, in walking by 
 the side of the Thames on a summer's evening, any- 
 where above Sunbury, up to Windsor, you would see 
 numbers of large salmon leap out of the water by the 
 side of the osier aits, either in sport, or after flies. I^ow 
 the locks and weirs are so unscientifically constructed, 
 that if salmon were to run the gauntlet of passing the 
 pool, their further passage upward would be com- 
 pletely obstructed by these badly contrived erections. 
 The salmon fishery of the Thames was anciently of 
 very great importance to the inhabitants of the 
 parishes upon the banks of that river, who appear to 
 have had each an assigned ^^ room or rome'* or 
 bounds for their respective fishery. In the church- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 57 
 
 warden's book of "Wandsworth, under date 1580, is 
 the following entry: *'M. D." (presume memoran- 
 dum) *' That this yere in somer, the fishing rome of 
 Wandesworthe was by certain of Putney denyed, and 
 long sute before my Lord Mayor of London continued, 
 and at the last, according to right, restored by the 
 Lord Mayor and the Councell of London. And in 
 this somer, the fysshers of Wandesworthe tooke be- 
 tweene Monday and Saturday, seven score salmons 
 in the same fishings, to the great honor of God." — 
 From *' I^otes and Queries." 
 
 From a newspaper of July 1754. " Was caught at 
 London Bridge, the greatest take of salmon ever 
 known, whereby the price of that fish fell from one 
 shilling, to sixpence per pound." — See ''Bell's Life," 
 August 22nd, 1852. 
 
 The ancient Greeks it is said, did not know the 
 salmon, although they had the trout. In Macedonia, 
 fish were caught, probably this species, (the trout,) 
 with a fly, the mosquito, and the horse-fly ; but their 
 rods and lines were very short and imperfect, accord- 
 ing to the measurement given by a recent author. 
 Soyer says, salmon were known to the Komans, also 
 the common trout, the white trouts, and the sea trout, 
 perch, and gudgeon, the latter called by them Gobio. 
 According to all naturalists whose works I have been 
 able to consult, Soyer is in error, as no salmon have 
 ever been found in the Mediterranean. 
 
58 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Greater attention has been given to this subject, as 
 regards salmon, in the river Severn ; a meeting of 
 landed proprietors upon the banks of this last-men- 
 tioned river was held at Tewkesbury, on Wednesday, 
 the 16th of December, 1840, relative to the proposed 
 improvement of its navigation; Earl Beauchamp in the 
 chair. Mr. Strickland stated that he had heard a 
 paper read at a meeting of the British Association at 
 Glasgow, describing a plan of making passages, which 
 were called '* staircases," by which the salmon were 
 enabled to pass up the weirs; and he wished to 
 know if the proposed weirs would obstruct the salmon, 
 and so injure the fisheries, which were of great im- 
 portance. Mr. Cubitt replied, that he believed the 
 intended weirs would not obstruct the salmon ; *' that 
 the staircases were a very neat contrivance,'* and 
 they would be furnished, if necessary. 
 
 Whatever may have been the manner of construct- 
 ing the weirs in the Severn, the fisheries have not, 
 as far as I can learn, been injured. 
 
 Since writing this, I observed in ** BelPs Life," of 
 Sept. 3, 1854, the following, copied from the "Wor- 
 cester Chronicle.*' 
 
 ** Seveen Salmon. — The take of Severn salmon 
 has never been so great as during the present season. 
 In three days in May, 200 prime fish, weighing 
 lOSOlbs., were brought by the fishermen to one of 
 
FISHES AifD FISHING. 59 
 
 the principal fishmongers in Gloucester, and 250 in 
 another three days. During the month of July the 
 same tradesman's receipts of fish averaged a ton a 
 week. This is entirely owing to the steps adopted 
 by the Fisheries Association for the preservation of 
 the river in fence time, and the removal of fixed traps 
 in the lower part of the river in the close months. 
 Close time commenced on Friday, and we hope that 
 the fishermen will see that it is their interest strictly 
 to observe it." 
 
 Seeing these advantages of the ^Severn salmon 
 fishery, the credit of which I believe is very much to 
 be attributed to Mr. Boccius, and with the evidence 
 that the Thames salmon fishery was formerly as good, 
 it appears worthy of a trial to alter the weirs, and 
 restock^ the river with young salmon, 
 
 I have had the pleasure and advantage of a con- 
 versation with Mr. Boccius, and he assures me if the 
 weirs were altered, so as to allow the salmon to pass 
 up and down the Thames freely, that he will under- 
 take to restock that river with salmon. It will show 
 great neglect in those who have the real conservancy 
 of that river, or have the interests and comforts of the 
 community at heart, if the attempt to carry out this 
 desirable proposal be not adopted, to which he says 
 he can show that the state of the river from Ted- 
 dington downwards, and the traffic of the pool, 
 
60 
 
 FISHES AlfD FISHING. 
 
 will not be so great obstacles as is generally sup- 
 posed. 
 
 In Scotland salmon fishing begins on the fiirst of 
 February, and ends the thirteenth of September. 
 
 The salmon fishery of the river Thames is a subject 
 of sufficient and proper importance to engage the at- 
 tention of the Thames Angling Preservation Society, 
 or the Court of Conservancy of the city of London, or 
 even of the Houses of Parliament, to ascertain how 
 far it may be possible to renew the breed of salmon in 
 that river, and to have such alterations made in the 
 weirs as would allow that fish to pass to and from the 
 sea. Surely the engineers of the city of London 
 could accomplish the object by the *' neat contrivance 
 of stair cases J ^ as Mr. Cubitt designated them, or some 
 other method, to allow salmon free ingress and egress 
 to and from the fresh water. In order to restock the 
 Thames with salmon, obtain a male and female fish 
 at the proper season, and artificially breed young 
 salmon as is practised now so extensively and success- 
 fully ; let them be protected and fed for some time, 
 and let that protection be continued until the young 
 fish are able to provide for their own wants ; at the 
 same time let active measures be taken to destroy as 
 much as possible the large pike and perch in the 
 neighbourhood where the young brood are set at 
 liberty ; they will remain in the fresh water until 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 6l 
 
 strong enough to go to the sea ; and as it is an un- 
 doubted fact that salmon bred in a river will return 
 to the same stream, or some of its tributaries, in 
 spite of very great obstacles, there is a probability that 
 this species of fish may become once more a visitor to* 
 the Thames, though I fear the traffic on the river, 
 and its filthy state, are against it ; but Mr. Boccius 
 says that would not be an unsurmountable difficulty, 
 as the fish travel at night. The same plan might also 
 be tried with a greater chance of success in the river 
 Lea, provided free passage be afi'orded to them, as to 
 reach this river the fish would not have to traverse 
 the Pool : heavy penalties should be inflicted on any 
 person fishing for them with nets, within three to 
 five years. The Thames and Lea might also be well 
 stocked with trout in like manner, fishermen being 
 prevented from netting for them. 
 
 That the river Lea had its share of salmon, is an 
 undoubted fact ; the gentleman who set me up with 
 tackle for bottom fishing, before-mentioned, caught 
 one with a worm, at the White House fishery, about 
 eighty years ago, which weighed ten pounds. A 
 person angling in the Pool, at Eromley, for dace, 
 with a gut line, and No. 9 hook, caught hold of a 
 large fish, which bade fair to break his tackle ; he, 
 having no winch, allowed his rod to go into the 
 water. Mr. Baker, then at the mill, lent him a 
 
62 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 boat, in which, taking hold of his rod, he followed the 
 fish round the pool, and after a considerable time, 
 tired and killed a fine salmon of twelve pounds 
 weight. 
 
 In 1805, whilst angling at the Horse and Groom 
 fishery, Lea Bridge, I saw lying under the bank a 
 large fish. I put a worm opposite to his mouth, and 
 when he opened it, the worm went in, and I hooked 
 him. He did not leave me long in doubt as to what 
 he was. I had a solid trolling rod, forty yards of 
 platted silk line, and a stout gut bottom. My line was 
 soon nearly all run out. He was so strong that 
 it was hazardous to check him, and he soon shewed 
 me the bright side of a splendid salmon, by leaping 
 entirely out of water several times on the opposite 
 side of the river. I humoured his impetuous motions 
 as much as I could, by dropping the point of my rod, 
 which slackened the line sufficiently ; by degrees I 
 persuaded him to come a little nearer to me, and by 
 playing him into shallow water, where, as a French 
 gentleman said when he had hooked a large trout in 
 the LuUingstone waters, " Vat a dust he did kick 
 up." Finding him at length, as I thought, pretty 
 quiet, I stepped one foot into the water to get hold of 
 him, for I had neither landing net or hook, or any 
 one within hail; but the moment he saw me, he 
 darted ofi* again, and if I had not had my rod upright 
 
PISHES AND PISHING. 63 
 
 to let the spring of it bear upon him, at the same 
 time giving him a little line, so as to defeat his sud- 
 den effort, I should have lost my prize. I played him 
 round again to the same spot, when he began to swim 
 unsteadily, and occasionally turned on his side. I fixed 
 the spear of my rod in the ground, with my left hand on 
 the rod and the line, in case he should make another 
 rush, and with my right hand in the water, watched 
 for the opening of his gills, inserted my finger, and 
 leaving my rod standing, ran with my prize up into the 
 meadow, where I killed him. He was the most game 
 fish I had ever handled, and when I arrived at home, 
 I found he weighed nine pounds and a quarter. 
 
 Mr. Shaw, of Dumfrieshire, in a communication to 
 the "Edinburgh Journal," in January, 1836, gave 
 some valuable information. He stated that by the 
 artificial method, the ova of salmon were vivified in 
 ninety -four days ; and in the natural way, the vivifi- 
 cation took place in ninety days. 
 
 In August, 1853, a large meeting took place in the 
 County Buildings, Perth, of the Salmon Eishing Pro- 
 prietors of the river Tay, and their representative, 
 Mr. Thomas Ashworth, of Poynton, Cheshire, stated 
 that it was easy to breed salmon artificially in rivers. 
 He said that it was an established fact, that salmon 
 and other fish may be propagated by millions at a 
 small cost ; and being protected against their natural 
 
64 , FISHBS AND FISHING, 
 
 enemies by being in ponds for the first year of their 
 existence, were more capable afterwards* of taking 
 care of themselves, and that he and his brother had at 
 that time 20,000 young salmon, from two to three 
 inches long, alive and thriving, artificially produced 
 in ponds, which were daily and suitably fed with 
 chopped meat. Mr. H. Ramsbottom, fishing-tackle 
 maker, of Clitheroe, said, he had been very successful 
 when engaged for himself, and his brother, who are 
 proprietors of the Galway Salmon Fishery. Some of 
 these little salmon were in the Dublin Exhibition for 
 several weeks, and shewed their natural instinct to 
 run up a stream by ascending a miniature weir with a 
 proportionate salmon ladder in it, as before mentioned. 
 The expense of breeding salmon he estimated at 
 about one farthing each fish. 
 
 In the "Morning Post," 15th of August, 1854, it is 
 stated that on a visit to the Storemont Fields pond, 
 near Outerard, the young fish growing rapidly, con- 
 sumed a liver a day for food. Breeding boxes were 
 being dried and cleansed, to destroy the eggs of any 
 insects. Breeding season to commence in November 
 and December. 
 
 To Mr. Boccius I am indebted for the following : 
 — ♦' The Chinese were the first people who introduced 
 artificial breeding of fish, by capturing brood fish just 
 emerged from the egg, protecting them, and feeding 
 
FISHES AJ^^D FISHING. 65 
 
 them, until in a fit condition for food. Herr Jacobi, 
 a retired military officer, of Osnaburgh, about 1756 or 
 1758,1 believe, was the first who attempted to take the 
 spawn and milt from the live parent-fish, for the pur- 
 pose of impregnation and production ; and after some 
 years of experience and attention, and proving his 
 arrangements, introduced the subject to Count Gold- 
 stein, a talented naturalist, who published the ac- 
 count of Jacobi' s experiments; but the subject died 
 away." 
 
 Sir Humphrey Davey mentions that Jacobi bred 
 trout artificially. — See *' Salmonia," 3rd ed. p. 80. 
 
 Mr. Boccius says, that Sir Humphrey Davy, Sir 
 Prancis Chantry, Mr. Pepys, the improver of British 
 steel, and some others, attempted this process at Mr. 
 Hamlet's, on the Colne, near Uxbridge, but failed, 
 not producing more than five per cent, of brood. 
 
 Mr. Blakey appears rather to depreciate this most 
 useful art, as being merely a revival of a branch of 
 science known to, and practised by, the Romans two 
 thousand years ago, and that it is largely treated of by 
 Columella and other ancient writers. This is not 
 the fact ; the Romans caught very young, probably 
 brood fish, or like, as mentioned by Mr. Ashworth, 
 the method practised by the Chinese, placed them in 
 ponds, where they were fed most plentifully, and were 
 taken out when in a state of perfection, to grace the 
 
 F 
 
66 • FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 patrician tables, or were preserved in ponds to be 
 angled for by Eoman nobles, and even emperors. — 
 See Oppian's '* Halieuticks," Book i. v. 75 to 95. 
 Columella was a pbilosopber of Cadiz, and was the 
 author of a treatise on Agriculture ; he flourished 
 about A.D. 43. 
 
 I do not pretend to decide to whom we owe the 
 revival or the invention of the method of breeding fish 
 artificially in our country ; but I think Mr. Boccius 
 has certainly brought it to great perfection in the 
 south, as many gentlemen have in the north, and on 
 the continent, and they have very much simplified 
 the process : his work on the subject, published by 
 Yan Yoorst, of Paternoster Eow, Mr. Ash worth's, and 
 those of several other men of science, are very expla- 
 natory, and to which I must refer. 
 
 Samuel Gurney, Esq., Jun., a few years ago, gave me 
 the egg of a trout, which had been thus artificially 
 vivified in the river "Wandle, upon the plan of Mr. 
 Boccius. A sort of fine fin was attached to the egg, 
 which was of a light reddish stone-colour, so far 
 transparent, that the circulation of the blood in a pul- 
 satory manner could be seen by a magnifying glass of 
 very moderate power. The phial in which it was, 
 being placed in a horizontal position, it moved from 
 end to end with great velocity, but for want of a proper 
 current of aerated water, it only lived a few days. 
 
riSHES AND FISHING. 67 
 
 Mr. Ashworth says, that the Chinese, from the most 
 distant ages, have collected and disposed of "fish seed,'* 
 -^fecundated ova, I presume, to those who wanted to 
 stock, or restock their rivers or ponds, and that the 
 Eomans merely did the same ; but it is, I think, easy 
 to prove, that this was the extent of the knowledge of 
 either the Chinese or Eomans on this subject. 
 
 A beautiful plate of the progress of the egg of the 
 salmon to maturity, is to be found in the Second Re- 
 port on the Salmon Fisheries of the United Kingdom, 
 plate 10 ; ordered by the House of Commons to be 
 printed, 3rd June, 1825. Also a very explanatory one 
 in Messrs. Ashworth's little work before mentioned. 
 
 The immense quantity of sticklebacks in the 
 "Wandle must prove very destructive to the spawn 
 and young fry of trout ; also the eels, which will take 
 trout as large as gudgeons; therefore, unless the 
 young trout are protected and fed till old enough to 
 take care oY themselves, they will be destroyed in 
 great numbers, as soon as they are turned into the 
 river* These pugnacious little fish, the stickleback 
 will attack fish twice their own size. 
 
 Stickleback, prickleback, or sharpling are taken in 
 stagnant waters, and inlets of rivers, with a very 
 small piece of red worm, with the prickles cut off ; 
 they are a very good bait for perch. (Taylor.) It 
 preys on the spawn of fish, therefore is very inju- 
 
 f2 
 
68 FISHES AND FISHING, 
 
 rious in fish ponds. (Bowlker.)-;Tliey7will attack 
 roach, dace, &c., twice their own size, and are most 
 destructive of the spawn of fish. In the fens they 
 are so numerous, that about once in eight years they 
 are caught in cart-loads in the river Welland, and 
 are used as manure ; they fertilize the land extremely. 
 They are also good food for poultry, who are very fond 
 of them, as well as of sprats, and their effect is to 
 increase both their fecundity and size. (Salter.) 
 
 ** A man has been known to make four shillings 
 per day by catching them and selling them at 
 one half-penny a bushel for manure — 96 bushels \ 
 They are so strong as to spring eighteen inches out 
 of the water. The males are extremely quarrelsome^ 
 and will fight with each other most furiously ; biting 
 each other with their mouths, which are well fur- 
 nished with teeth, and endeavour to pierce each other 
 with their lateral spines ; the conqueror pursues the 
 conquered most vindictively, and the forAier changes 
 his appearance, the lower jaw and belly becoming a 
 deep crimson, and the back a fine green or cream 
 colour, shewing animation and spirit, the latter losing 
 both colour and spirit. Each choosing a different 
 locality, a battle is the result of 'ja.nj infringement 
 of another's territories."* 
 
 * I copied the above paragraph many years ago from a work 
 *♦ Tales about Animals, Fish, &c. ;" and the statement about the 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 69 
 
 Le Societe d'Emulation of Yosges, France, have, 
 Bince 1 844, awarded medals to two fishermen of La- 
 brasse, named G^tin and Eeni, for having artificially 
 hatched the eggs of trout ; they have five to six mil- 
 lions of these fish, from one to three years old, in waters 
 belonging to themselves ; and they say that a trout 
 of two years old weighs about four ounces and a half, 
 and at three years, about nine ounces. Mr. Relph, 
 who has been engaged in the salmon fishery above 
 fifty years, states salmon grow under favourable cir- 
 cumstances about an ounce per week. — ** Edinburgh 
 Journal of ITatural History," Dec. 1839, p. 40. 
 
 These two persons in France, have extended their 
 methods of hatching the eggs of trout, to those of 
 salmon, carp, pike, tench, and perch, whereby they 
 have not only restocked many rivers, but lakes, and 
 rivers in which, before, there were no fish, are now 
 teeming with them. 
 
 The French Government have properly, and highly 
 to their honour, set the example to other governments, 
 by taking up this interesting subject, as a matter of 
 great national importance, inasmuch as it will be a 
 means of supplying the public through the medium of 
 
 "fights of the stickleback," in " Humphrey's River Garden," 
 js nearly a copy verbatim of that former publication — a little 
 
 more dressed out in point of language. Humphrey does not 
 
 acknowledge whence he copied this. 
 
70 PISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the railways, with a large quantity of nutritious food. 
 The Minister of Marine and Colonies has ordered ex- 
 periments to be made, as to salt water, and some 
 kinds of shell fish ; and Commissioners have been ap- 
 pointed to 'examine the mouths of rivers, and the 
 coasts from Havre to La Teste, Cherbourg, Gran- 
 ville, and in the environs of Trouville, 
 
 It is a very serious subject for consideration, or 
 ought to be, with the government of this country, to 
 promote as much as possible the breeding of fish, as a 
 means of providing, in some measure, for the immense 
 increasing population ; the law should be put in force 
 against every person taking fish with spawn, or milt in 
 them, or of an illegal size ; for every individual who 
 captures them contrary to these regulations, is 
 thoughtlessly an enemy to the community, by de- 
 priving it of what would contribute to the support 
 and nutriment of many of his fellow-creatures. 
 
 The skegger, or scegger is the most beautiful of 
 English fishes, and formerly abounded in the Thames. 
 They had the shape and fins of the salmon ; the back 
 was a dull, dark, blue green, gradually going off to a 
 bright silver, ias it went down to the belly ; it was 
 marked with black and carmine- coloured spots, and 
 a row of shaded blue marks, descending irom the 
 back to the belly, at intervals from the head to the 
 tail, dark blue at the back, and by degrees less intense, 
 as it descended to silver, 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 71 
 
 * Hofland considered these a distinct species of fish, 
 and gave them the name of salmon pink, brandling 
 or parr. Mr. Graham, of Eedgorton, entertains the 
 opinion that the parr was not of the salmon species. 
 As an instance, he adduces the river Almond 
 as having no salmon, but great plenty of parr* 
 Another author calls them samlets, and in the Mer- 
 sey, in Cheshire, Dr. Brookes says, the scegger is 
 called a salmon- smelt, and that two of them whilst 
 small, were put by a tradesman of Stockport into his 
 fish-pond, and taken out in three years, when they 
 were found to weigh five pounds each.* He also 
 states, that they leave the Mersey in May or June, 
 but does not say where they go to. 
 
 These fish have been extinct in the Thames ever 
 since salmon ceased to frequent it ; and I, therefore, 
 think they were the young of that species of fish, 
 abiding in the fresh water till strong enough to bear 
 the sea water ; for it is a well-authenticated fact, that 
 young salmon will die if immersed in salt water until 
 they have acquired sufficient strength, and then they 
 go naturally to it with advantage to themselves. 
 
 About 1790, sceggers were caught very freely, and 
 in great numbers, in the shallows at I^aleham, near 
 
 * I must take leave to doubt this statement, being satisfied that 
 sceggers are the young salmon, and would not live unless they 
 had access to the sea^ 
 
72 
 
 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Chertsey ; a light fly-rod and line, a small artificial 
 black, or dun gnat, with a gentle on the point of the 
 hook, ensured good sport ; they did not exceed six 
 inches in length, and would take a small red worm. 
 The last I have seen, and that was considered a great 
 curiosity, was one I took with the last-mentioned 
 bait, when angling from a punt for gudgeons, in 
 August, 1 825 ; and about that time salmon ceased to 
 be known in the Thames. 
 
 In the *' Times" of 15th July, 1854, it is stated, 
 from the " Glasgow Mail,*' that this month a visit 
 was made to the ponds, canals, and breeding boxes 
 for salmon, on the river Tay, carrying on under the 
 superintendence of Mr. Robert Buist, and they were 
 found swarming with young salmon ; they are from 
 two to three inches long, will leap at flies, are fed 
 on liver dust, have all the marks of parr, and if found 
 in the river, would be so denominated. 
 
 In the " Supplement to Bell's Life in London," 
 23rd of July, 1854, there is a long article by ** Ephe- 
 mera,'** bearing very much on the subject of parr, 
 whether they are, or are not a distinct species of 
 fish, or the young fry of salmon. I have not the 
 same opportunity of ascertaining this fact as the 
 
 * «' Bell's Life in London," Nov. 22nd, 1857, p. 8, records 
 the death of Edward Fitzgibbon, Esq., known as Ephemera, 
 with an account of his life. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 78 
 
 gentlemen whose names are mentioned by him ; but, 
 as I before observed, there are no salmon now in the 
 Thames, and there are no sceggers or parr; and 
 when, in my recollection, the former were numerous, 
 there were plenty of the latter. 
 
 A very easy method of determining the question 
 will be thus : if these little fish be a distinct species, 
 they must have the organization necessary for the 
 reproduction of their progeny. We know that the 
 Thames is a river congenial to them ; let some of 
 its waters be stocked with two or three pairs of parr, 
 well protected, and mark the result; if they be a 
 separate species, [they will breed their own species : 
 but it is most probable it will be discovered that the 
 parr cannot propagate their own kind. Another 
 circumstance is very strongly conclusive ; the sceggers 
 of the Mersey leave that river in May or June, and 
 so did the sceggers of the Thames, evidencing their 
 migratory propensities, and those who did not do so, 
 were probably some who had not acquired sufficient 
 strength to battle with the ocean. The above state- 
 ment from the *' Glasgow Mail" appears decisive ; for 
 here are young fish absolutely bred from the ova of 
 the salmon, yet having all the character of parr. A 
 very extensive enquiry has been instituted by Dr. 
 Knox on this subject in his excellent little work " Fish 
 and Fishing in the Lone Glens of Scotland," published 
 
Y4 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 1854, by Routledge, p. 80, to which I must refer any 
 person curious on this subject. He admits that, if 
 the course of the salmon be interrupted in any river, 
 the parr disappears, and cites the Clyde : below the 
 falls of Stone Byres there are plenty of parr, but 
 above the falls not one is taken 
 
 I remember, when I was a boy, the Thames fisher- 
 men condemning the practice of persons taking sceg- 
 gers, as tending to depreciate the salmon fishery in 
 that river, as they all were of opinion at^that time 
 that these little fish were the young salmon which 
 were not yet strong enough to bear the salt-water. 
 
 There is little doubt that the crucian carp is a 
 hybrid, probably the spawn of the carp vivified by 
 the milt of the bream, or vice versa ; and the swarms 
 of little fish apparently between the crucian carp and 
 the bream, or some other mixed breed, which fill the 
 Serpentine and many other large pieces of water, 
 serve to prove, that although the hybrids of beasts 
 do not produce any like themselves, yet the hybrids 
 of fish do multiply most rapidly. Now this circum* 
 stance, I consider, might be turned to very good 
 account, both as increasing the quantity of excellent 
 and nourishing food, and affording amusement to the 
 angler. And this opinion is confirmed by one of the 
 most experienced fish breeders we have. 
 
 At the meeting of the Kewcastle-upon-Tyue 
 
FISHES ANP FISHING. 7^ 
 
 Farmers' Club, held on 4tli Harch, 1854, Mr. Orton, 
 of Sunderland, read a paper on the '* Physiology of 
 Breeding." He stated, *' that in the reproduction 
 of the animal species there is no casual blending of 
 the parts and qualities of the two parents, but that 
 each parent contributes to the formation of certain 
 structures, and to the development of certain qualities ; 
 and maintains, that the male parent chiefly deter- 
 mines the outward structures and locomotive powers 
 of the offspring, e. g, the brain, nerves, organs of 
 sense, bones, muscles, limbs, and skin; while the 
 female parent chiefly determines the internal struc- 
 tures and the general size and quality, mainly fur- 
 nishing the vital forgans ; e. g. the heart, lungs, 
 glands, and digestive organs, and giving tone and 
 character to the vital functions of growth, nutrition, 
 and secretion/* 
 
 Yet he considers that the male is not wholly with- 
 out influence on the internal organs, and vital func- 
 tions, or the female wholly without influence on 
 the external organs, and locomotive powers of the 
 offspring. 
 
 This he illustrates by the example of the male ass 
 and the mare, and the horse and the she ass. 
 
 I am not about to follow this scientific gentleman 
 into his very interesting reasoning, but feel con- 
 firmed thereby, and instructed in a theory I had 
 
76 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 written, relative to the mixed breeding of some of 
 our most valuable fish. It is a subject deserving 
 serious consideration and experiment ; for instance, 
 Bay the ova of a trout vivified by the milt of a salmon, 
 we suppose, upon the above hypothesis, should be 
 outwardly formed like a salmon ; but what its migra- 
 tory propensities, or necessity for periodically visiting 
 the salt water might be, it is impossible to form an 
 opinion, without actual experiment ; and so with the 
 ova of a salmon vivified by the milt of a trout, we 
 should expect the outward shape to resemble the 
 trout species, but what disposition would be produced 
 for constantly abiding in fresh water, we have to 
 learn, or whether either of these fish would be trou- 
 bled with those parasitical plagues as the salmon are, 
 would be seen, if the theory proved to be a fact. It 
 certainly would be a most desirable consummation to 
 arrive at, if rivers could be stocked with fish of the 
 salmon species, which had not the necessity to migrate 
 to the sea. If the Thames particularly could be 
 stocked with a fish of this description, without its 
 migratory necessities, as thereby the filthy water 
 of the river, from Battersea downwards, and the 
 immense traffic of steam boats, would be of no 
 importance, as to the fishery of our noble river. I 
 sent a copy of this to Thomas Ashworth, Esq., and 
 in his little work, pp. 18 and 19, are some observations 
 on the subject. 
 
PISHES AND FISHING. 77 
 
 Gentlemen "who have the means at command, could 
 easily ascertain the possibility of this suggestion 
 being carried out, and could watch the ejQfect upon 
 the fish produced; supposing that the same law 
 obtains in respect to fish as to hybrids of the terrence 
 animals, and that hybrid fish have no power of pro- 
 ducing a progeny (a question of easy solution), there 
 would be little difficulty in annually stocking the 
 Thames and other rivers with a valuable hybrid, 
 thereby most materially benefitting the community 
 in many parts of the world, as well as in these 
 kingdoms. 
 
 A curious illustration of the physiology of breed- 
 ing is to be found in the little fish called the ruff, or 
 pope, which is no doubt a hybrid, for it is marked 
 like a gudgeon, but has the form of the perch, is, like 
 the latter, gregarious, a fish of prey, erects his dorsal 
 fin as a defence, and is probably produced from the 
 ova of a gudgeon vivified by the milt of a perch. 
 Kow this at fijst view may appear very extraordi- 
 nary, seeing that the perch are constantly preying 
 upon gudgeons, and cannot be supposed to form any 
 friendly connexion, but it may be easily accounted 
 for ; thus, the latter with ova at maturity, in endea- 
 vouring to escape from the former, might, and most 
 likely do, from the exertion, exude some of the ova, 
 and the former from the same cause probably excrete 
 
78 
 
 FISHES AND FISHING, 
 
 a portion of vivifying milt upon them, and this would 
 so continually occur, as to give a reason for the great 
 numbers of these fish in rivers vrhere perch and 
 gudgeon abound, if even hybrids have no powers of 
 procreation. It is said by Dr* Brookes, who wrote 
 above a hundred years ago, that the ruff spawns in 
 April : much depends upon the state of the weather* 
 This year, 1865, nearly the middle of May, I have a 
 rufi^, or pope, full of ova ; there is, in my opinion, every 
 reason to think this fish is a hybrid, and here is 
 ample proof that it is capable of producing its own 
 species, which, from the quantity of ova in the speci* 
 men now before me, must be very numerous. Birds 
 produce hybrids, and those hybrids produce progeny. 
 At Syfran, on the rivers Krymsa and Syfranka, they 
 breed the Astrachan swan goose j the bird intermixes 
 with the common goose, and its progeny will couple 
 with each other. The pure bastards partake of the 
 nature of the swan-goose, and the common goose as 
 to size, shape, and colour ; and mixing further with 
 common geese, the young are of a blackish hue, their 
 bills are red and bent, and have sometimes a little 
 protuberance at the upper end.— Vide *' Travels into 
 Siberia and Tartary,*' by Dr. Pallas. 
 
 There can be little, if any, doubt, that hybrids 
 amongst fish are very common, and that these hybrids 
 breed. In the Serpentine and other large pieces of 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 79 
 
 water there are bream and pure roach, and within 
 these few years there have appeared thousands of fish 
 which partake of the characters of each of those pure 
 species, and it is the same with other large waters 
 with which I am acquainted. I have been informed, 
 lately, that a person was seen to turn loose two or 
 three small jack into the Serpentine, so probably some 
 years hence another monster pike may be taken there, 
 as plenty of gudgeons and myriads of these hybrids 
 will serve him for food. 
 
 ISTow as the above, upon the authority of Dr. 
 Pallas, proves that hybrid birds, which have sexual 
 contact do breed amongst themselves, or with other 
 species of fowls, there can be no doubt that fishes, 
 which can be bred without sexual contact of the pa- 
 rents (as in artificial breeding), may and do produce 
 hybrids, and that those hybrids produce progeny like 
 themselves. Plants and flowers are, many of them, 
 a mixture of two distinct species ; amongst many 
 curious specimens are to be found the plant whose 
 flower or seed is a perfect resemblance of a small snail, 
 and another producing a crop of caterpillars. Do we 
 not cross the breed of dogs ? and those cross breeds 
 have progeny ? To revert again to aqueous animals, 
 look at Willoughby's folio Latin work on fishes ;' the 
 varieties in the numerous plates, prove there are an 
 immense number of hybrid fishes, and the recent 
 work on apodal fish demonstrates the same fact. 
 
80 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Persons who have not thought upon the subject, or 
 whose education has not comprised any knowledge of 
 comparative anatomy, express sometimes doubts 
 whether fishes have the sense of hearing. Without 
 entering into a prolix account of the anatomy of the 
 organ of hearing in fish, I shall proceed to give such 
 concise observations on this interesting portion of the 
 animal economy, which has occupied the attention of 
 the most celebrated anatomists of the continent, and 
 some in our own country. I have not had many 
 opportunities of examining the organs of hearing, in 
 any great variety of this class of created beings, 
 neither can I in this little work enter into the exten- 
 sive field of comparative anatomy. I must, therefore, 
 refer those persons desirous of further investigation to 
 the works mentioned by Brechet, or, if they have 
 time and ingenuity sufficient, to investigate the subject 
 themselves. 
 
 The work just alluded to is, " Anatomical and 
 Physiological Researches, as to the Organ of Hearing 
 in Fish," by Gilbert Breschet, Professor of the 
 Faculty of Medicine of Paris, Member of the French 
 Institute, &c., &c. ; 4to., with 17 Anatomical Plates. 
 Paris : 1838. This work is in the French language : 
 some of the notes are in English. Amongst other 
 works M. Breschet refers to, are those of E. H. 
 Waber; Leipsic, 1820. H. M. Ducrotay de Blain- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 8l ■ 
 
 ville, 1822. Modf, Le Baron G. Cuvier et M. Va- 
 lenciennes, 182i3. Professors Otto and Heusinger, 
 1826. Dissertations on the Organ of ^Hearing in 
 Man, Beptiles, and Fish ; GeofFroi. Amsterdam, 
 1778. The Structure and Physiology of Fishes com- 
 pared with those of Man, &c. ; Monro. Edinburgh, 
 1785. Observations on Animal Economy; John 
 Hunter. London, 1792. Many of these, with Mons. 
 Breschet's well- written work, I have. 
 
 Breschet, in quoting from Monro, p. 48; would lead 
 us to think that Monro'^asserted all large fish had an 
 external auditory passage, whereas that celebrated 
 anatomist was only there alluding to the skate, which 
 genera have two small holes, or external auditory 
 passages, terminating in a comparatively large sac, 
 containing a white, opaque, and viscid matter, which 
 must be of an alkaline character, for it effervesces 
 violently if an acid be introduced to it. The whale 
 species have also two external auditory passages, but 
 they are only like the skate in point of size exter- 
 nally, namely, sufficient to admit the head of a small 
 pin. In the whale genus, the bottom of this passage 
 s closed by a membrana tympani, membrane of the 
 drum, vulgo drum of the ear, to the interior of which 
 membrane are attached a chain of small bones, and 
 other organized parts as in terrestrial animals. 
 
 A work on ''Diseases of the JEar,'' consisting of 
 
82 FI8HK8 AND FISHING. 
 
 above 644 pages, filled with anonymous cases, has 
 been recently published by John Nottingham, of 
 Liverpool, Licentiate of the Eoyal College of Phy- 
 sicians ! ! and Fellow of the Royal College of 
 Surgeons, England ! ! as appears by the Medical 
 Directory, though not added to his name in the above 
 publication. 
 
 In his preliminary remarks is the following : — " In 
 the human being, as well as in the higher vertebrata, 
 the organ of hearing has three important parts. 
 1. An external ear and tube, to receive and transmit 
 sound. 2. A middle ear, or drum, (communicating 
 with the throat) to modify sound, and carry it on- 
 wards to, 3, the internal, or true ear, or labyrinth' 
 which receives the expansion of the auditory nerve, 
 through the medium of which it is connected with 
 the brain. This part of the organ is essential to 
 hearing ; the other two parts to the perfection of 
 hearing, as enjoyed by the higher animals. 
 
 " Of the parts above mentioned, fishes possess only 
 the first : reptiles and birds, the first and second ; 
 terrestrial mammalia, the first, second, and third." 
 
 If common language is to" be understood, the above 
 assertion is, that fish have only an external ear and 
 tube, to receive and trnsmit sound. JSTow, with the 
 exceptions I have just mentioned, fish possess no ex- 
 ternal ear or tube to transmit sound, but fish do posbess 
 
FISHES AND PISHING. 83 
 
 the other organization of the sense of hea/ring, including 
 nerves. It being known to several, that I had seen 
 the above book, I cannot stultify myself by allowing 
 such ignorance of comparative anatomy as to fish, to 
 go forth to the world, without notice. And from 
 what I know of the subject as to birds, the same ani- 
 madversion would be properly applied. 
 
 Monro says, it was disputed during two thousand 
 years, and until the time of Goffroi, or Geoffirey, in 
 1 753, whether fish had any sense of hearing. In this 
 assertion Monro was labouring under very great error ; 
 for when Oppian wrote, about 1559 years before 
 Geoffrey, it is evident, by reference to his Halieuticks, 
 the sense of hearing in fish was not then a matter of 
 question or doubt, but a fact established so completely, as 
 to require no confirmatory observation. 
 
 Some fish have a passage outwardly analogous to the 
 auditory passage of terrestrial animals. Of these are 
 the whale, the porpus, and skate, the anatomy of which 
 ai-e delineated by Monro, who says that the whale 
 genus can close the small outward orifice when they 
 descend under water. Heusinger states that he has 
 discovered openings at the summit of the skull, closed 
 by membranes. G. Cuvier has indicated their situa- 
 tion at the base of the skull, and that they are closed 
 by membraneous leaves. 
 
 The internal auditory apparatus in fish, resembles 
 
 G 2 
 
84 FISHES AND FISHIKG. 
 
 in many respects that of animals which inhabit the 
 gurface of the earth ; but the organic formation of the 
 different species of fish varies materially. Their nerves 
 are easily traced, and in some, the division of the audi- 
 tory nerves follow a similar arrangement as in man, 
 and probably with the same wise purpose ; the one 
 division being that of motion chiefly, the other that 
 of sensation. Take, for instance, the carp ; the bones, 
 or ossicula representing, or in place of those of the ear 
 of man, are lodged in a cavity divided into two parts 
 by a partition, where they float in a semi-gelatinous 
 clear fluid ; and in each of these cavities is found 
 two ramifications of the auditory nerves, which are 
 expanded over the respective bones, two in number, on 
 each side. There are also three semi-circular canals 
 on each side ; these are filled with a semi-gelatinous 
 fluid, and in them very minute fibres of the sensitive 
 portion of the auditory nerve float, as in the human 
 ear ; and the base, or sensorium of those nerves, is 
 in the brain. Other fish have similar formation of 
 the organ of hearing, more or less perfect, appor- 
 tioned, no doubt, by the All- wise Creator, to their 
 habits, modes of life, and nature of their food. The 
 bones belonging to the organ of hearing in fish, like 
 the bones of their bodies, are more solid, and larger in 
 those inhabiting the sea, than those living in fresh 
 water ; and the ossicula, of which I have a little col 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 85 
 
 lection, vary extremely in their shape, and the dispo- 
 sition of their grooved surfaces, in which they receive 
 the auditory nerves. But in none of these ossicula 
 can be found a trace of phosphate of lime, or of car- 
 bonate of magnesia, they being composed of animal 
 matter somewhat about one-fourth, and carbonate of 
 lime three-fourths. The gelatinous fluids mentioned, 
 are, no doubt, renewed from the mucous^^membranes 
 lining the several cavities, as in man. 
 
 It will now be necessary to give a short account of 
 the organ of hearing in man, whereby the comparative 
 anatomical structure and physiological functions can be 
 properly estimated. In the human race, the undula- 
 tions of air occasioned through it being set in motion by 
 substances being struck against each other, — ringing of 
 bells, explosion of fire-arms, music, the human vdice, 
 or other disturbances of the air, causing it to be set in 
 motion, these undulatory waves enter the auditory 
 passage, and occasion the membrana tympani (vulgo, 
 the drum of the ear) to vibrate ; the ossicula, or chain of 
 bones within this membrane, one of which is attached 
 to the middle of this membrana tympani, on its 
 inside, are consequently set in motion, and that 
 motion is communicated to the delicate fibres of the 
 Boft or sensitive portion of the auditory nerve, which 
 floats in a fluid, which motion is continued and con- 
 veyed to the base or seat of the auditory nerves in the 
 
86 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 brain, with a velocity that annihilates time. In man, 
 the soft portion of the auditory nerve floats, as I before 
 said, in a liquid, and its fibres are diffused in the seve- 
 ral parts of the labyrinth, consisting of the cochlea, 
 vestibule, and semi- circular canals. In mankind it 
 is necessary, nay, indispensable that the very nume- 
 rous small glands which line the auditory passage 
 half-way down, should exude the usual healthy ex- 
 cretions, the fluid portion of which vapourises, and 
 the heavy vapour or gas thus formed, descends down- 
 wards by its own gravity, lubricates the lower part of 
 the auditory passage, and the membrana tympani, 
 keeping them in a proper state of elasticity to receive, 
 and transmit the slightest vibration of air occasioned 
 even by the sound of the voice. "When the auditory 
 passage becomes dry, either from congestion of the 
 cerumenous glands, through exposure of the body, or 
 head, tosuddenchangesof temperature, improper modes 
 of living, or vicious habits, diminution of the sense of 
 hearing, in a greater or less degree, comes on, and too 
 many general practitioners of good ability in other 
 cases, as well as most of the regular professors of 
 aural surgery, have blundered on for ages, torturing 
 and ruining the health of the poor creatures who are 
 so unfortunate as to consult ^them, with blisters, 
 setons, issues, caustic, acoustic drops, mercurials in 
 ointments, or as internal medicine, and all sorts of 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 87 
 
 devilries, not only perfectly useless, but highly inju- 
 rious, and too often fatal. 
 
 Two new aspirants for fame, as aural surgeons, have 
 appeared ; and to attain that object, have made up 
 large books on the ear. I have looked them over, 
 and find nothing new to afford the slightest satis- 
 faction for the trouble. But I do find useful matters, 
 of which I was the inventor, and I published more 
 than forty , years ago, now appropriated without 
 stating from whence the parties borrowed the idea. 
 The first of these book-manufacturers assumes a dic- 
 tatorial, self-sufficient, tone in his compilation ; the 
 other is all silky, prolix plausibility, endeavouring 
 to prove that although the whole mechanism of an 
 ear may be destroyed, and even speech be lost, the 
 dropping into the ears of a solution of sulphate of 
 copper, and rubbing nitrate of silver (lunar caustic) 
 on the protuberant bone behind the ears, restored 
 hearing and speech ? Credulous indeed must any 
 person be to believe such a statement ! The same 
 author, in a case wherein the membrane, vulgarly 
 called the drum, was destroyed, advised a very small 
 wire shirt button to be introduced, with a pin through 
 it to serve as a stalk or handle ! Surely the author 
 cannot be serious, but has written this to ridicule 
 Mr. Toynbee's artificial membrana tympani. The 
 methods of treatment of both these authors are such 
 as I have stigmatized. 
 
88 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Having thus concisely, and I trust clearly, ex- 
 plained the anatomy and physiology of the sense of 
 hearing in man, and an epitome of that of fishes, 
 it will be obvious that as vibration of the mem- 
 brana tympani in the former, carried on by the 
 ossicula to the auditory nerves, and thence to the 
 brain, produces the sense we denominate hearing ; so, 
 if the ossicula in fish are caused to vibrate, a similar 
 communication will be made to the brain of fishes. 
 The question to be now solved is, how that vibration 
 is effected ; and to elucidate this, we must investigate 
 the nature of the two different elements in which 
 terrestrial animals and fish exist. John Hunter, in 
 his " Economy of Animals," says, that before the time 
 of Geoffroi the different mediums in which land and 
 water animals existed were not considered : this is 
 much about as correct as that Geoffroi was the first 
 to assert that fish had the sense of hearing. Why, 
 the commencement of the first book of Oppian shews 
 how erroneous and unfounded these assertions are. 
 
 Air which supports and nourishes terrestrial ani- 
 mals is fatal to fish, (some species sooner than others,) 
 if they remain out of the water during a short time ; 
 and yet, like man, and other animals of that class, 
 they cannot live unless they imbibe oxygen ; only 
 there is this difference, man inhales it from the at- 
 mosphere, whilst fish extract oxygen from the water 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. " 89 
 
 by aid of the gills (the lungs and medium of the cir- 
 culation of the blood in aqueous animals). "When 
 the air is set in motion by the sounds I have men- 
 tioned, or any other sound, the result is, that from the 
 point where the noise or sound is created, a succes- 
 sion of circular waves of air expand on every side in 
 the form of a globe ; if these waves meet with any 
 obstruction to their expansion, and the obstruction be 
 of a concave character, the waves of air are collected 
 into a focus, [and are reflected back, forming what is 
 called an echo ; and if there be several of these concave 
 ebstructing substances, there may be several echoes 
 one after another, louder or fainter, and more or less 
 immediate, according to their several distances. 
 
 A very plain exemplification of this may be shown 
 by throwing a stone, or any substance, into a pool of 
 still water ; circular undulations, or waves, will im- 
 mediately diverge from the spot ; these waves will be 
 higher, but smaller in circumference, immediately 
 around the place where the substance struck the 
 water, and as they recede from the centre they be- 
 come less in height, and larger in circumference, until 
 they are no longer to be seen. Now these undulations 
 extend below the surface, forming a half-sphere ; and 
 like as waves or undulations of air affect the auditory 
 organs of man, and cause vibration which is commu- 
 nicated to the brain, through the auditory nerves, so 
 
90 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the vibration of water, a tangible substance, through 
 the thin structure and want of solidity of the cranium 
 in fishes, agitates their ossicula, and that sensation is 
 communicated to the sensorium, or brain of the fish, 
 through the auditory nerves, and instinct or natural 
 intelligence gives them the power of knowing whe- 
 ther the agitation of the element in which they exist, 
 is indicative of danger, or the approach of food ; any 
 explosion or other cause which produces trembling, 
 or shaking of the banks of a pond or river, occasions 
 agitation of the water, and the fish hear, or rather 
 feel it, for in point of fact what is denominated hear- 
 ing is feeling ; we feel the vibratioil upon the mem- 
 brana tympani, which is conveyed thence through 
 the ossicula and nerves to the brain; but the brain 
 requires education. A young child feels the vibration 
 caused by sound which I speak of, but does not under- 
 stand what it indicates, until by degrees it learns 
 that certain vibrations given to its brain, by the agi- 
 tation of the air occasioned by sounds, mean certain 
 things. I have had great opportunity of forming a 
 judgment on this subject ; for having given to children 
 whose membrane or nerves had never vibrated, in 
 consequence of ani/ sound which could be made, the 
 power of being affected by the slightest noise, I took 
 one into my family who had become an orphan, and 
 educated her ; but the difficulty of inducing her to 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 91 
 
 recollect that certain sounds denoted certain objects, 
 or rather that certain vibrations of what is called the 
 auditory apparatus, represented certain ideas and 
 things, was beyond conception. 
 
 Fish of prey are driven away by disturbance of the 
 water, such as is caused by throwing in ground bait ; 
 but when the roach, dace, &c., are thereby gathered 
 together, after a time a pike or perch will be attracted 
 to the spot by the number of small fish collected 
 round the ground-bait, some of which will become his 
 prey, and the others frightened away by the vora- 
 cious enemy of their species ; the same occurs in 
 gudgeon fishing ; the only remedy for the angler is, 
 either to remove to another place, or, with appropriate 
 bait and tackle, endeavour to catch the intruder. 
 
 The efiect of the vibration of the water on the brain 
 of fishes, is no doubt difierent upon various species ; 
 that vibration which warns some of them of the ap- 
 proach of danger, teaches others instinctively to seek 
 for food the moment ground-bait, worms, or paste is 
 thrown into the water ; this is particularly seen in 
 roach, dace, and chub ; if a quiet place in the Thames 
 be selected, when the water is clear, by throwing in 
 some of the above-mentioned articles, very shortly 
 after there will appear a great number of small fish 
 near the surface, larger ones lower down, and the 
 largest at the bottom. I have observed, that if you 
 
9K FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 put the ground-bait in very gently, so many fish will 
 not be attracted to the spot, as soon as if you throw it 
 in more forcibly, because the agitation of the water 
 being greater, it is felt at a greater distance ; if a 
 handful of gravel be thrown into a clear part of a 
 river, you will see in a few minutes a number of 
 fish sailing about as if looking out for food. Gud- 
 geons are attracted in shoals by raking the bed of the 
 river, and there can be little doubt but the disturb- 
 ance thus given to the water and the gravel, causes 
 them to be attracted to the spot, through the vibra- 
 tion occasioned to their ossicula and nerves, and 
 instinct teaches them to search for worms, insects, 
 &c. If you approach the bank of a river, roughly, 
 the fish will rapidly retreat to a distance ; this is 
 from the tremulous motion given to the earth ^being 
 communicated to the water. 
 
 The following fact will prove the truth of this as- 
 sertion : — One day I was very successful in taking 
 trout at the head of a piece of water, through which 
 a branch of the river Test had been artificially di- 
 rected, and was walking round a plantation to go to the 
 lower part of the same water. In order to nourish 
 these young trees, several channels had been cut, so 
 as to send, occasionally, a portion from the upper part 
 of the stream to their roots, by means of a sluice ; the 
 water ran into the lower part of this species of lake 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 93 
 
 through a cut about a foot wide, which had a depth 
 of water at the lower end of about a foot, and shallow- 
 ing to two inches at the distance of thirty feet from 
 its lower point of exit. As I approached this spot I 
 heard a noise up the cut — I had been using-my land- 
 ing net ; thinking the noise might be caused by a fish 
 which had probably gone up the little channel after 
 minnows, .1 placed my net at the end of the cut, 
 jumped heavily upon the ground, and instantly a 
 splendid trout rushed into my net, weighing three 
 pounds. Now this must have been through the tre- 
 mulous motion I gave to the earth being communi- 
 cated to the water, and thence to the organ of 
 sensation in the fish, and instinct apprised him that 
 he was in danger in his then locality, which he en- 
 deavoured to avoid by flying for safety to the deep 
 water. This circumstance, and his explanation, ap- 
 pears to me quite conclusive, that this fish must 
 possess not only some sense analogous to that of hear- 
 ing, but also a degree of intelligence to seek the 
 outlet into deep water where he must know he 
 would be safe. He would not have quitted the posi- 
 tion he had taken from any o'.her cause than that 
 of hearing, because it was impossible he could see 
 me. 
 
 Mr. John Hunter caused a gun to be fired near 
 some water wherein there were a number of fish 
 
94 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 sporting near the surface ; he had the gun fired behind 
 some trees, so as, he says, to prevent the flash from 
 being seen ; this precaution was not sufficient to pre- 
 vent the light and smoke being diffused throughout 
 the adjacent atmosphere, and the very perfect vision 
 of fish would discover it. Now as it is a well-known 
 fact, that a bird flying a considerable height above 
 the water, will cause fish basking on the surface to 
 descend instantly, so the fish in Hunter's experiment 
 descended through what they saw, and not because 
 they heard. An opinion has been very absurdly ad- 
 vanced, that fish do not hear, because it is asserted they 
 do not appear sensible of the explosion of fire-arms ; 
 this is an opinion based on no better foundation than 
 Hunter's experiment. The organs of sensation in 
 fishes analogous to what we denominate hearing in 
 ourselves, can only be affected by the vibration of the 
 element in which they exist. 
 
 The tales told about fish coming to be fed at the ring- 
 ing of a bell, are mere fabulous inventions ; that fish as 
 well as terrestrial animals will come at regular periods 
 to any particular spot to be fed, is a fact of constant 
 observation and proof ; but that fish will come to that 
 spot on hearing the ringing of a bell, is wholly untrue, 
 because they cannot have their auditory apparatus 
 acted upon except by the agency of the vibration or 
 undulation of the water. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 95 
 
 Music heard by human ears across a considerable 
 expanse of water, sounds beautifully soft and melodi- 
 ous ; the reason is, that the vibrations of air produced 
 by musical sounds not being able to penetrate the 
 water, are reflected back into the air, and uniting 
 with the direct undulatory vibrations, tempers them 
 into a kind of echo in the air, rendering the sounds 
 far more harmonious and sweet than they would have 
 been without this reflection. Fishes are not sensible 
 of music, for this very obvious reason, it does not pe- 
 netrate and agitate the water, therefore can make 
 no impression on the organs of sense in aqueous 
 animals. 
 
 ZooPHiTEs, a most numerous tribe, are living sub- 
 stances, which partake of the nature of both animal 
 and vegetable life, forming the link which unites the 
 vegetable kingdom, to the immense world of animated 
 beings, fully illustrates my position as to the undula- 
 tion of the water as affecting animals that live in it, 
 and proves how extremely susceptible they are of the 
 slightest motions in their native element ; for intro- 
 duce your hand, however gently and cautiously you 
 may into water in which these flower-like sub- 
 stances are found, they instantly close, and shrink 
 into the hollow of the rock, reappearing in all their 
 beauty, very slowly and cautiously, after the water is 
 again quiet. 
 
96 ' PISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Fish have certainly the senses of smell and taste ; 
 the first very perfect.* Honey has a sweet taste, and 
 also a pleasant smell ; and I have mentioned how 
 almost indispensable it is to mix this production in 
 paste for successful carp fishing, also for roach. 
 Strong cheese in paste is very attractive to chub. 
 About the latter end of August or beginning of Sep- 
 tember, if the weather have continued for some pre- 
 vious time fair, the water of the river Thames, from 
 about Teddington upwards, is so clear, that fish of a 
 moderate size can be seen distinctly eight feet or more 
 below the surface. I was lying down, looking from a 
 high piece of planking and piling into a deep hole, 
 called Halliday's, or more properly Alliday's hole, near 
 to Thames Lock, and seeing a good-sized perch, about 
 eight feet down, swimming about as if in search of 
 prey, I dropped my bait to him, a worm, wh^h had 
 been on the hook some time ; he approached, rubbed 
 his nose against it, but would not do anything more. 
 I drew up my line very gentl)^, put on a fresh worm, 
 which smelt strong and exuded a rich yellow liquid ; 
 he approached, touched it with his nose, and swallowed 
 the bait in a moment, and I landed him, weighing 
 
 * The Olfactory Nerves. B. Harwood, Professor of Anatomy 
 at the University of Cambridge, published a httle work in 1796, 
 on Comparative Anatomy, with plates, amongst which are some 
 explanatory of these nerve* in fish. 
 
FISHES AND -FISHING. 97 
 
 above a pound. Kow the question is, whether this 
 was taste, or smell, or the two senses combined. 
 
 Blumenbach says, fish of prey swallow that prey 
 whole. With every respect for that talented anato- 
 mist, I must take leave to state that he is incorrect ; 
 if they take a small fish, such as a minnow, they 
 seize it by the middle of its body, in turning it to 
 take it down head-foremost ; , they in a manner mas- 
 ticate it ; but if the prey be a large gudgeon, or a 
 large roach, or dace, it is much mutilated, and only 
 partially swallowed — that is, the head and shoulders ,' 
 and the pike, perch, or trout's jaws are constantly in 
 motion, triturating, and masticating the head and 
 shoulders of the fish so preyed upon, to a pulp, and 
 following up the same process with the remainder, 
 till it all passes into the stomach. 
 
 In the manner of catching trout by bringing the 
 worm opposite to the mouth of the fish whilst he is 
 lying in a torpid state, as if asleep (as mentioned a 
 little further on), the moment a worm enters the jaws, 
 with the little influx of water, the mouth begins to 
 move, apparently in the act of rapid and self-gratify- 
 ing mastication. This fact, proves that fish have the 
 organ or sense of taste ; and that in search of truth, 
 dependence is better placed on practical knowledge, 
 than on theoretical assumption. 
 
 The most clear river, about the same time of the 
 
 H 
 
98 " FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 year, and as above, is the Oxley Mill, or Abbey river, 
 near Chertsey ; it comes out of the Thames, about Pen- 
 ton Hook, near Staines ; most probably a cut made 
 artificially by the monks of Chertsey Abbey, to give 
 motive power to their mill, a little above Chertsey 
 bridge, where this river discharges itself again into 
 the Thames; a small stream arising at or near Egham 
 joins it. There are few rivers better stocked with 
 pike, perch, roach, dace, and chub, than this ; the 
 soil it runs over, is partly a sandy loam. During 
 the heavy floods'of winter, very deep holes, alter- 
 nating with shallows, have been formed, and from the 
 light colour of the bottom, the fish can be clearly seen 
 in them in great depths during bright days. I have 
 seen a dozen or more of perch swimming together, 
 not one less than two to three pounds ; and I saw 
 one about four pounds, seize a roach near or quite 
 six ounces, which the perch pressed against the bank, 
 endeavouring to turn the former, so as to take him 
 head foremost ; when the perch had accomplished that 
 object, he sailed away into deep water, with part of 
 the tail end of the roach projecting from his mouth ; 
 — a fact which proves what I have just before ob- 
 served as to fish of prey. 
 
 This river is encumbered with wood, but fine chub 
 maybe taken by dibbing with a large blue-bottle, a 
 moth, or, during the season, a cockchafer. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 99 
 
 Having now considered to what extent, according 
 to our finite abilities, the senses of hearing, tasting, 
 and smelling, are conferred on fish, it is proper to 
 notice their sense of sight. There can be no doubt, 
 but they have that sense in great perfection, but 
 some species have it more acutely than others, ac- 
 cording to their habits and necessities. As an in- 
 stance, observe salmon, how they will leap at a fly, 
 or large moth, hovering over the stream, in the 
 evening of a summer's day, and secure it before the 
 insect can touch the water. Trout also, will do the 
 same in a less degree : this evinces the great accu- 
 racy of their sight. An illustration of what was the 
 condition of a trout deprived of that sense, must be 
 introduced by the following little narrative. Many 
 years ago, I, frequently during the trout season, 
 accompanied a friend to the river Wandle. I had 
 access to some of the preserved waters, but he had 
 not, consequently I angled only in the free waters 
 when he was with me. On one occasion, of a beauti- 
 ful prospective day for trout fishing, when we had 
 reached Mitcham Common, the clouds and little 
 breeze disappeared, and the sun shone in complete 
 effulgence, so that it seemed useless to attempt to 
 throw a fly with any expectation of success. On 
 reaching the river we could see plenty of trout lying 
 basking, a little below the surface, and apparently 
 
 h2 
 
100 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 asleep. I directed my fly so repeatedly before one, that 
 at last it awakened him, and he was soon in my bag. 
 I tried the same plan with several others without suc- 
 cess, and determined not to go home without a com- 
 panion for the one I had caught, 'if I could prevent it. 
 I scratched up a worm with the spear of my rod from 
 the bank, shifted my fly for a plain appropriate hook, 
 which I baited, shortened my line, and gently drop- 
 ping my bait into the stream, about a yard before the 
 largest trout, guided it down to his mouth j he did 
 not notice it ; therefore, cautiously withdrawing the 
 worm after it had passed him a yard or two, I tried 
 it a second, and the third time I saw the worm dis- 
 appear, and the trout's jaws began to move, as if he 
 were masticating, when with a little turn of the 
 wrist, I had him securely. I caught two brace more 
 in the same manner, and could have taken as many 
 as I pleased. My companion tried to do the same, 
 but could not succeed. After that, whenever I went 
 to the free waters, I always had a long bamboo rod, 
 and a few worms, so if ihe weather proved unfavour- 
 able for fly angling, I could generally make sure of a 
 brace or two, by this mode. I do not consider this 
 fair fishing exactly, neither did I ever practise it in 
 any but free waters, wherein all arts are considered 
 fair. About the year 1839, whilst lantliug a trout 
 which I had hooked in the river Test, Hampshire, I 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 101 
 
 observed a long, black fisb, lying at the bottom. I 
 shewed it to my friend to whom the water belonged, 
 who had just joined me. He expressed a great wish 
 to have this fish. I requested him to send his gar- 
 dener to me with a worm or two : my friend brought 
 them himself. Meantime, I had changed my tackle. I 
 then baited with a worm, and, by the same method as 
 I have just mentioned as having tried in the "Wandle, 
 in less than five minutes after, I landed the fish, a 
 trout, quite black, and considerably longer than one 
 I had previously caught in those waters, weighing 
 full two pounds and three quarters ; but this poor 
 fish was so thin, that it weighed only one pound and 
 three ounces. On examination, we found he had 
 lost one of his eyes by some violence, and the sight 
 of the other was completely gone, having become 
 opaque, and looked as if there were a cataract in it. 
 This unfortunate fish not being able to see, and feast 
 upon the flies on the surface, whereby he would have 
 become fat, and in good season, — for flies are abso- 
 lutely necessary to the nourishment and perfection 
 of trout, at the proper time of the year — was obliged 
 to grovel at the bottom, and feed on such food there, 
 as his smell and taste directed him to adopt. 
 
 I often thought of this unfortunate trout, and his 
 miserable state of starvation, which would soon have 
 caused his death, but could form no reasonable opinion 
 
1Q2 
 
 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 how he became deprived of sight, until reading the 
 *' Practical Angler," a very useful book, published by 
 Simpkin and Marshall, 1842, I formed a solution of 
 the question. It is there stated, p. 13, that an 
 eel has been seen to dart against a trout, striking it 
 so forcibly near the eye, with his lower jaw, which 
 protrudes beyond the upper, that the trout was stun- 
 ned, turned on its back, and floated insensible down 
 the stream. In the river Test, there are eels of a 
 ver J'- large size, and one of them probably had attacked 
 this trout, and blinded him ; now as the eel could 
 not have eaten a fish of that size whilst alive, but 
 would easily pick his bones after the trout was dead, 
 it appears something like a kind of intellect on the 
 part of the eel, thus apparently providing a future 
 feast for himself, or some of his species. 
 
 It is amusing to sit in a punt, over a sand-bank, 
 on a bright day, in a quiet part of the river Thames, 
 where the water is shallow and clear, and pick out 
 the gudgeons you wish to capture, by putting your 
 bait close to their mouths, and to see how they wiP 
 turn away from a bad or mutilated worm, but rapidly 
 seize, and apparently masticate, a good one : this 
 must be by either sight, smell, or taste. 
 
 Mr, Rennie is of opinion that fish have not the sense 
 of sight in perfection ; but this must be quite erro- 
 neous. Watch a trout stream, observe the fish, lying 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 103 
 
 floating, with their heads pointing up the stream, how 
 they diverge a considerable distance to the right, or 
 left, to examine every little object that floats near 
 them, and ascertain whether it be fit for food ; but 
 only let a fly come jrithin a yard, and see how the 
 fish will dart forward, and seize it ; this must be 
 through the excellence of the trout's vision, for there 
 is nothing in this instance to agitate the water, so as 
 to produce any vibratory effect on the organ of hear- 
 ing, neither can the fish be guided to its prey by the 
 sense of smell, of an object at that distance. 
 
 Again, watch a chub basking in the sun. Let the 
 shadow of a bird, at a considerable distance, only pass 
 over the spot, and the fish descends instantly. If this 
 be not acute sight, what induces that motion in chub? 
 
 Another exemplification of the acute power of 
 vision, will be found in the following. Close to 
 Thames Lock, there was a grove of trees which ex- 
 tended a short way up the bank of the navigation, 
 amongst them were two or three cotton trees. When 
 the pods containing the cotton burst, on coming to 
 perfection, the flocks of cotton descended, probably 
 half of them into the water, where there were a shoal 
 of bleak awaiting their descent ; one among their 
 number took the flock of cotton in his mouth, pulled 
 it under water, extracted the seed which was at- 
 tached to the cotton and let it go, when the cotton 
 
104 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 rapidly rose to the surface, by the buoyancy of the 
 cotton, and the air it contained ; the seed once ex- 
 tracted, no fish touched that flock of cotton again. 
 Every one who has watched the motions of the trout 
 OS above-mentioned, or the bleak with the flocks of 
 cotton, and their discrimination in never taking one 
 that had had the seed extracted, and hundreds of 
 persons have done so, have involuntarily observed, 
 *' what excellent sight Jish must have ;' and similar to 
 this may be observed in the motions of chub, roach, 
 and dace, at the top of the water, and many other 
 fish at the bottom. 
 
 About four years ago I revisited the scenes of my 
 childhood ; alas, how changed ! Vandalism had been 
 at work, not only were these curious trees,* which 
 used, in the season, to render the river and land 
 around them a complete sheet of cotton wool, de- 
 stroyed, but also the house on the estate with its 
 beautiful painted staircase and ceilings, the splendid 
 orange trees and pleasure grounds, once the abode of 
 
 « These cotton trees, as far as I remember, were more lofty 
 than some large larch trees near them, their trunks were from 
 twenty-seven to thirty-three inches in circumference, the leaves 
 were of a lively yellowish green, small heart-shaped, thin and 
 extremely smooth. From the report of Mr. Wm. Franklin, who 
 wrote on Persia, cotton trees are very common all over that 
 country ; also another, a small tree, which yields a kind of 
 siliien down, used for quilting and stuffing pillows. 
 
FISHES AND FISHirrG. ' 105 
 
 royalty, and of the favourite of a king, James the 
 Second, serving him after as a refuge ; and finally, 
 by a marriage with the king's mistress, the seat of 
 the Earls of Portmore — all, all completely annihilated, 
 and not one brick left upon another to mark the site 
 of its former regal splendour. The family and title 
 of Portmore are also extinct. 
 
 The bleak is a small fish very like a large sprat in 
 shape, scales, and colour ; they are very numerous, 
 and afford amusement in a summer evening, by whip- 
 ping for them with a very light fly rod, seven or 
 eight feet long, and a fine taper line about double 
 the length of the rod, two or three small artificial 
 ant-flies or gnats, each hook pointed with a small 
 gentle ; or fish with a very small light self-balanced 
 float, about eight inches from the bait, of one small 
 gentle. The flesh of this fish is sweet, nutritious, 
 and pleasant ; I once caught thirty dozen of them, 
 had them marionated, and they were excellent. 
 
 These little fish breed within them a white worm ; 
 when they are thus afflicted, they cannot sink, but 
 swim about mostly in circles, with their heads even 
 with the surface of the water ; they generally appear, 
 if the weather be hot, in July, and are called by the 
 watermen "mad bleak." I have often met with 
 them in going by water in a wherry from Westmin- 
 ster to Wandsworth, and I believe they are found as 
 
106 
 
 FISHES A15D PISHING. 
 
 high up as Teddington — a blow with the flat of the 
 scull kills them. I have taken this worm out of the 
 fish alive frequently ; some have been seven inches 
 long, others from that length to ten inches, about 
 three-tenths of an inch in width, coming to a blunt 
 point at each end, and one- tenth of an inch, or more, 
 thick in the middle, ribbed across. There is no 
 doubt but these worms must destroy the fish even- 
 tually, but what becomes of the worm afterwards no 
 one can tell. As the fish thus affected are only found 
 where the Thames is turbid, I imagine these worms 
 are generated through the foul state of the water.* 
 
 In the first volume of the Mirror, published in 1 826, 
 article '* Medical Quackery," it is stated that these 
 worms are used by quack worm-doctors, to exhibit in 
 their windows, as having been expelled * from the 
 human body by the efficacy of the empiric's medicine ; 
 and of a verity the worms exhibited by these impos- 
 tors are so marvellously like those which torment the 
 poor bleak, that any person comparing them together 
 would pronounce them to be the same. 
 
 The scales of the bleak formerly furnished the 
 means of making artificial pearls; it is estimated 
 that one pound of scales cost the lives of 4,000 fish, 
 that a pound of scales only produced four ounces of 
 
 * I do not think any naturalist has noticed this disease of the 
 bleak. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 107 
 
 pearly precipitate, and at one factory in France ten 
 thousand pearls were issued per week. Now the 
 Argentine or Tiber pearl fish, very like a smelt, but 
 not having its fragrant smell, supplies the material 
 for making these ornaments from their swimming 
 bladders, which are taken out and plunged into a 
 bottle of spirits of wine; when wanted, they are 
 macerated in a solution of isinglass, till all the pearly 
 particles are detached ; this is put into glass beads 
 of the size required, with a hole at each end, and 
 equally ditt'used, the holes being kept open, they are 
 then filled with hot wax, and, when cold, strung. 
 The largest bleak of which I can find any account 
 was taken at Cheshunt, 16th September, 1832; it was 
 seven and a-half inches long, as is recorded by Mr. 
 Baddeley, of Compton Street, GosweU Street. 
 
 Leuwenhoek satisfied himself that the age of fish 
 could be discovered by the scales ; an annual fresh 
 lamina forms over the first scale, larger in every Wiiy, 
 corresponding with the growth of the fish, therefore 
 by separating these laminae, and the aid of a good 
 microscope, the age of the fish may be ascertained 
 pretty correctly, for fish do not shed their scales ; 
 those of the eel form a very beautiful subject for a 
 microscope having a high power. Monro states that 
 " the surface of the bodies of fishes, especially those 
 that live in the sea, is defended by a quantity of 
 
108 FISHES AND nSHING. 
 
 viscid slime, -which is supplied by ducts placed upon 
 their sides; in some fish this is more abundant than 
 in others ; some have these ducts placed pretty regu- 
 larly over the surface ; the mucus exuding from these 
 ducts is so extremely viscid that it is difficult to squeeze 
 it out." "Now as the scales of fish must have some 
 origin, is it not reasonable to think that tliis mucus, 
 after the more fluid portions have lubricated the sur- 
 facp, the remainder may solidify and form continually 
 the increasing number of laminae ? 
 
 The anatomical formation of the eye in fish is a 
 most extraordinary proof of the exquisite and won- 
 derful adaptation of the parts of the animal to the 
 medium in which it is destined to exist, hence the 
 crj^stalline lens is quite round, which is not the case 
 with terrestrial beings; but from the conformation of 
 the whole apparatus, and the element in which they 
 exist, fishes cannot see objects far distant, though 
 some species, such as fish of pvej, have greater powers 
 of vision than others. As fish do not require any 
 aqueous secretion to keep the surface of the eye moist, 
 they have no lachrymal gland. Fish generally have 
 DO eyelids, some have a compensation for it, in a 
 species of fijced covering at each angle, very evident 
 in salmon and mackerel ; the eel too, to protect his 
 eyes in working his way through mud, has a trans- 
 parent case placed a little way before the eyes, of 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 109 
 
 * 
 
 sufficient strength to protect them from injury, but 
 when they grow large, eels very frequently are blind. 
 
 In Sir Charles EelFs ** Anatomy," 7th edition vol. 
 ii., p. 447, it is stated, "fishes have the (optic) nerve 
 arising from one side of the brain passing to the eye 
 of the other side ; they cross, but they do not unite." 
 
 " The Solitary Hunter," by John Palliser, Esq., 
 gives some account of the mammoth caves of Kentucky 
 Speaking of the subterranean rivers of those caves, 
 *' We caught some fish vrith a landing net in these 
 rivers, and found them, by a wonderful dispensation 
 of nature, without eyes, or any organs adapted to the 
 reception of light." 
 
 This excited my curiosity, and unable to obtain 
 from very talented naturalists and zoologists any in- 
 formation on the subject, one of these gentlemen of 
 the very first class, answered, " he had no recollection 
 of any fishes which have no eyes, or their equivalents ; 
 but I am by no means incredulous as to the fact, seeing 
 that we have so many animals, even mammals, simi- 
 larly situated." As I do not allow myself to be 
 easili/ defe-dted, I have written to the proprietor of 
 these caves in Kentucky, and hope to have a specimen 
 af these curious fish. I mentioned the subject to the 
 same friend who favoured rae with the particulars about 
 the first paper mill, and he having great opportunity 
 of research, has still further favoured me with most 
 
110 nSDES AND FISHING. 
 
 extensive information on the subject, which I shall en- 
 deavour to condense for the information of the world. 
 
 In Silliman's '^ American Journal of Science," vol. 
 xlv., 1 843, is a full and most minute account of the 
 anatomical structure of these fish, but which would 
 be too extensive to insert here. This investigation 
 was made by Dr. Jeffries "Wyman, member of the 
 Boston Society of Natural History. The specimen 
 he dissected was A^-^ inches long, it had a large 
 quantity of teeth, so that it must be a fish of prey ; the 
 nostrils were particularly well defined, therefore the 
 sense of smelling is probably acute, although he does 
 not make any remark as to the olfactory nerves. The 
 inferior optic lobes very small, not larger than a pin's 
 head, no optic nerve was found. This gentleman says, 
 **This fish, inhabiting a dark cavern, is reduced, as re- 
 gards the organs of vision, to a much more imperfect 
 state than the Proteus anguinus inhabiting the subter- 
 ranean caverns of Illyria, or the common mole, in both 
 of which eyes exist, although of a microscopic size," 
 
 In ** Eraser's Magazine," vol. xlii., 1850, some 
 observations are inserted from the pen of an officer of 
 the Eoyal Artillery, who visited these caves of Ken- 
 tucky : he states that these fish are wholly without 
 eyes — not the smallest trace of that organ can be de- 
 tected externally ; the rudiment of an optic nerve is 
 its sole internal representative. They are perfectly 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. Ill 
 
 white or colourless, and when the water is clear are 
 easily detected. He says he had not the good fortune 
 to see any (probably because, as it appears, there 
 was a flood at the time he was there). He also says 
 that an eyeless crawfish, exactly like the common 
 brook crawfish, only perfectly white, is found in 
 these subterraneous waters. 
 
 In *• Silliman's American Journal of Science," vol. 
 xvii., 1854, Dr. Wyman gives, at great length, fur- 
 ther particulars of these fish, to which he has added 
 observations on their organs of hearing, of which I 
 will endeavour to give the substance. He states that 
 Telkampf, in company with J. MuUer, of Berlin, for 
 the first time (as it was asserted), detected rudimen- 
 taryeyes, **New York Journal of Medicine," 1845, vol. 
 V. p. 84. Also that Dr. Dekay (see " Fauna of New 
 York") thought that he had detected eyes, covered 
 by the skin ; but as the substance of what he con • 
 sidered were eyes, had not any of the necessary sepa- 
 rate parts to form that organ, and no nerve was con- 
 nected with it, there could be no reason to think it 
 was the organ of sight. Dr. John C, Dalton, jun., 
 also thought he had detected eyes, but was, it is 
 believed, mistaken. Professor Owen has described 
 the organ as a simple eye speck, ** as in the leech, 
 consisting of a minute tegumentary follicle, coated by 
 dark pigment, which receives the end of a cerebral 
 
112 FISHES AND FISHIlfG. 
 
 nerve," (" Lectures on Comparative Anatomy," vol^ 
 , ii. p. 202 ; see also his figure, p. 175.) Eutthe rea- 
 soning of Dr. Wyman inclines one to the helief that 
 Professor Owen's statement is erroneous. Dekay has 
 placed these fish amougst the Siluridee; but Dr. 
 Wyman, who has had great opportunities of judging 
 from dissections and close examination of its osteology 
 and whole anatomical structure, as compared with 
 specimens of Amhlyopsis spelceus which he also dis- 
 sected, says that it belongs to the latter genus. 
 
 But if Providence has been pleas'ed to withhold 
 from these fishes the sense of sight, it is probably 
 compensated by excellence of the sense of smelling 
 and of hearing ; for as before observed, the olfactory 
 organs are particularly well defined, and the auditory 
 apparatus much larger than in any other fish of the 
 same size, and the otolite of the vestibule (one of the 
 bones described, when describing the organ of hear- 
 ing) is very large in proportion to the size of the fish : 
 and it is asserted that the blind fish are acutely sen- 
 sible of sounds, as well as to undulations produced by 
 other causes in the water. 
 
 As plants which in the light grow up a dark green 
 colour, but if allowed to do the same in a dark place 
 
 * Because the voice, or any noise made in a cave, produces 
 vibration of the substance of wliich the cavity is formed, and 
 that vibration is communicated to the water. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 113 
 
 are white, may not the fact of these being white be 
 accounted for upon the same principle ? 
 
 A gentleman, a patient of mine, who had travelled 
 very much, informed me there was a mountain about 
 forty miles from Vienna, named the Semmering, frt)m 
 which a considerable way up there issues a stream of 
 w^ter, and the inhabitants often catch fish of the 
 trout species, by letting the water run through a net ; 
 I should be gratified by an opportunity of examiniDg 
 one of these fish. 
 
 On bringing a trout to land which you have hooked 
 with a fly in the Test, suddenly he will be surrounded 
 by six to eight, or a dozen of the same species, who 
 rush against him. At first I was inclined to think 
 this was a type of the conduct of too many of the 
 human race, who, when a man is unfortunate, or 
 going down in the world, assist in crushing him ; but 
 after a little reflection, I am inclined to believe that 
 it was still typical of mankind, for other trout seeing 
 the fly protruding from the mouth of the one hooked, 
 endeavour to wrest his prize from him ; and so covet- 
 ous men, seeing their neighbour prosper by a specu- 
 lation, will use every endeavour to deprive him of the 
 advantage, his talents or industry have procured for 
 him. This may be, however, practically illustrated 
 in a poultry-yard, where a fowl or duck, having ob- 
 tained a large piece of food, more than he can at once 
 
 I 
 
11'4 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 swallow, will be pursued by his companions eager to 
 share the spoil, and tear it from his beak."^ The 
 voracity of the pike is well known. When a youth, 
 I was angling with a live bait, a gudgeon ; I hooked 
 a small jack, about three quarters of a pound ; he was 
 hooked by rather a large hook, by the upper lip, and 
 as I was drawing him to land, a pike of about seven 
 pounds dashed at him, and was hooked by the hook 
 and gudgeon which protruded from the lip of the 
 small one, so by a quick use of a landing-net I had 
 two fish. In this case I think the large fish was at- 
 tracted by the gudgeon hanging from the mouth of 
 the small one ; this confirms my opinion that the trout 
 are attracted in like manner by the fly hanging from 
 the hooked trout. 
 
 In the '' Heading Mercury," an account was in- 
 serted, that a lad aged fifteen, named Longhurst, went 
 into Inglemere pond, near Ascot Heath, to bathe ; 
 when he hud walked in to the depth of about four 
 feet, a huge fish, supposed to be a pike, suddenly rose 
 to the surface and seized the boy's arm ; however, 
 finding resistance, he abandoned it, but still followed 
 and caught hold of the other hand, which he bit very 
 
 * Oppian, book iii., verse 440 to 450, attributes tbis action of 
 the fish to friendship, and commiseration on the part of the fish 
 who are at liberty toward one in trouble. But I think my ex- 
 planation is the most correct. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 115 
 
 severely ; the lad clenching the hand which had been 
 first bitten, struck the monster a heavy blow on the 
 head, when the fish swam away. W. Barr Brown, 
 Esq., surgeon, dressed seven wounds, two of which 
 were very deep, and bled profusely. 
 
 I wrote to W, Barr Brown, Esq., who very politely 
 obtained and sent this day, Sept. 18th, 1857, the 
 whole particulars in writing, from the young man's 
 father, Mr. George Longhurst, of Sunning Hill, which 
 I give as I receive it. 
 
 ** Particulars of an encounter with a fish, in the 
 month of June, 1850. — One of my sons, aged fifteen, 
 went with three other boys to bathe in Inglemere 
 pond, near Ascot Kace Course ; he walked gently in 
 the water to about the depth of four feet, when he 
 spread forth his hands to attempt to swim ; instantly 
 a large fish came up and took his hand into his mouth 
 as far up as the wrist, but finding he could not swal- 
 low it he immediately relinquished his hold, and the 
 boy turning round prepared for a hasty retreat out 
 of the pond ; his companions who saw it also, scram- 
 bled out of the pond as fast as possible. My son had 
 scarce turned himself round when the fish came round 
 behind him and immediately seized his other hand, 
 cross- ways, inflicting some very deep wounds in the 
 back of his hand ; the boy raised his first bitten and 
 still bleeding hand, and struck the monster a hard 
 
 I 2 
 
116 FISHES AI^D riSSING. 
 
 blow on the head ; the fish then turned his tail to the 
 top of the water, and went down out of sight ; the 
 other boys assisted him to dress, bound up his hand 
 with their handkerchiefs, and brought him home. 
 We took him down to Mr. Brown, surgeon, who 
 dressed seven wounds in one hand, and so great was 
 the pain the next day, the lad fainted twice ; the 
 little finger was bitten through the nail, and it was 
 more than six weeks before it was well ; the nail came 
 off, and the scar remains to this day. 
 
 **A few days after this occurrence, one of the wood- 
 men was walking by the side of the pond, when he 
 saw something white floating in the pond ; a man on 
 horseback rode in and found it to be a large pike in a 
 dying state ; he twisted his whip round him, and 
 brought him to shore. Me and my son were imme- 
 diately sent for to look at it, when the boy recognized 
 his antagonist immediately; the fish appeared to have 
 been a long time in the agonies of death, as the body 
 was very lean, and curved like a bow. It measured 
 41 inches, and died the next day, and I believe was 
 taken to the Castle at Windsor." 
 
 There can be no doubt but this fish was in a state 
 of complete starvation ; if some of his scales had been 
 examined with a microscope, his age might have been 
 ascertained ; and if he had been well fed, it is proba- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 117 
 
 ble, I think, he might then have weighed from thirty 
 to forty pounds. 
 
 Trout are also voracious after their own species ; 
 a gentleman angling at Bakewell, saw a large trout 
 holding in his mouth another smaller than himself, 
 which he had seized across the body, and was so 
 much absorbed by his elfforts to secure and swallow 
 his prey, that the angler, by the dexterous use of his 
 landing net, secured them both. 
 
 The next sense possessed by fish, which claims at- 
 tention, is that of feeling ; externally, from the na- 
 ture of their scaly covering, they can have but very 
 little about the body, and taking the whole of their 
 formation into consideration, and that they are 
 amongst the class of cold-blooded animals, the sense 
 of feeling cannot be very acute, or can pain inflicted 
 upon them be very lasting in duration, for if wounded 
 with a hook, or even one remaining fixed in the 
 mouth, the same fish will attack a similar bait imme- 
 diately, a fact well known to anglers of any experi- 
 ence ; at the same time it may be taken into consider- 
 ation, that the greater the proximity of a nerve to the 
 part where the hook enters, the wound must necessa- 
 rily inflict more pain than if the instrument were 
 imbedded in a less sensitive portion of the mouth ; 
 and this may account for the diff'erence in the exer- 
 
118 FISHES AN^D FISHING. 
 
 tions of some fish from others, when they are hooked. 
 Boys living near a trout stream are great adepts in 
 catching these fish hy tickling them. A rather ludi- 
 crous circumstance happened relative to this mode of 
 taking fish. I was approaching Hack Bridge, near 
 Carshalton, one morning, on my way to a private 
 water, when I found there three gentlemen, who were 
 about to angle, with worms as their bait. Though 
 their tackle was good for that purpose, I saw that two 
 of them did not know how to use it, and they made 
 no secret of their incapacity ; the third assumed an 
 oracular hearing, and dictated to the two neophytes; 
 as they were getting their rods put together, a hoy 
 who had been lying on the grass close to the river, 
 approached with a trout struggling in his hands of 
 about a pound, and asked the head of the party if he 
 would buy ; which he did most eagerly for a shilKng. 
 I left them, fished till evening, and having taken a 
 place in the coach, I found on entering it the would- 
 be angler and his two friends, whom I had seen in the 
 morning, but it being quite an en passant affair, he 
 did not recollect me ; he asked me if I had had any 
 sport, and I shewed him two brace of beautiful fish 
 which called forth their admiration. I, in return, 
 enquired what success they had met with ; he re- 
 plied he had caught a very fine trout. *' What !*' said 
 I, ** beside the one you bought ?*' His Mends and 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 119 
 
 two other passengers laughed at, and joked him all 
 the way to town. It appeared he had persuaded his 
 friends to buy tackle and go out with him for a day's 
 fishing, he assuring them of excellent sport, whereas 
 none of the three had the satisfaction of having had a 
 nibble. This mode he adopted of obtaining fish is 
 called jocosely ** catching fish with a silver hook.'* 
 A lady who had probably heard this observation, but 
 did not know its meaning, one evening in company, 
 was boasting of the excellence of the rods, lines, &c. 
 of a relative of her's, and finished by asserting, '' that 
 he had amongst his unequalled tackle, a number of 
 silver hoolcSy which were sure to catch fish when 
 nothing else would do so !" 
 
 Having endeavoured, concisely, to explain the ana- 
 tomy of the senses offish, and shown how acute those 
 senses are, it becomes necessary to consider and exa- 
 mine how these senses, or the organisation of the 
 brains of this class of animals, contribute to give some 
 of them apparently a species of intellect, or reasoning 
 power. It was believed from the time of Aristotle 
 up to a recent period, that man had the largest 
 brain of any animal, and thereby had the vast su- 
 periority over all other created beings ; further 
 research has proved this opinion to be erroneous, for 
 the proportion of brain to the body in some birds ex- 
 ceeds that of man, and several mammalia, and some 
 
120 riBHES AND nSHING. 
 
 animals of the mouse kind, equal the human subject. 
 Sommering has furnished another point of compari- 
 son, which appears to be correct, namely, the ratio 
 ■which the mass of the brain bears to the nerves 
 issuing from it. Let the brain be divided into two 
 parts, that which is immediately connected with the 
 sensorial extremities of the nerves, which receive 
 their impressions, and is, therefore, devoted to the 
 purposes of animal existence. The second division 
 will include the rest of the brain, which may be 
 considered as connecting the functions of the nerves, 
 with the faculties of the mind. In proportion, then, 
 as any animal possesses more of the latter and more 
 noble part, that is, as this intellectual portion exceeds 
 that of the external senses, will the powers of mind 
 be more clearly developed : thus man stands pre- 
 eminent ! 
 
 The motions and habits of some created beings are 
 regulated by certain innate feelings, which are gene- 
 rally denominated "instinct;" this means an inherent 
 mode of action, without choice or reason. From the 
 nature of the medium which is the natural habita- 
 tion of fish, the most anxious and careful naturalist 
 is prevented from acquiring more than a very super- 
 ficial knowledge of the habits, propensities, modes of 
 life, communications with each other, which, as some 
 live in society, called gregarious fish, it is probable 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 121 
 
 they have some mode of mutual communication ; why 
 should they not ? Birds and insects have ! see the 
 article on bees, wasps, and ants, in that elaborate 
 work on Entomology, by Kirby and Spence. These 
 associations of fish may arise from the similarity of 
 their required food, and the necessity for selecting 
 particular parts of rivers congenial to their require- 
 ments : this instinct or necessity will direct them to 
 do. The male and female salmon pair, they play 
 about the part they have selected, then jointly make 
 furrows or nests for their impregnated ova, which 
 they conceal by covering them carefully, and if dis- 
 turbed and obliged to leave the spot, will return to it 
 again : this is all instinct ; but when the poacher 
 speared and carried away the male fish, and the 
 female went to a pool at some distance, and, im- 
 pelled by sexual desire, induced a fresh male to re. 
 turn with her to the same furrows, and eight or nine 
 male fish being thus captured by poachers, she 
 returned each time to the pool to obtain a fresh male, 
 and the last time finding no male salmon, she brought 
 a large male trout : this was proved before a Com- 
 mittee of the House of Commons. How she commu- 
 nicated her amorous feelings to the male fish, by what 
 blandishments, persuasions, or arts she induced him 
 to follow her, we are totally ignorant, but it will, I 
 think be granted, this was beyond instinct; that 
 
122 FISHES AND FISHIXG. 
 
 could not provide a remedy if the male fishes were 
 taken away by poachers, therefore it must be reflec- 
 tive reason that dictated her visits to the pool, and 
 induced her, on finding no more salmon, to select a 
 fish of the same genus and sex, to complete the 
 impregnation of the ova. 
 
 Dr. Pallas, who devoted seven years to travelling 
 and investigating the natural history and actwal 
 state of llussiau Tartary and Siberia, by command of 
 the Empress, states, that during the floods in the river 
 Volga, the rats, which are numerous on the banks of 
 that river, ascend the small trees for safety ; the bel- 
 jugas (a species of sturgeon) shakes these trees so 
 violently with his tail, that the rats in consequence 
 fall into the water, and are devoured alive by the 
 fish, who adopts the same methods to obtain the 
 unfledged crows. Must this not be considered as 
 reasoning upon causes and effects } There are the 
 rats or young crows in the tree, the fish cannot get 
 up to them, but be calculates if he shake the tree, 
 the rats or birds will fall into the water, and he 
 will then obtain them. This is not mere instinct ! 
 Dr. Pallas also says, that the shad will tear a net to 
 rescue other fishes when they are caught ! 
 
 See the anecdote relative to the minnow and tench, 
 p. 199; there appears something very much like 
 reason in the action of the minnow j and it is a well. 
 
FISHES AND PlSHmO. 123 
 
 known fact that fresh-water fish of prey will no 
 attack a tench, so in that way they show their gra- 
 titude to the Esculapius of their race ; an example 
 which — if some of our deceased nohles had followed, 
 would have enhanced their reputation, by shewing 
 a sense of gratitude for benefits received. 
 
 Eels, it is well known, require mud, into which 
 they retire for warmth in winter, and they wiU leave 
 any pond, the soil "oi which does not afi'ord them the 
 shelter they need, by any means, even travelling over 
 short distances of land, — but this is instinct. 
 
 Caqj, according to Bluraenbach, have the largest 
 brain of any fresh- water fish ; and it is a well-known 
 fact, that they will force their nose into the soft 
 bottom of a pond or river, and not move though 
 the leads of a net sweep over them, and so escape. 
 They are very difficult to catch by angling; but 
 whether they purposely cut the line with the saw 
 on the front of their dorsal fin, must be a matter 
 of conjecture.* 
 
 Oppian's Halieuticks, Book iv. verses 60 to 80, says, 
 the scaro (see "Willoughby, 304) pairs with one mate 
 only, and if either happen to be caught with a hook 
 
 * Oppian attributes the same act to the anthies if the line 
 be allowed to become slack. Book iii., verse 455 — 462. (An- 
 thies, Anthife, Willoughby, p. 325. Plate x. figs. 3, 4, 5.) The 
 last very like a carp. 
 
124 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 and line, the other will gnaw the line, and set the 
 captive free. Or, if one enter a weel and be caught, 
 the other will, with companions of the same genus, 
 force their tails between the twigs of the weel, in the 
 manner of a wedge, and the imprisoned fish takes 
 hold of a tail thus thrust in, to cause the twigs to 
 diverge from each other, and passes out. Is not this 
 a proof of intellectual reasoning ? ^These fish, accord- 
 ing to Oppian, have strong feelings of friendship j 
 and the ancient fishermen used their knowledge of 
 the passions of fish to ensnare them: an amusing 
 account of one device for the purpose, but too long 
 to quote, is in book iv. verses 90 to 110. 
 
 In Mr. Hugh Miller's work, " Foot-prints of the 
 Creator," an account of the dog-fish shews the intel- 
 ligence they possess to avoid being captured. They 
 keep aloof from, but follow the net of the fishermen, 
 and as soon as a few herrings are shaken loose from 
 the meshes, they dart upon and devour them ; and in 
 the deep-sea white fishing, a pack of dog-fish will 
 watch beside the boat, and will carry off the lower 
 part of the hooked fish, so as to avoid the swallowed 
 hook, and thus deprive the fisherman of a great 
 portion of his fishing ; it is observed that sometimes 
 a fresh pack of these fish will come to where the 
 first have been cautiously waiting, and as soon as 
 that occurs, mutually jealous of each other, the whole 
 
FISHES AND FISHIKG. 125 
 
 rush on forgetful of their former caution, and eager 
 to secure a portion of the prey, they swallow the 
 whole fish, and so become hooked themselves. 
 
 The passions of jealousy and violent anger are 
 forcibly illustrated by the article relative to the 
 stickleback, which also shews the arrogant pride of 
 the conqueror, and the effect of grief of the van- 
 quished fish at his humiliation. 
 ; Oppian says the wruss is a polygamist, and so it 
 will seem is the stickleback. When trout find them- 
 selves encircled by a net, they endeavour to leap 
 over it ; to frighten them from doing so, the fishermen 
 beat the water with poles. Oppian says, barbel will 
 do the same; book iii. verses 140 to 150. Salmon, 
 when hooked, will leap out of the water and endea- 
 vour to break the line with their tails. Is this action 
 of the trout and salmon mere instinct ? We want a 
 second Oppian to investigate the natural character 
 and habits of fish ; something may be learned by 
 placing them in vivariams, but very little in a state 
 of confinement. 
 
 That fish form attachments of a most lasting de- 
 scription, is proved by the following : — '' Fish that 
 are kept in jars, when they have been awhile toge- 
 ther, contract so great an affection for each other, 
 that if they are separated, they become melancholy 
 
126 PISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 and sullen, and are a long time before they forget 
 their loss"— ''Phil. Transact." vol. ix., p. 323. 
 
 ** Mr. Anderson put two ruffs into a jar of water 
 about Christmas, and in April he gave one of them 
 away. The fish that remained was so affected, that 
 it would eat nothing for three weeks ; so that fearing 
 it would pine to death, he sent it to the gentleman 
 on whom he had bestowed its companion. On re- 
 joining the other, it ate immediately,- and recovered 
 its formeri briskness." — Ibid. 
 
 There are many examples which might be adduced. 
 The question is, whether this was love or friendship ; 
 if the fish were of different sexes, it must be the 
 former ; if of the same sex, the latter passion. See 
 also Burton's *' Anatomy of Melancholy, " vol. ii., 
 p. 125, 13th ed., 1827. ''Fishes pine away for 
 love, and wax lean." 
 
 There are probably ninety-nine persons out of every 
 hundred, who see fish rise to the surface, or sink to 
 the bottom, in rivers or glass globes, without reflecting 
 how those movements are accomplished. It has been 
 supposed by some scientific men, that these motions 
 are effected by the swimming bladder ; this viscus has 
 several coats possessed of great muscular power, 
 which enables the fish to contract, or expand it at 
 pleasure, and as fish have about the same specific 
 gravity as their native element, a dilation of the air- 
 
FISHES AND FISHINa. 127 
 
 bladder would make them lighter than water, and they 
 would rise ; whilst a contraction of it makes them 
 specifically heavier, and they sink ; and fish have, as is 
 believed, this power of dilation and contraction. I 
 cannot consider this explanation as being wholly 
 correct ; for instance, the shark, which has no air- 
 bladder, yet ascends and descends with the greatest 
 rapidity, by the aid of its powerful tail, and pectoral 
 fins ; and in the mackerel, by its muscular formation, 
 and by the great strength of its tail it does the same; 
 Flat-fish have the power of locomotion by their side 
 fins, which work like a species of Archimedian screw, 
 for they have no air bladder ; the same is observable 
 in the fins of eels, and was particularly evident in the 
 gymnotus electricus, hereafter noticed. 
 
 A glandular substance exists at the upper part of 
 the air-bladder, containing blood of a florid red colour, 
 shewing it to be highly oxygenated, and from this 
 source probably the oxygen gas contained in this 
 bladder is supplied ; according as the vital action of 
 the gills, and the pressure upon the surface of the 
 fish's body is increased by descending to great depths, 
 so the air-bladder contains more oxygen, even to 
 being wholly of that gas ; or, it may be from their 
 power of decomposing water that the oxygen is 
 obtained. 
 
 Some naturalists think that the quality and quantity 
 
128 
 
 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 of the gaseous contents of this bladder are increased 
 or diminished by secretion, or . absorption, according 
 to the wants or desires of the fish. 
 
 According to Eiot, fish which inhabit very deep 
 waters have, in this bladder, 87 per cent, of oxygen ; 
 and Fourcroy asserts, that in those which are found 
 in more shallow streams, such as carp, roach, and 
 others of that species, there is an excess of nitrogen. 
 The extended experiments of Humboldt, and M. 
 Provenzal, during many months in hot climates, 
 proved that the composition of the gas in this bladder 
 varies in the same animal, under the circumstances 
 I have mentioned, and that the sword-fish which 
 inhabits the lower strata of the sea, has been found 
 under the tropics with its air-vessel entirely filled 
 with oxygen. 
 
 Some fish have two processes which go from the 
 air-bladder, and terminate in the fauces; salmon have 
 an opening from the same vessel into the oesophagus, 
 which is controlled by muscular fibre ; trout, also, 
 have a similar conformation, and when they rise to 
 the surface in a dull stream, they emit a bubble of 
 air. The whole of this part of the anatomy of fish 
 more fully and impressively illustrates the truth, 
 that consummate wisdom alone could have devised 
 any arrangement so wonderful in design, or so 
 beautifully useful in efiect. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 129 
 
 Mr. Parkes entertained the opinion that fish have 
 the same power to decompose, and exist upon the 
 decomposition of water, as vegetables ; and to prove 
 his position, he cites the case of a fish which was 
 kept in a vessel, and had no food given to it during 
 three years, at the end of which period it had in- 
 creased in size so much, as to be too large for its 
 domicile. This he considered a satisfactory and 
 confirmatory evidence of the fact. I^ow with every 
 respect for that excellent chemist, I cannot consider 
 this any proof of the correctness of his theory. 
 "Water, I admit, is decomposed by vegetables, and 
 resolves itself into gas, but this sort of food would 
 never fatten a fish. No ! It is the large quantity of 
 animalcules there are in water, upon which fish in a 
 state of confinement exist ; and as it could not live in 
 that state unless the water were frequently changed, 
 so there must be a constant supply of animalcules. 
 To prove that my opinion is correct, place a fish in 
 distilled water, or in filtered water, or spring water, 
 either of which decomposes as readily as any other, 
 and he will very soon die in the first, and will not 
 live long in the two latter. 
 
 The utility of the air-bladder of fish to the human 
 race, appears to be completely overlooked in many 
 parts of the world, where it might be prepared to 
 benefit the inhabitants. Fish glue, or isinglass, is 
 
130 FISHES AND FISHINa. 
 
 made on the banks of the "Volga, from the air-bladders 
 of the sturgeon, in this manner : the bladder is cut 
 open lengthwise, and exposed during a short time in 
 the sun ; the internal membrane is then separated 
 from the external, and placed in a wet cloth or mat 
 a whole day, then cut into pieces, rolled up, and dried 
 in the shade. One species of this fish produces a 
 more valuable article than another ; the best formerlj^ 
 obtained at Astrachan £7 17s. 6d. per pud of thirty- 
 six pounds English; the other from £5 12s, 6d. to 
 £6 15s. An inferior sort of fish-glue is made from 
 the air-bladders of barbel. 
 
 The shad, which was formerly very common in the 
 Thames, so as to give a name to a portion of the 
 banks of that river, ** Shad Thames," and did not ex- 
 ceed eighteen inches in length, attains in the Yolga 
 the great length of six feet, and weight of 120 pounds. 
 The air-bladders of these fish are very useful to the 
 naturalist to cover bottles in which animal prepara- 
 tions are to be preserved. The skin of this fish being 
 thin and smooth, like that of an eel, spread and dried 
 is as transparent as horn, is sold to the country people, 
 especially among the Tartars, to form their windows. 
 The air-bladders of fish in our part of the world are 
 small, and usually thrown away ; but they may be 
 worth saving and boiling down into a glue useful for 
 many purposes. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 131 
 
 The natives of the part of the Eussian empire, near 
 the Volga use the fish glue medicinally, and in some 
 instances it appears very successfully. A case is given 
 by Dr. Pallas, in his travels, of a vroman passing 
 through a wood with her husband, and being taken 
 in labour ; the child was born, and by the adminis- 
 tration of fish glue, so restorative were its effects, 
 that she was enabled to proceed safely on her journey 
 in a very short space of time. 
 
 Few persons of any age, station, or calling, or even 
 sex, can be found who do not feel great gratification 
 in seeing fish caught, either by angling or by nets, 
 although they themselves are not anglers, or do not 
 take an active part in the sport. Upon one occasion, 
 many years ago, when I was a boy, the waters of the 
 Wey Navigation were about being let off into the 
 Thames, in order to perform some repairs ; when Lord 
 Viscount Milsington, the eldest son of the Earl of 
 Portmore, part proprietor of the navigation, most of 
 the land bounding the brook, and landlord of our 
 mill, some of his servants, my father, myself, and six 
 of our workmen, were congregated together about 
 three o'clock on a fine sammer's morning, to net the 
 Bourne Brook, near Weybridge Bridge, in which it 
 was supposed some fish which had escaped from Vir- 
 ginia Water, when part of the cascade gave way some 
 years before, had found a home. Nets were placed 
 
 k2 
 
132 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 at the outlet of the brook, and as the water was re- 
 duced, nets were drawn through the deep holes, and 
 the fish thus pressed endeavoured to escape over the 
 shallows ; a large pike was doing so, when one of the 
 men who had old shoes on, but no stockings, having 
 a basketful of fish in his hands, tried to kick him 
 ashore ; and whether the man brought his leg against 
 the pike, or the fish bit him, as he declared, I cannot 
 positively say, but certainly the man's leg was badly 
 wounded ; seeing this, and the blood flowing, I ran 
 into the water, and with a stick killed the pike, 
 which weighed nearly seventeen pounds. In " Bent- 
 ley's Miscellany " for July, 1851, it is stated that 
 men wading in a pond have been attacked by this 
 freshwater shark. Lord Milsington, seeing a large 
 carp coming over the shallow, also went into the 
 water, borrowing my stick, and killed him, weighing 
 above twelve pounds, and an immense quantity of 
 arge fish were taken by the nets. 
 
 A few days after this, whilst the water was still 
 down, and there was a dam across the tumbling bay 
 of the Guildford Canal, some of our men, all work 
 being suspended, and some of the navigation men, 
 who had finished their part of the repairs, agreed to 
 lave the bay-hole dry, in order to get the fish. The 
 hole was like a large inverted cone, built so with 
 large chalk stones, but not cemented together. The 
 
FISHES AND PISHING. 133 
 
 men went to work with great spirit, and as they got 
 the water lower, the buckets, the contents of which 
 were thrown on the nearly surrounding sand bank, 
 from whence the water ran into the river, were found 
 to be half white fish, and the place was crowded with 
 the children of the poorer villagers, who obtained as 
 much fish as they could carry home. When the 
 water became more reduced, the men were able to 
 get into the hole, and caught a large quantity of 
 carp, perch, pike, and eels, the latter from two to 
 four pounds each, which had left their retreats 
 amongst the chalk stones for want of water, and 
 came rolling down into the hole. The men were taking 
 off their shirts to make bags to hold their fish, and 
 some had done so, when just at the moment when 
 the excitement of the actors in the scene, and that of 
 the spectators was at its height, and those who had 
 laboured so hard were obtaining their reward, some 
 lover of mischief, or some one who was jealous of the 
 success attending those who had undertaken the work, 
 broke the dam, and the men, children, and all con- 
 cerned, were obliged to scramble out of the way of 
 the rushing water as quickly as possible. It was 
 not known who played off this trick, else I think he 
 or they would have had a chance for a swim in the 
 bay hole, for the anger of the disappointed labourers 
 was increased by the laughter of the numerous spec- 
 
134 ' FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 tators, and formed such a scene as could not easily be 
 forgotten by those who witnessed it, as I did. 
 
 Soon after this, I became acquainted with the son 
 of a farmer, who rented part of the grounds formerly 
 belonging to the ancient Abbey of Chertsey, and 
 went with him occasionally to net the stews wherein 
 the monks formerly kept and fattened their fish. He 
 had three flue or flow nets ; one he placed across the 
 stew, another further on, and the third about an 
 equal distance from the second ; he had two poles 
 with a round piece of sole leather, about four inches 
 diameter, nailed on the small end. "With these poles, 
 leather end downwards, repeatedly plunged into the 
 water, we disturbed the fish, who, in trying to escape, 
 ran against the nets, and generally a good basketful 
 of carp, tench, and perch rewarded our trouble. 
 
 The monks were believed to be very luxurious in 
 their modes of living, and, it is traditionally said, 
 fatted their carp. A nobleman gives this as one of 
 the recipes of these gentlemen for attaining that ob- 
 ject. It is probable they did use means to increase 
 the size and flavour of the fish placed in their stews 
 in the vicinity of the Abbey. This might be accom- 
 plished by removing fish to a clear water, and none 
 could be more so than the stews above-mentioned, 
 connected as they were with the Abbey river. Fish, 
 it is well known, in a state of moderate confinement 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 135 
 
 will feed freely, and the monks no doubt took advan- 
 tage of that knowledge. 
 
 To fatten Carp. — " Barley meal, half a gallon ; 
 chalk, in powder, one pound and a half, very clean ; 
 clay, a sufficient quantity to make a stiff paste. Place 
 this in the stew or pond, in a net, not too small 
 meshes, suspended about a foot from the bottom.. 
 When all is sucked away but the clay, place fresh in 
 the net, or nets." 
 
 Now, how the carp are to suck away the barley- 
 meal and chalk, leaving the clay behind, appears 
 difficult to understand. Probably, barley-meal, chalk, 
 flour, and honey, would be a better compound, appor- 
 tioning the quantity to the number of fish. 
 
 The carp should be kept by themselves, or tench 
 may be in the same stew, and fed with the same 
 food. The pike, perch, and eels, should also each be in 
 separate stews ; the first fed with large live gudgeons, 
 small roach, dace, or lampers, cut in pieces; the 
 second and third, with malt, soaked in sheep's blood, 
 live minnows, or moderate-sized worms ; but the dead 
 articles of food should not be more than the fish can 
 consume, otherwise the water will become putrid, 
 and there should be a gentle current of water con- 
 stantly passing through the stews. 
 
 In this way, fish might be obtained far superior iu 
 point of nutriment and flavour, and so rival those 
 
136 
 
 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 which graced the tables of the monks of olden times. 
 Stews and ponds were common, to enable those who 
 lived at a distance from the sea, to satisfy their con- 
 sciences by eating fish on fast days. 
 
 Carp were in England when Dame Berners wrote 
 on angling, published in 1486 ; therefore, it is un- 
 true that they were introduced by Leonard Mascal, 
 temp. Henry YIII. 
 
 As some persons may not understand what a flue 
 or flow net is, the following description may be use- 
 ful. It is a fine net, an inch to an inch and a half 
 meshes, double the depth of the water intended to be 
 fished, and a j^ard or two wider. On each side of 
 this net is one of coarser twine, and very large 
 meshes, about six inches deeper than the water. 
 These three nets are joined together to a cord at top 
 and bottom, the former having large perforated 
 bungs, fixed at certain distances, strung on it ; the 
 latter, oblong, perforated bullets, secured in the 
 same way. By this, it will be seen that the middle 
 net hangs loose, and the moment fish are disturbed 
 by the poles being plunged into the water, they try 
 to escape ; in doing so, they run through the outside 
 large meshes, and striking against the inner loose 
 net, it enwraps them like a bag ; thus they are caught 
 by the gills, and the more they struggle the more 
 securely they are held. These poles are useful in 
 
FISHES AND PISHING. 137 
 
 taking up the net, for the person on one side holds 
 the leathern end of the pole over to his companion, 
 who fastens the top line to it, when the net is drawn 
 across. One net will answer in a less degree : place 
 the net across, and go a considerahle distance from it 
 before you begin to beat the water, and beat up to 
 the net, or two persons each beating up to the side 
 of the net next to him ; the moment a fish touches 
 the net, the bungs begin to dip under. This kind of 
 net is calculated for narrow, nearly still waters. 
 
 I was walking in a field between Chertsey and 
 Laleham Ferry, before it was inclosed, one very hot 
 day, and approaching a small pond covered with 
 broad-leaved aquatic plants, which pond was con- 
 nected with the Thames by a ditch, then almost dry, 
 I saw something moving amongst the leaves, which 
 I thought were large frogs, as I saw plenty of small 
 ones about the place ; but looking closer, I saw they 
 were good-sized pike, which were lying with their 
 snouts just even with the surface of the water. I 
 went home, heated and straitened a large cod hook, 
 made the point very sharp, reduced the barb, and 
 made it a sort of cutting edge, made the end of the 
 shank a little taper, hardened the whole again suffi- 
 ciently, thus making a sort of harpoon, whipped a 
 length of strong line to the middle of it, fitted a piece 
 of wood into the top joint but one of a stout trolling 
 
138 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 rod, into which piece of wood I had bored a hole a 
 little way, to receive the shank of the hook, so that 
 it stood at a right angle with the rod ; I went back, 
 put up my tackle, and struck my harpoon as it might 
 be called, into the flesh, just behind the head of a 
 fine pike. The harpoon slipped out of the hole, as I 
 intended it should, and I hauled out on the grass my 
 prize, which weighed above five pounds. I caught 
 by the same means two more that day, not quite so 
 large ; the next day, one of six pounds ; the weather 
 then changed, and I got no more. I believe these 
 fish went up into this pond when the water in the 
 Thames was high, after the frogs ; the water fell, and 
 their retreat was cut off: they must have found 
 plenty of food, for they were in very fine condition. 
 
 We had in our waters about the mill, great quan- 
 tities of pike, and seeing the devastation they caused 
 amongst other fish, I destroyed them whenever I 
 could by trimmers, snaring, shooting them with a 
 rifle, or any other means I could adopt. These fish 
 have, I am informed, committed great ravages in the 
 river near Canterbury ; in the Colne, near Drayton, 
 and Cowley ; in lochs Caterine and Lomond in Scot- 
 land, and in many other rivers, and waters where 
 there are trout. And I advise all anglers to show 
 this voracious fish no mercy. 
 
 There was, and is I believe still, outside Oatlands 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 139 
 
 Park, in Walton Meadows, near the bridge, a piece 
 of water, which, during the floods, cannot be distin- 
 guished from the Thames, and being a little distance 
 from the impetuous torrent, in the time of the an- 
 nual floods many fish take shelter in that more quiet 
 water ; but when the river retires within its bank?, 
 they cannot get back to the stream from whence they 
 came. A gentleman, I am credibly informed, being 
 told there were some pike in that water, went with 
 plenty of gudgeons, and absolutely killed forty-one 
 fish in two days, some of them from nine to ten 
 pounds weight each ; he used snap hooks, in conse- 
 quence of the quantity of weeds in the water. 
 
 I was at my paternal home during about eighteen 
 or twenty months, and devoted all my leisure to 
 catching fish in every possible way, except netting ; 
 I had eel pots, grig pots, and laid trimmers. I had a 
 skifl^, and a punt ; and probably a few observations 
 upon these subjects may be useful to those having 
 waters of their own, who may wish to entrap eels or 
 pike. The mode of preparing the bait for a trimmer, 
 it is not necessary to enlarge upon, as most know how 
 to do that ; but as was the case with our waters, 
 where anybody could walk on one side of the stream, 
 though they could not fish, it was necessary to lay 
 trimmers so that no person could see them. The 
 trimmers I used were made of a forked stick cut 
 
140 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 from a tree, in the shape of the letter V, each arm 
 about four inches long ; at the point of the fork, a 
 strong piece of plaited cord to be made secure ; 
 this cord should be two feet in length. Upon the 
 two arms, wound cleet fashion, i.e. in and out, from 
 fiXteen to twenty yards of stout hempen line, if 
 platted the better ; a good sized round bullet with a 
 hole in it should be placed about ten inches from the 
 bait, and stopped by a large knot from going any 
 nearer to it, but there must be no knot above the 
 buUet ; one of the arms of the forked stick must have 
 at the end a shallow slit, which will fit the line not 
 too tightly. Attach the forked stick by the cord 
 from the point of it, firmly to a brick; unwind four 
 or five yards of line, affix the bait, throw it in to the 
 extent of the line unwound, the remainder being 
 retained by the slight pressure of the slit, or cleft in 
 the arm of the forked stick, and then gently drop in 
 the brick. This is a method of securing your trim- 
 mer from any intruder, who would probably walk 
 off with your tackle, and any fish it had hooked ; or, 
 if you are sure no person can pass where you have 
 placed your trimmer, it may be pegged to the bank. 
 The manner of its action is thus : — A pike or eel 
 takes the bait across his mouth ; the act of his doing 
 BO, disengages the line from the cleft in the end of the 
 forked stick, he runs off some little distance, the line 
 
PISHES AND FISHING. 141 
 
 offers no check, or the bullet either ; he turns the bait 
 and swallows it head foremost — the hooks glide down 
 with it. As soon as he has done so, he moves away ; 
 the hooks then begin to act ; he finds himself a 
 prisoner, and he must be a powerful fish indeed to 
 pull a brick far from the place. In the morning, 
 having marked the place, drag with a small grapnel, 
 and most probably you will find either a large eel, or a 
 pike on the hook : it is necessary to be cautious in lay- 
 ing the trimmer, that it is not in the vicinity of roots 
 of trees, weeds, &c. ; for if a large eel take your bait, 
 he will entangle himself and the lines so completely, 
 that he will die there, and your trimmer is lost. 
 
 In attempting to take up two trimmers, I was once 
 placed in a most perilous situation. I had rowed up 
 our backwater, to a very deep hole, into which a 
 volume of water descended over a bay. I had, over- 
 night, placed two trimmers in an eddy by the side of 
 the deep hole which I had pegged to the bank 
 securely : in the morning, between three and four 
 o'clock, I took my gun, and accompanied by a spaniel, 
 as I often shot a wood-pigeon or two, got into my 
 skiff, and rowed up to the bay hole ; there was an 
 increase of water, and I had to pull hard. Just as I 
 had got near the bay, and was guiding the boat to- 
 wards the spot where I saw my lines being shaken 
 violently ; at that moment I felt the boat had struck 
 
142 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 upon one of the old piles and it began to spin round, 
 when, as the head and stern came alternately near 
 the bay, the water, about three or four inches deep 
 on the bay piece, poured into my boat ; my dog, not 
 ]ili:ing such a shower bath, jumped overboard, and 
 swam down to the mill. I saw my danger ; there 
 was I in a pool between thirty and forty feet deep, 
 surrounded by precipitous banks, and I, only a novice 
 then in the art of swimming. I stood up in the bow 
 of the skiff, struck the point of the hitcher into the 
 bay piece, gave a jump, and off glided the boat, but I 
 was obliged to leave my hitcher behind. I then sat 
 down to the sculls, pulled the skiff up again, avoiding 
 the pile this time on which the keel had before 
 rested, caught hold of my hitcher ; by shaking, got it 
 out, took up my lines, rowed down to the mill, got 
 some dry things out of the counting-house, cleaned 
 my gun, and went home to breakfast, presenting my 
 father with the result of my morning's adventure, 
 without saying a word about it, a pike above eight 
 pounds, which he sent to our worthy rector, and an eel 
 of three pounds, which we had fried, as part of our 
 dinner. 
 
 I was very successful in taking grigs and eels by 
 pots, and any one who takes the trouble may be so, 
 if he bait and deposit them properly. First as to 
 baiting, take some dew worms, or small pieces of raw 
 meat, suspend them across inside the pot by a piece 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. [ 143 
 
 of copper wire, and place the pot with the mouth so 
 as to receive anything forcing its way up stream, 
 as soon as the weather becomes warm in spring and 
 in summer, for eels then run up against the stream ; 
 but when the weather becomes of a lower temperature 
 in autumn, they run down the stream, and the posi- 
 tion of the mouth of the pot must be reversed, but in 
 places where it cannot be choked up with dead leaves 
 floating down. If some gudgeons or small dace are 
 put in the pot, a pike, or sometimes more, of one, 
 two, or even three pounds, will get in. Take care to 
 have the plug at the end well secured by a cord or 
 pin, or it may slip out, and all your fish escape, as 
 happened to me one morning when I had full thirty 
 pounds weight of fine eels in the pot ; after that, I had 
 a pin which went through the plug. In spring the 
 pots should be made of green osiers, and used till 
 winter, having fresh green osiers for the next spring, 
 if you wish to be successful. 
 
 Eels of considerable size will escape through com- 
 paratively small orifices : I made a trunk to keep 
 eels alive, which I bored full of moderate-sized holes 
 with a centre-bit, and attaching a chain, and locking 
 it with a copper-warded lock, previously placing 
 therein about fifty pounds weight of small eels, but 
 all too large, as I thought, to get through the holes I 
 had made. Next day I wanted to give some away, 
 
144 FISHES AND FISHING, 
 
 but they were all gone, and to mark the places of 
 their exit there were round most of the holes a coating 
 of slime. I immediately enlarged all the holes, and 
 cross-bradded them, after which no eels escaped. 
 
 This fish has always been held in high esteem as a 
 delicate nutritious article of food, from the earliest 
 periods to which we can trace. ITigel, who states 
 himself to be the "first eonseerated" 'Bishoi^ oi ISlj, 
 appointed to that see in 1133, and who was also 
 Treasurer of England under Henry the First, in 
 his Charter to the monks of Ely, amongst other 
 things gave them twenty-three thousand eels, to be 
 taken in the marshes and waters of the Manor of 
 Stuntney, which he gave them, and six fishermen 
 with their dwelling houses. And the fisheries of 
 Sion Abbey, in the time of Henry the Seventh, with 
 the adjacent islands in the Thames, (given to that reli- 
 gious house by Henry the Fifth), with the breed of 
 hogs belonging to the abbess and her nuns, were of 
 considerable importance to those pious ladies. One 
 of these islands is believed to be Eelpie Island, and 
 there is reason to think that eels formed a great por- 
 tion of their fisheries. (See the collector's account of 
 Sion Abbey, in the public records.) But when 
 Henry the Eighth dissolved that abbey, amongst 
 others, the abbess and nuns sunk (?) the islands, for 
 there is no account of them amongst the possessions 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 145 
 
 of that religious house, as stated to Henry the 
 Eighth. 
 
 Wigel, in his charter, stigmatises the conduct of his 
 predecessor very strongly : he commences by saying 
 he is the '^ first consecrated^* Eishop of Ely, thereby 
 leading to the inference that there was no former 
 bishop authorised to exercise the episcopal functions. 
 IS'ow, there was "Hervey," who was Bishop of 
 Bangor, from which see he was ejected by the Welch, 
 and was then appointed by the King to take upon 
 himself the government of the Abbey during the 
 vacancy. The last abbot, who was of royal parentage, 
 had obtained a license from the King (Henry First), 
 and the consent of the Pope, to convert the abbey 
 into a bishopric, but died before the change was 
 effected; this man, Hervey, revived the proposed 
 idea of the change, and induced the king to make 
 him the first Bishop of Ely ; he having been Bishop 
 of Bangor, had been as a matter of necessity conse- 
 crated, and did not require any repetition of that 
 ceremony, therefore the assumption by Nigel of being 
 first consecrated Bishop of Ely was priestly arrogant 
 impertinence. 
 
 By the charter of Kigel he gave the monks one 
 measure of land with five acres of woodland, and 
 eight acres of meadow, whereon the oxen may feed, 
 which draw the wood, and their vineyard in Ely, 
 
 L 
 
146 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 {i.e., in the Isle of Ely), as they (the monks) held it 
 before it came to the bishopric : he also gave them 
 thirty-thousand herrings of Dunwich. 
 
 Abbess Etheldreda, in 673, founded the church and 
 monastery of Ely, and was the first abbess. She was 
 the daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles ; she 
 was first married to Tondberct, Prince of the South 
 Girvii, and afterwards to Egfrid, King of the Nor- 
 thumbrians. The second abbess, in 679, was Sex- 
 burga, her sister, married to Erconberct, King of 
 Kent. The third abbess, in 699, was Eormenilda, 
 their daughter, married to Wulphere, the first Chris- 
 tian King of Mercia. These are mentioned to show 
 that celibacy was not necessary for an abbess of that 
 time. The monastery consisted of religious persons 
 of both sexes, and continued in a flourishing state 
 under several abbesses till 870, when it was destroyed 
 by the Danes, and lay in ruins; but was in 970 
 restored and filled with Benedictine monks under 
 Brithnoth, the first abbot. Thurstan, the seventh 
 abbot, was appointed by King Harold, and held tbe 
 Isle of Ely seven years against William the Norman, 
 commonly called the Conqueror. 
 
 In the Avon, near Bristol, I went with a friend to 
 see a most curious sight — the appearance of myriads of 
 elvers, at a flood-gate or lock ; they were so numerous 
 that the river appeared solid with them for a consider- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 147 
 
 able distance around, and there were a great number 
 of persons, men, women, and children, dipping them 
 out by means of fine sieves, baskets covered with very 
 coarse bunting or muslin, or other contrivances, and 
 depositing them in pails, pans, and washing tubs ; 
 many large ones I saw more than half filled. 
 
 I had some put into thin batter, and cooked in a 
 good quantity of boiling lard, which is then about 
 600 degrees of heat, and they were excellent. They 
 must be still more delicate if cooked in the manner 
 white bait are, which one of our first luminaries of 
 chemistry told me was as follows : — a deep vessel of 
 hoiling lard is kept in that state, in the kitchens of 
 houses which have a great demand for this luxury, 
 the quantity required is placed in a vessel of wire, 
 and let down gently into the boiling lard, and the 
 fish come up fully cooked and quite dry. The above 
 elvers are about two to three inches long, from the 
 thickness of a small straw to a large one, and the 
 quantity of. these fish continued quite as great during 
 three or four days. In the river Parrot, Somersetshire, 
 which runs up through Bridgewater, they are found 
 in great abundance ; also in the Mersey, about War- 
 burton, and near Northwich they are in such plenty 
 that the farmers catch them to feed their pigs. 
 
 Dr. Brookes states that the young of the conger eel 
 are taken in the Severn, about Gloucester and Tewkes- 
 
 l2 
 
148 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 bury, on dark nights in such swarms, that they are 
 caught in nets prepared on purpose, and made into 
 cakes.* 
 
 That I might try every kind of fishing, I was in- 
 duced one fine warm evening in the middle of sum- 
 mer, to accompany a person to *' hoh for eels.''* The 
 method of doing so is hy a hollow leaden weight of a 
 conical shape, from half a pound to a pound, accord- 
 ing to the water, with a hole through its centre, and 
 a number of holes round its base ; a quantity of brand- 
 ling or other worms are threaded on worsted, and 
 hung in festoons from the bottom of the lead ; the 
 cord which passes through the lead has a large knot 
 to secure it from slipping, the other end of the cord 
 is fastened to a tolerably stiff taper pole, seven or 
 eight feet long ; two ** bobbers " are seated in a boat, 
 one at the head, the other at the stern ; a grapnel or 
 anchor is let go in about five feet of water, as the tide 
 is running up. You each let down your lead and 
 bunch of worms, and in a few minutes you pull up 
 gently, and when at the surface of the water rapidly 
 bring the lead over the boat, when two, three, or 
 more little eels will fall off into the boat. Some 
 persons catch a large quantity that way, but one trial 
 was enough for me. It is said the worsted catches 
 
 • In the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons there is 
 a mass of these elvers preserved. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 149 
 
 in tlie teeth of the eels, but it is more probable, that 
 their voracity induces them to hold on to the worms 
 till out of the water. This same method may be 
 practised from the shore. 
 
 Sniggling is another method of taking large eels, 
 during hot weather, in the middle of a bright 
 day, which is thus performed. A stout needle, not 
 too long, the eye broken off and ground to a point, is 
 prepared ; to the middle of this needle, point up- 
 ward, a piece of fine gimp about a foot long is to be 
 neatly whipped, so as to leave the greatest portion of 
 the needle free, the gimp to have a loop at the other 
 end ; a small bent pointed wire is to be fixed into a 
 piece of wood, made to fit the ferule into which the 
 top joint of a light rod enters ; the gimp is to be made 
 fast, by a water knot, to a stout platted line, on a 
 bank-runner, a maiden lob-worm is then to be drawn 
 up on the needle, beginning a little below the head, 
 and leaving a porton of the tail loose ; the pointed 
 wire is then to be inserted where the needle enters 
 near the head of the worm, and by adding or dimi- 
 nishing the joints of the rod, the worm can be guided 
 a very little way into a hole in the bank, or between 
 piles, or holes in planking, or any place where it is 
 likely an eel has domiciled himself. Withdraw your 
 fine bent wire after j'^ou have deposited your worm, 
 of which you must not lose sight ; if an eel be there , 
 
150 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the worm will gradually disappear, being sucked in 
 by the fish, and the line will be drawn in ; when 
 you see this, draw the line tight, the eel will close his 
 mouth, then give a smart jerk, the point of the needle 
 sticks against the side of the throat, and as the fish 
 pulls, gets quite across it, and holds him fast ; he will 
 adhere firmly to his resting-place by the convolutions 
 of his tail and body; keep the line tight, but do not 
 attempt to draw your line in beyond that ; force the 
 point of your bank-runner into the ground, and take 
 a turn over the pin that is used to wind it up, taking 
 in line as the eel gives way ; by degrees he will yield 
 a little at a time, till at last he is out of his retreat, 
 land him, detach the gimp from the line, and press- 
 ing the eel's throat, the head part of the needle, 
 which has been sharpened on purpose, will pass 
 through the skin, and may easily be drawn through. 
 The great advantage of this mode of fishing for eels is, 
 that if there be not one in the hole, there is no danger 
 of getting foul, as if a hook had been used ; that you 
 can use this method at a time of the day, with the 
 sun out, when you could not successfully angle for 
 other fish ; and that your prize is worth having, be- 
 ing generally from one pound and a half to three 
 pounds. When a dam was made above and another 
 below Thames-lock, all the water was pumped out of 
 the lock in order to perform some repairs ; several^ 
 
FISHES AND FISHIT^G. 151 
 
 indeed many, bushels of eels were taken, which crept 
 out from behind the wood-work, as the water became 
 low, and, at the mill where a piece of brick-work of 
 the foundation had fallen, and caused the formation 
 of an enclosed space, an eel was taken weighing above 
 six pounds ; he was completely enclosed except in 
 one or two places, where there were small interstices, 
 and probably had existed there during several years, for 
 though small fish and insects could enter the place, and 
 no doubt served him for food, yet there was no place 
 through which an eel of a pound could pass outward. 
 I once caught by sniggling, an eel, through a hole in 
 the planking, called the apron of the mill conduit ; 
 by degrees I drew his head to the hole, which was 
 not large enough to let him through, and I had to 
 take off my shoes and stockings, and making my line 
 tight, get down into about two or three inches of 
 water, and cut the hole large enough to let him pass ; 
 he weighed above three pounds. Eel fishing begins 
 21st of April, and ends 29 th October. 
 
 I had once an eel in the well of my punt, weighing 
 rather over four pounds ; wanting him, and not having 
 my punt net at hand, I took off my coat, stripped up 
 my shirt sleeves, and tried to catch him ; after a con- 
 siderable trial I grasped him, when he turned, bit 
 ray other hand between my forefinger and thumb, as 
 I was endeavouring to secure him, and drew blood. 
 
152 PISHES AND T-ISHING. 
 
 After that, I contrived eel tongs, whereby an eel can 
 be held with ease to the fishermen, enabling them to 
 pick out any eel from the well of a punt, or to handle 
 an eel in any way ; they are very useful to every 
 person fishing for eels, or having ought to do with 
 these unmanageable fish ; and I have lent mine to 
 many persons as a pattern, and also to Mr. Anderson 
 the fishing-tackle maker, of 71, Long Acre. 
 
 A method of killing eels has been recently commu- 
 nicated to me, by an old sporting gentleman, which 
 is, to make a longitudinal cut with a small sharp 
 knife immediately behind the head, direct through 
 the spine, which can be easily effected, the eel being 
 held by these tongs. 
 
 The generation of eels was considered by the 
 Greeks, according to Oppian, to be by the intertwin- 
 ing of their folds together, which brought off a kind 
 of slime, and that descending to the bed of the river, 
 vivified, and became a host of eelets, Aristotle states, 
 that there is no difference in the sexes of eels. Pliny 
 asserts the same thing, and says that they rub them- 
 selves against rocks and stones, and so detaching 
 particles, or scales from themselves, these particles 
 vivify, and become young eels ; some modern natu- 
 ralists think they are viviparous, others are of opinion, 
 and correctly f that they proceed from ova, the same 
 as other fish. 
 
^ WRIGHTS EELTONCS, OR FORCEPS 
 
 TAe. v^hoi^^. 7 lo d Im^he-s lorw. 
 
FISHES AND FXSHING. 153 
 
 Mr. Young, of Invershin, states, that he has bred 
 eels from the ova and milt of a male and female eel. 
 And a magistrate of the county of Salop declares, 
 that he has seen a lump taken out of an eel the size of 
 a nutmeg, which being placed in water, gradually sepa- 
 rated and proved to be young eels, which swam about. 
 As there are several species of eels, and both these 
 authorities are unimpeachable, may not some eels be 
 oviparous, and others viviparous? (Walton's " Com- 
 plete Angler," Edited by Ephemera, note, p. 181.) 
 
 Eels go down rivers into brackish water, or proba- 
 bly into the sea, in the autumnal months ; whether 
 they return to the fresh water is a matter of doubt. 
 Eels also migrate from one pond or river to another, 
 during rainy weather, by wriggling amongst wet 
 grass from place to place. 
 
 Ammod/ytes Gosnere, the sand eel, or launce, is a 
 small fish, seldom a foot in length ; the males are the 
 largest in size ; they are delicate as food, and excel- 
 lent as bait for other fish ; they lie from six inches to 
 a foot in the sand of the sea shore, and are caught by 
 raking with a kind of hook made on purpose. 
 
 The conger eel is found in the sea ; it is often 
 caught of a very large size ; it is sometimes taken by 
 the French fishermen eight to ten inches in circum- 
 ference, and five to six feet long, and is so strong in 
 its motions, that it is always killed as soon as pos- 
 
164 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 sible ; the poorer people eat it, and when cut open, 
 salted, dried and broiled, it is not a bad adjunct at 
 breakfast. 
 
 At St. Helena, these fish attain an immense size, 
 and are caught by the residents very frequently; 
 more than one person has lost his life through being 
 dragged into the sea by these fish. I knew one per- 
 son who had tied his line to his arm, a practice not 
 uncommon there, I am told, amongst those who fish 
 for these eels of a night ; his bait was taken by one so 
 powerful, that if he had not fortunately had a knife 
 with which to cut the line, he must have been drawn 
 into the sea. 
 
 According to the "Annual Eegister," 1769, January 
 2 1st — A conger eel of an enormous size was sold to a 
 fishmonger at Billingsgate, for five shillicgs ; it was 
 seven feet in length, and to the middle of the body 
 was as large as the thigh of a stout man, weighing 
 upwards of lOOlbs. This extraordinary fish was 
 discovered by the people of a peterboat, on the shore 
 somewhere below Gravesend, who had the dexterity 
 to land and throw a net over it, which intercepted 
 the eel from recovering the river. "Without this 
 method, or some weapons, it could not have been 
 overcome, as the conger will, when attacked, bite his 
 assailant in as desperate a manner as some dogs. 
 
 Oppian relates a curious device the Grecian boys 
 
FISHES AND FISHING, 155 
 
 practised, to catch eels, in some of the small inlets of 
 the Mediterranean. A sheep's gut was allowed to de- 
 scend into the water ; the eel sucked down the end, 
 and then began to tug, which giving the signal to the 
 boy, he immediately with the whole force of his lungs 
 distended the gut ; the eel's throat and stomach be- 
 came so oppressed by the expanded substance, that 
 he had no power of resistance, and was drawn a cap- 
 tive to the shore. 
 
 In the Appendix, !N"o. 2, to the '^ Conspectus of the 
 Pharmacopoeias," by Anthony Todd Thomson, M.D., 
 r.L.S., &c., &c., the conger is thus mentioned 
 amongst the poisons : — " This fish, although it is 
 frequently eaten with impunity, yet has, in some 
 instances, produced all the symptoms of Cholera 
 Morbus, succeeded by paralysis of the lower extre- 
 mities." The treatment he advises, " evacuate the 
 contents of the stomach, and after having allayed their 
 irritability by opium, dilute freely with saccharine 
 and acidulous liquids ; and bleed, if symptoms of in- 
 flammation of the lower bowels supervene." 
 
 Dr. Brookes says, " The flesh is very white and 
 sweet, but not easy of digestion; it was greatly 
 esteemed by the ancients, and does not want its ad- 
 vocates among the moderns, especially when it is 
 fried." 
 
 There being so great a variety of this species of 
 
156 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 fish, some of them may, like the common eel, be in- 
 jurious to persons of a delicate constitution ; the dark 
 flat-nosed eel, imported from Holland, is of that cha- 
 racter. As to the conger commonly taken, I have 
 had in early life much opportunity of observation, 
 and I never knew or heard of any person being seri- 
 ously, nay, even slightly affected from partaking of 
 this fish in moderation ; but, like all other species of 
 fish, it should be eaten as soon as possible after it is 
 killed ; or if then salted and dried, is not a bad ad- 
 junct to the breakfast table. 
 
 Dr. Pallas states, that in no river, lake, or pond in 
 Siberia are there any eels ; but there are plenty of 
 quabs. As this was a fish I had never heard of, I 
 consulted various Dictionaries, but in none of them 
 could I find the word, except in JBailey, where the 
 name is said to be derived from the Dutch, quabbe, a 
 fish ; otherwise called a water weasel. At the Royal 
 College of Surgeons searches were made in vain, and 
 an enquiry published in ** BeU's Life," failed in 
 eliciting the information which I sought. I then 
 wrote to Mr. Boccius, and] he immediately sent me 
 such explanation as enabled me to refer to Wil- 
 loughby, p. 125, plate H., ^N'o. 6. Yarrell gives the 
 English name of this fish, vol. i., p, 273, ** eel 
 pout." 
 
 Eel pout or burbot has a smooth, soft, slippery body, 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 157 
 
 like an eel ; in colour resembles tlie tench ; the head 
 is a little flat, and both jaws are well furnished with 
 small teeth. On the lower jaw grows a barb about 
 half an inch long, and there are, likewise, a short 
 pair between the nostrils and the snout; the tail 
 terminates in a circular figure. This fish is found in 
 the Trent, Severn, Ouse, Esk, Skern, Tees, Cam, and 
 some of the rivers in I^orfolk ; it seldom exceeds 
 two pounds weight, but will live in lakes as well as 
 rivers; in the former, namely, in the Lake of 
 Geneva, it has been taken as large as seven pounds 
 weight ; but it is not known to inhabit any of our 
 own large standing waters. It is a well-flavoured 
 fish, and is in its nature extremely hardy. It is very 
 prolific, so much so, that one fish has been known to 
 contain a hundred and twenty thousand ova. Its 
 places of resort are the same as eels, and the time to 
 take them is after a storm of thunder, lightning, and 
 heavy rain ; the best bait is a small gudgeon, and the 
 hook should be tied on gimp. These fish lie pretty 
 close during the day, and as the night is the usual 
 feeding time of these fish, therefore they are gene- 
 rally taken with night lines, or trimmers. 
 
 These observations are extracted from Dr. Brookes* 
 ** Art of Angling," and the "Practical Angler," re- 
 ferred to in these pages. 
 
 As this is a very hardy fish, and good as food, it 
 
158 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 tnight be introduced into some of our ponds, or rivers, 
 such as the Mole, the Wey, &c. 
 
 Mr. Gmelin states, that the Tschoulyon Tartar 
 women wear boots made of the large skins of the eel 
 pouts. " Trusler's Habitable World described," 
 vol. iii. p. 240. 
 
 The Gymnotus Electricus, or electric eel, which 
 was during many years one of the numerous attrac- 
 tions to the Royal Polytechnic Institution, was a 
 most curious specimen of the eel tribe. This one 
 was small when first exhibited to the public, with 
 another, supposed not to be exactly of the same 
 species; neither of them increased much in size, 
 until one died ; since which the survivor attained 
 the weight of nearly forty pounds. It was of a most 
 beautiful bright red colour about the head, and part 
 of his body; and his under fin, along the whole body, 
 played like an Archimedian screw. He was supposed 
 to be blind ; which is not uncommon to eels when 
 they grow to a large size, two being caught weigh- 
 ing twelve pounds each, in Cheshire, many years ago, 
 both of whom were blind. The electric eel was fed 
 every day with live fish, which he killed the moment 
 they touched the water ; he used to eat about thirty 
 roach and dace a-day. The man who attended and 
 fed him, was of opinion the fish knew him ; it used 
 to cost about a pound, or a guinea, a week, to find 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 159 
 
 him in food ; his water was changed once a week, 
 and was kept at the constant temperature of from 76 
 to 80 degrees of heat. 
 
 Professor Faraday, with several other scientific 
 gentlemen, I was informed, caused him to be irri- 
 tated, and then tried his powers with a galvanometer, 
 and found he could have killed a horse. He was, very 
 properly, placed out of the reach of any incautious 
 visitor. 
 
 This curious fish does not appear to have been 
 known to the Greeks ; the cramp fish, known to them, 
 was aflat fish, of a dirty yellow colour, resembling 
 sand or gravel, the body almost circular, with an irre- 
 gular straight tail. This cramp fish of the ancients, 
 or torpedo of the moderns, if we are to credit Oppian, 
 would take a bait — as he gives this description of the 
 efi'ect upon the fisherman, who happened to hook 
 him — 
 
 " The cramp-fish, when the pungent pain alarms, 
 Exerts his magic pow'rs and poison'd charms, 
 Clings round the line, and bids th' embrace infuse 
 From fertile cells comprest his subtil juice. 
 Th' aspiring tide its restless volumes rears, 
 Rolls up the steep ascent of slipp'ry hairs, 
 Then down the rod with easy motion slides, 
 And entering in the fisher's hand subsides. 
 On ev'ry joint an icy stiffness steals, 
 The flowing spirits bind, and blood congeals. 
 Down drops the rod dismist, and floating lies, 
 Drawn captive in its turn, the fish's prize." 
 Bookiii. Canto 205 et seq. Oxford University edition, 1722. 
 
160 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 ''Annual Eegister/* 1767. — From the " Memoirs of 
 the Academy of Sciences," at Paris, M. Muschenbrock, 
 a celebrated naturalist, says, in a letter to the Abbe 
 I^ollet, that a fish, or kind of eel, is found in a river 
 of Surinam, which has the singular property of giving 
 a shock like that of a Leyden phial. Persons in a 
 boat, even eight or ten feet off the fish, if they dip 
 their hands in the water, receive a shock ; if it be 
 touched with a stick, the person so touching it feels 
 the sensation, but not so strongly as when touched 
 with an iron rod, then the shock is very severe ; 
 but when touched with a stick of sealing wax, no 
 shock is felt. Fishes swimming past this eel, are 
 killed by the exertion of the power inherent in it. 
 It is called by naturalists, Gymnotus ; by the Dutch, 
 Beef-aal ; by the French, Anguille be bceuf. It is 
 about four feet in length, and nearly the size of a 
 man's arm. 
 
 M. Richer, in the account of his voyage to Cayenne, 
 speaks of a fish in size and effects like the before- 
 mentioned, and says that by striking other fishes 
 with its tail they are set asleep. 
 
 In the '* Annual Eegister," 1769, is a quotation from 
 Mr. Bancroft's *' Natural History of Guiana," in which 
 is an account of a fish he calls the *' Torporific Eel ;" 
 he describes it as being about three feet long, and 
 twelve inches in circumference, near the middle; 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 161 
 
 covered with a smooth skin of a bluish lead colour, 
 and entirely destitute of scales. The head is equal in 
 size to the largest part of the body, but somewhat 
 flat on the upper and lower sides, and its upper sur- 
 face is perforated with several holes like those of a 
 lamprey eel; the upper and under jaws extend an 
 equal distance, terminating in a semi- circular shape, 
 and forming a wide mouth without teeth ; on the 
 back part of the head are two small fins, one on each 
 side, which, like the ears of a horse, are either ele- 
 vated or depressed, as the fish is pleased or displeased. 
 From about eight inches below the head, the body 
 gradually diminishes in size to the tail, which ends 
 in a point without a fin. Under the belly is a fleshy 
 fin, about half an inch in thickness, and near three 
 inches wide, extending from the head to the point of 
 the tail, but diminishing in width as the body dimin- 
 ishes in size ; this, with the two fins on the head, 
 are all that are found on the body of the eel, 
 which would be nearly round if deprived of the belly 
 fin. 
 
 This fish frequently respires, and elevates his head 
 above the surface of the water every four or five 
 minutes for that purpose. When it is touched with 
 the naked hand, or by a rod of any metal, or even a 
 stick of some heavy kind of American wood, it com- 
 municates a shock perfectly resembling electricity. 
 
^ 
 
 162 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 commonly so violent, that few are willing to suffer it 
 a second time. 
 
 A similar kind of fish was said to be found in the 
 environs of the city of Para, on the southern shore of 
 the Amazons. The torporific eel is eaten by the 
 natives. These appear to be the most early accounts 
 we have of this genus of fish. 
 
 In the " Catalogue of Apodal Fish of the British Mu- 
 seum," pp. 141-2, there is an account of this genus of 
 eel. It is therein stated, that its powers are so great, 
 that it can slay both men and horses. The organ of this 
 wondrous power is in the fin-like substance along the 
 under part of the tail ; that its powers are exhausted 
 by use, but its energies are renovated by repose, and 
 nourishing food. It is further stated, that two were 
 brought to London in 1842, neither of them weighing 
 more than one pound ; and in 1848, one had attained 
 the weight of 40lbs., and the other of 501bs. 
 
 A very interesting account is given in '' Humboldt's 
 Travels ;" — " The gymnotus is found in abundance in 
 the confluents of the Oroonoko. It was difficult, how- 
 ever, to procure the fish, as the Indians dread the 
 siiock which they are liable to receive in taking it. 
 The Indians believe that the gymnoti may be touched 
 with impunity by a man chewing tobacco, but their 
 faith in this precaution is not practical. The Indians 
 drove above tliiity wild liorses and mules into a stag- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 163 
 
 rant pool." Humboldt thus describes the struggle 
 which ensued. **The extraordinary noise caused by 
 the horses-hoofs, makes the fish issue from the mud, 
 and excites them to combat. These yellowish and 
 livid eels, resembling aquatic serpents, swim on the 
 surface of the water, and crowd under the bellies of 
 the horses and mules. A contest between animals of 
 so different an organization, furnishes a very striking 
 spectacle. The Indians, provided with harpoons, 
 and long slender reeds, surround the pool closely, and 
 some climb upon the trees, the branches of which 
 extend horizontally over the surface of the water ; by 
 their wild cries, and the length of the reeds, they 
 prevent the horses from running away, and reaching 
 the bank of the pool. The eels, stunned by the noise, 
 defend themselves by repeated discharges of their 
 electric batteries. During a long time, they seem to 
 j)rove victorious ; several horses sink beneath the 
 violence of the invisible strokes, which they receive 
 from all sides, in organs most essential to life, and 
 stunned by the force and frequency of the shocks, dis- 
 appear under the water. Others, panting, with 
 mane erect, and haggard eyes, expressing anguish, 
 raise themselves, and endeavour to flee from the 
 storm by which they are overtaken. They are driven 
 back by the Indians into the middle of the pool ; but 
 a small number succeed in eluding the vigilance 
 
 M 2 
 
164 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 of the fishermen ;* these regain the shore, stum- 
 bling at every step, and stretch themselves on the 
 sand, exhausted with fatigue, and their limbs be- 
 numbed by the electric shocks of the gymnoti. In 
 less than five minutes, two horses were drowned ; the 
 eel being five feet long, and pressing itself against 
 the bellies of the horses, makes a discharge along the 
 whole extent of its electric organ. The horses are 
 probably not killed, but only stunned ; they are 
 drowned from the impossibility of rising amid the 
 prolonged struggle of the other horses, and the eels. 
 When the gymnoti have expended their electric 
 energy, they approach timidly the edge of the marsh, 
 where they are taken by means of small harpoons 
 fastened to long cords ; when the cords are very dry, 
 the Indians feel no shock in raising the fish into the 
 air. In this manner, several were captured and ex- 
 amined ; some measured 5ft. Sin. in length; and the 
 Indians assert, they are sometimes of much greater 
 length. The gymnotus is the largest of electrical fishes ; 
 and its electrical action is so powerful, that Humboldt 
 says, that he does^not remember to have ever received 
 from the discharge of a large Ley den jar, a more 
 dreadful shock than that which he experienced by im- 
 prudently placing his feet on a gymnotus just taken 
 out of the water." 
 ^ * This is called by the Indians, " Fishing with Horses." 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 165 
 
 At a meeting of the British Association in Dublin, 
 (see *' Athenaeum," 5th September, 1857,) Professor 
 G. Wilson read a paper on the Employment of the 
 Living Electric Pishes as Medical Shock Machines. 
 He stated that the living torpedo was employed as a 
 remedial agent by the ancient Greek and Roman phy- 
 sicians, and in proof that it was so used previous to 
 the Christian era, he quoted Galen, Dioscorides, Scri- 
 bonius, and Asclepiades ; of the last there were two : 
 the first, fifty years before the Christian era; the other, 
 ninety-eight years after ; but as to the writings of 
 either of these two, I have in vain enquired for them. 
 Scribonius flourished a.d. 10, and Dioscorides a.d. 60. 
 Of Galen, I shall speak presently. 
 
 In 1843, at Eerlin, was published a dissertation 
 entitled ^'Quae apud veteres de Piscibus Electricis 
 exstant Argumenta : Auctore ^milius du Bois.'* This 
 is in the British Museum. Hippocrates is mentioned 
 as the first to describe the torpedo, and he speaks 
 of them as serviceable in certain diseases, but only 
 as articles of diet. Scribonius says they may be ap- 
 plied in cases of head- ache and gout. Pliny and 
 Dioscorides, who were nearly contemporaneous, praise 
 the therapeutic properties of the torpedo. Plutarch 
 speaks of the properties of this fish, but not of its 
 therapeutic application. Galen speaks of the therapeu- 
 tic uses of this fish, when applied externally. Kow 
 
166 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 (xulen was born a.d. 131, and died 201, consequently 
 flourished at Rome during the reign of the Emperor 
 Severus, who was born a.d. 146, succeeded to tbe 
 throne A.p. 192, and died a.d. 211. Oppian (men- 
 tioned in the introduction) was born a.d. 183, and 
 died a.d. 213 ; probably recited his Halieuticks, when 
 he was about twenty-five, before the Emperor and his 
 son Caracalla, and he mentioned the cramp-fish, in 
 Book i. verse 151, as causing "numming pains." 
 In Book ii. verses 109 to 152, in giving an account of 
 the arts of this fish to obtain its prey, says, 
 
 " One touch of hers dams up the vital flood, 
 Contracts the nerves, and clots the stagnate blood." 
 
 And in Book iii., verses 201 to 212, describes the 
 effects on the angler who happens to hook this fish, 
 even through the communication of the line and rod 
 only, '' as poisonous," as "binding up the spirits," 
 as ''stiffening every joint," and "congealing the 
 blood."!* It certainly appears very extraordinary, 
 that Galen, who wrote so extensively, and had only 
 recently died, {i e, about seven years) should have 
 had a ^' remedial acjenf^ which he patronised, stigma- 
 tized before the emperor, and with his royal appro- 
 bation. 
 
 Sir J. Richardson may very probably be correct as 
 *Seep. 159. 
 
FISHKS AND FISHIXG. 167 
 
 to there being anumberof genera of electric fish ; look 
 at the '' Catalogue of Apodal Fish in the British Mu- 
 senm," — the article ''Anguillidse" — the eel species; 
 no doubt these are for the most part hybrids. 
 
 In the " Annual Eegister," of 1796, referring to 
 Bancroft's " Natural History of Guiana," then just 
 published, is the observation, that these torporific fish 
 have no scales. I am not aware whether they have 
 been examined microscopically. 
 
 The natives in those parts where the gymnoti are 
 found, avoid as much as possible receiving a shock 
 from them. It must be a curious scene, and concert, 
 if several of the women of Calabar wash their chil- 
 dren at the same time, and in proximity to each other ; 
 they must, in the operation of the shocks the children 
 receive from the malapterurus, desire not only to 
 strengthen their limbs, but to expand their lungs by 
 the screaming to which they would, no doubt, give 
 vent. 
 
 The common eel is variously estimated as an article 
 of food, and anciently there were supposed to be onlj'- 
 four difi'erent species of them, viz., the silver eel, the 
 greenish or grig, or greg eel, the red-finned eel, and 
 the blackish eel ; this last has a broader, larger, and 
 flatter head, and is considered the worst. The Dutch 
 eels are of this last class. Eels out of clear rivers are 
 most esteemed, and those from Salisbury are parti- 
 
168 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 cularly line. In the Highlands, Hofland says, 
 they are looked upon with aversion. The varieties 
 of the Anguillidae, or true eel family, are far be- 
 yond the ideas of former naturalists. In the ac- 
 count of Apodal Pish, published December 1856, 
 by order of the trustees of the British Museum, there 
 are about forty-five different species. And of 
 Congeridae, or the Conger family, there are an im- 
 mense variety ; not including in either of these the 
 gymnotus, in which tribe there are probably several, 
 differing one from the other. I was at a place some 
 little distance from London, a'few years ago, and was 
 shown two large tanks in a clear river, where I was 
 informed eels were kept ; and the story related to me 
 was, that the proprietor of them, when a poor itine- 
 rant dealer in eels, used to purchase Dutch eels for 
 about three pence a pound, and sell them about the 
 country, as coming from that beautiful stream, at a 
 shilling or eighteen-pence a pound ; he then put his 
 Dutch eels into tanks, and kept them in the river ; so 
 that he truly declared they came out of that river, 
 and he made a good fortune by the plan. Many 
 tricks of the kind are played off on the banks of rivers 
 at houses famous for stewed, or spitchcocked eels. 
 Dutch eels placed for some time in a tank or trunk, 
 in a clear river, and fed with small live fish, will 
 lose much of their noxious qualities. The monks of 
 
FISHES AND FISHINO. 169 
 
 old, as before-mentioned, no doubt knew and prac- 
 tised these arts. 
 
 On the subject of eels, rather a ludicrous anec- 
 dote is related. The Eight Honourable Lady , 
 
 whose mean, penurious habits were well known, 
 which induced her to neglect no opportunity of 
 making what she considered a good bargain, in one 
 of her walks saw a man selling live eels, at a price 
 which she considered very cheap, in comparison with 
 the price she usually paid for them at her fish- 
 monger's ; as she was not known, she bought some, 
 which the seller tied up, as he told the lady, securely, 
 in her pocket handkerchief, and she put them into 
 her pocket. As she returned home, she paid a 
 morning visit to a female friend, but had not been 
 long seated, before the eels, disliking their confine- 
 ment, crept out of the handkerchief into the lady's 
 pocket, and thence, to the dismay and confusion of 
 one' lady, and the horror and astonishment of the 
 other, upon the carpet, where their evolutions soon 
 caused the lady of the house to run screaming out of 
 the room ; the servants rushed at the alarm to the 
 assistance of their mistress, the eels were secured, and 
 the visitor offered her apologies and explanation f but 
 whether they were satisfactory or not is unknown, — 
 at any rate, the lady who had been visited, and her 
 servants told the story. 
 
170 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Lamprtea. Majoe. — The lamprey eel is sometimes 
 taken in eel pots ; I have seen them taken from 
 one to three pounds weight, in the river Lea. In 
 the Severn they are much larger, having heen taken, 
 it is said, three feet in length, and five inches in 
 diameter ; this fish has no bones, but a gristle down 
 the back, full of marrow, which should be taken out 
 before it is cooked ; they are not considered whok - 
 some food. They chiefly live in the sea, but come 
 into the rivers in March, and spawn in April, leaving 
 their brood in holes in the sand, where they are soon 
 endued with life, and in three months after become 
 from three to five inches long. Those which I have 
 seen were speckled very much like many of tlie snake 
 tribe, and from their appearance, I should never be 
 tempted to eat part of one. They are sometimes 
 caught with a worm, when angling for other fish. 
 
 At Rodley, in Gloucestershire, there is a rent paid 
 to the Lord of the Manor, called "Pride- Gavel," 
 by some tenants, for the liberty of fishing for lam- 
 preys, in the river Severn. 
 
 The ancient philosophers asserted that the sea lam- 
 prey formed a sexual union with the land serpent ; a 
 curious description of which is given by Oppian, and 
 also of the animosity which exists between the lam- 
 prey and the lobster, and of the battles which take 
 place between them when they meet. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 171 
 
 Lampetea paeya, et fiuviatilis, the river lamprey 
 or lampern, moves about very rapidly in the latter 
 end of Autumn, in the Thames ; they do not exceed 
 ten or twelve inches in length, are dark grey on the 
 back, the belly being a bright silver. They are 
 caught in pots in very great numbers, and are excel- 
 lent baits for night-hooks ; they have no bone ; they 
 may be seen in shallow places in the Mersey, in 
 actual sexual intercourse. I have been informed that 
 in the Thames the regular-bred fisherman is obliged to 
 take out an annual license to catch these fish, from some 
 officer of the Lord Mayor, for which each person has to 
 pay a certain ammat sum for a license to catch them. 
 It is a matter of doubt, in my opinion, whether this 
 be or be not an authorised demand, from men who 
 have served their time, and are legally qualified to 
 fish ; and whether his lordship knows of any such 
 charge. These lamperns are sent to Holland to be used 
 as baits ; the usual price is twenty shillings per thou- 
 sand, and a successful fisherman will sometimes take 
 in a season ten thousand. The season is said to com- 
 mence on the 24th of August, and end on the 30th of 
 March. 
 
 The Lepidosirem, vulgarly known as the mud fish, 
 approximates nearer to the eel tribe than any other, 
 therefore I introduce it in this place. There are at 
 present only two species known. The one found in 
 
172 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the river Gambia, in Africa, Lapidosiren annecteus, 
 which is the one that has reached Europe, a living 
 specimen of which was at the Crystal Palace. Perfect 
 unanimity does not prevail amongst naturalists as to 
 whether this animal should be classed with reptiles, 
 or fishes. Professor Owen includes it with the latter. 
 Those of the river Gambia, which do not retire with 
 the overflowing waters, burrow in the mud, which is 
 soon baked hard by the scorching sun ; there they 
 remain, in a torpid state, until the return of the 
 rainy season again awakes them to activity (Patter- 
 son's *' Introduction to Zoology.") 
 
 In Dr. W. B. Carpenter's ^'Zoology," it is stated that 
 this animal from the river Gambia is about a foot long, 
 but those from the large rivers of South America are 
 from two to three feet in length. It was discovered, 
 1837, in South America, in the river Amazon. Some 
 zoologists place this animal in the class of Ichthyoidal 
 reptiles, whilst others place it with the Anguilliform 
 fishes. M. I^atterer places the lepidosiren by the 
 side of the group of sirens, the class of amphibious 
 reptiles ; Professor Owen makes it a group of the 
 class of fishes ; Desmarest thinks its proper place is 
 near the Caeciliadse, in the division of amphibious 
 reptiles, and that it thus forms the transition between 
 tlie class of reptiles and that of fishes. See Lepidosiren, 
 in D'Orbigny's ''Diet. d'Hist. Kat.," by E. Desmarest. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 173 
 
 Plates of this animal and its anatomy have been pub- 
 lished by I^atterer, of Vienna ; Professor Owen, in 
 the **Linn8ean Transactions," vol.xviii.,p. 327, 1839 ; 
 and by Dr. J. Hyrtl, 1845, of Prague. 
 
 In the account published by the Crystal Palace 
 Company, this animal is said to possess both lungs 
 and gills, and that it was forwarded from Africa by 
 Captain Chamberlayne. 
 
 At the Eoyal College of Surgeons there have 
 been two dissected by J. T. Quekett, Esq., His- 
 tological Professor and Kesident Conservator of the 
 Museum. 
 
 The peace of Amiens having opened the Continent 
 to the traveller, and I being on a visit at Folkestone, 
 was persuaded to go over in an open lugger to Bou- 
 logne, where I remained some little time, and in- 
 tended to go up to Paris, but unfortunately met with 
 two English persons where I landed, of apparent great 
 respectability and plausibility, who induced me to 
 enter into a speculation with them, in which they 
 robbed me very considerably ; and I withdrew from 
 the concern suffering much pecuniary loss, and found, 
 when too late, that neither of them could safely show 
 their faces in England. But, as I have seen, during 
 the course of a long life, villainy generally receives 
 punishment, even in this world, and they had theirs. 
 
 One afternoon, I went with an Englishman, who 
 
174 FISHES AXB ^1SHI^^G. 
 
 liad resided and remained in that place some time 
 previous to,and during the revolution, over the upper 
 })art of the harbour, to find a place to angle, but we 
 w ere not successful. At low water there were such 
 plenty of mussels near the town, that a cart-load 
 might have been gathered there, and then they would 
 not have been missed. There were few large crabs 
 in the market, but as I saw on the sands, on the 
 other side of the harbour, several large pieces of rock, 
 around which the flux and reflux of the sea had 
 made basins of water ; I pulled off my shoes and 
 stockings, drew up my trousers, and as soon as the 
 tide would allow, crossed the harbour; and having a 
 large landing-net, to the staff" of which I caused to 
 be added two or three joints, I pushed my net under 
 the hollow of the rock. I soon captured a fine lively 
 crab, nearly eight inches lengthways of the shell, 
 which was quite blue — this, with some difficulty, I 
 transferred into a bag ; shortly after, I took another 
 nearly as large. Whilst untying my bag the first 
 escaped, and made for the water ; when he saw me 
 approach, he opened his claws, and set up to fight ; 
 by the aid of my net I placed him also in the bag. 
 On arriving at home, I had some sea-water boiled, 
 and plunged them into it in the bag, w^here I let them 
 boil during twenty minutes. When I took them out 
 it was evident tlity must have fought as I brought 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 175 
 
 tliem home, for they had each torn one of the large 
 claws off the other. I often, during the time I re- 
 mained at Boulogne, when the weather would allow, 
 caught a crab or two in a similar way. 
 
 When I first went to France, provisions were very 
 cheap, but the English soon increased the prices, by 
 giving whatever was demanded ; and the French 
 traders of all classes, even shopkeepers, were at that 
 time in the practice of asking very much more than 
 they intended to take. A trifling instance occurred 
 which shows the fact, and to M-hat extent even the 
 hawkers of little articles carried their impositions. 
 A girl was carrying about some fine lettuces, the first 
 I had seen that season : I asked her the price of one : 
 " four sous," (two pence) was the reply; this hap- 
 pened at the door of our lodging : the mistress of the 
 house came to the door, and in broken English told 
 me to go in ; she then dealt with the girl herself, and 
 bought a dozen of the same lettuces, and picked out 
 the best, for four sous the whole twelve. 
 
 T shall not enter into a long detail, but merely notice 
 the following : — a turkey, weighing twelve to fourteen 
 pounds, fifteen pence ; a couple of fowls, ready for 
 cooking, nine-pence ; a couple of ducks, seven-pence ; 
 a hare, eight-pence ; partridges, four-pence each ; 
 rabbits, three-pence to four- pence ; tench about three- 
 quarters of a pound, from a penny to three halfpence 
 
176 PISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 each ; trout, same weight, same price, or if not many 
 at market, probably two-pence each ; a pike, weigh- 
 ing eight pounds, I bought for fourpence on one occa- 
 sion, and sixpence on another; and sea fish much 
 cheaper than these, particularly at Boulogne, to which 
 port a great number of fishing boats belong, 
 
 I removed to Calais, and shortly after entered into 
 an arrangement of a nautical character, with a Swedish 
 naval captain, who resided there, in which we em- 
 barked our money, our time, and exertions ; he being 
 a cripple, could perform but little personally. It 
 turned out very successful, until there were rumours 
 of a renewal of hostilities. The English residents at 
 Calais were in a state of the greatest possible anxiety 
 as to the prospect of the continuance of peace : our 
 ambassador passed through on his return to England. 
 Carriages were continually arriving with families who 
 had been residing in, or were passing through France, 
 whose passports were taken as usual on entering the 
 town, and they were told they would find them at 
 the office of M. Mengaud, the Commissary-General of 
 Police. This man was said to be an Irishman ; if so, 
 he was certainly not an Irish gentleman, but was a 
 low, tyrannical monster, quite fit company for such as 
 Robespierre, with whom it was said he had been in- 
 timate. The English, whose numbers in Calais kept 
 daily increasing, could not return even to whence they 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 177 
 
 came, without this official's signature on their pass- 
 ports, and he was invisible during several days : thus 
 all who had arrived in the town were entrapped. 
 Early one morning, the beginning of May, 1803, the 
 Town Sergeant, accompanied by a drummer, went 
 round the town, beating the drum at certain places, 
 then the usual way of notifying anything in France, 
 and commanded all Englishmen to attend at the 
 house of the Commandant of Calais, at a time speci- 
 fied, that morning. "When they went there, they 
 were told that, **As the English government had 
 made prizes of many French vessels, previous to their 
 having declared war against the republic, the French 
 government had decreed that all Englishmen, between 
 the ages of eighteen and sixty, were prisoners of war ; 
 that at present Calais was their prison, but they must 
 not presume to pass any of its gates, or they would 
 be made close prisoners." As the General did not 
 speak English, through the interest of my partner, I 
 was appointed his interpreter, and a very unpleasant 
 position it was, (though it eventually enabled me to 
 escape,) for I was placed by the General in communi- 
 cation with any of the rich detenues who petitioned 
 him for leave to go through the Netherlands to Eng- 
 land, or any other concession they might require; 
 and was instructed to intimate to them that the only 
 way to obtain the favour of the General, was to gain 
 
178 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the good offices of a certain friend of his in the town. 
 Large sums were, I understood, paid to that person in 
 order to propitiate the General • but in every case as 
 soon as all the money, that it was possible to extract 
 from these persons, had been obtained, the drum was 
 beaten round the town, the English were summoned 
 to the General, as imperative orders had arrived from 
 Paris, " to send all th& English up the country f^ a ras- 
 eally pretence to get rid of those who had thus been 
 (as they considered) plundered. The poorer order 
 had long before been sent, or rather commanded to 
 go to Yalenoiennes. All were obliged to take Men- 
 gaud's passport, at the price of three shillings and 
 fourpence each ; and some after that ,had only two 
 shillings to find them with every necessary for a jour- 
 ney of nearly one hundred miles. "Workmen and 
 artificers, who had been induced to settle in France, 
 were obliged to sell their clothes and tools for a mere 
 trifle ; and other instances of horrible misery were 
 daily presenting themselves. 
 
 An opportunity ofi'ered of sending my family to 
 England, for females and children were then allowed 
 to depart. Accordingly, I agreed with the captain of 
 a neutral trading vessel, for a heavy price, to take 
 my family, with their luggage, to^ London, where he 
 said he was going. "When they had got about raid- 
 channel, this captain told them he should land them 
 
riSEES AND FISHING. 179 
 
 at Dover, or wherever he pleased, and evinced such 
 villanous intentions, as caused them to entertain great 
 fears for their safety ; so that a lady, who with her 
 son formed part of my family, waved her handker- 
 chief, and made signs so effectually to an English 
 cruiser, that the captain sent a boat with an officer 
 on board the trader, the explanation given of the 
 conduct of the skipper, that the lady was allied 
 to some of the first families in Dover, and was then, 
 as it might be called, escaping from a hostile shore ; 
 that she had a brother-in-law commanding a gun 
 brig in the channel ; the captain of the cruiser, who 
 was going into the Dover roads, ordered the trading 
 skipper to land them at Dover, and to refund a rea- 
 sonable proportion of the sum he had extorted, to pay 
 the difference it made between their being taken to 
 London, as the scoundrel of a skipper had undertaken 
 to do, and their having to travel thither by land. It 
 was in vain the skipper said he would take them to 
 London ; the captain of the cruiser, who had caused 
 the former to come on board the king's ship, told 
 him plainly he would not trust him, as he looked 
 upon him as little better than a pirate or robber. 
 
 The intention of Bonaparte to inspect different parts 
 of the French coast, was made known by the entry 
 into Calais of about 250 cavalry, on fine horses, well- 
 proportioned men, who, to obtain admission into the 
 
 k2 
 
180 FrSHES AND FISHING. 
 
 regiment, each must be six feet English measure, and 
 have served six years in some other regiment, without 
 the slightest blemish on his character ; these were 
 accompanied by nine Mamelukes, on splendid horses, 
 who were armed with a scymeter, a dagger, a brace 
 of pistols in their sash, a larger brace in their saddle, 
 and a short fusee ; these together formed the ad- 
 vanced guard of the escort of the Chief Consul. I 
 became acquainted with some of the officers of the 
 first corps, most gentlemanly men, from whom I had 
 the particulars as to their regiment. 
 
 Whilst Bonaparte was at Boulogne, an English 
 frigate fired amongst the workmen then constructing 
 the pier, and drove them from their work. Shot 
 were fired, by his orders, in return ; but not reaching 
 much beyond half way, he caused an examination to 
 be made as to the quality and quantity of the pow- 
 der, and finding it defective in the first, and deficient 
 in the last, which act of peculation and villany so 
 enraged him, that he tore the epaulet from the 
 shoulder of the head responsible officer, and ordered 
 him, and every one in that department, to be placed 
 in confinement ; and finding the works of the port 
 had not progressed according to his orders, he broke 
 all the officers, and suspended the operations till he 
 should send persons on whom he could depend. 
 
 During all the time I had been engaged in the 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 181 
 
 nautical concern before-named, I had had a passport, 
 which enabled me to pass through the gates of Calais 
 either way, with any number of persons in my com- 
 pany, at any hour of the night ; and as the Com- 
 mandant often wanted me to go out of the port, or 
 into the Bas Ville, he redated the parchment docu- 
 ment, and stated thereon that I was to fpass free. 
 This was the advantage I derived from being his in- 
 terpreter, as thereby I could go out on the port. 
 
 Any remittance from England was out of the ques- 
 tion, whilst matters were in this unsettled state as 
 regarded the English detenues, and as all I possessed 
 nearly was vested in the vessel before named, upon 
 which the French government first laid an embargo, 
 and then confiscated : whether the Swedish captain 
 obtained any compensation I do not know, I did not ; 
 so that I was obliged to be very careful of every sous. 
 There was a large canal of fresh water, part of the 
 moat of the fort at Calais ; seeing some Erench boys 
 catch small fish close to the edge, I considered I might 
 obtain larger ones by fishing farther out, and having 
 a very long rod, I tried the experiment, and caught 
 many roach and perch of half a pound each ; and by 
 laying eel lines, whilst I was angling, I often added 
 a good-sized eel or two, making very acceptable din- 
 ners and suppers, which my knowledge of angling 
 •fortunately afforded me. 
 
182 
 
 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 The inhabitants of Calais, anticipating the ruin of 
 their town, were not disposed to lay out their ready 
 money, except for absolute necessaries, and I had great 
 difficulty in finding purchasers for some philosophical, 
 surgical, and sporting apparatus which I had, except 
 at most trifling prices : I kept my fishing tackle till the 
 last, and only sold it the day before I escaped. My 
 books I could find no purchaser for, so I left them in 
 the care of a Frenchman, who, on my re-visitiugCalais, 
 in 1824, gave them to me, and would neither accept 
 any recompense himself, or allow anj of his family 
 to do so ; he was, like those hereunder, also a Mason. 
 
 At length the General, having no further occasion 
 for me, informed me I must also go up the country, 
 to the same place as the rest ; I therefore made up 
 my mind to escape, but how to accomplish this de- 
 sirable object was the difficulty. A variety of plans 
 were discussed by me with the other prisoners ; but I 
 found they did not possess the necessary cool deter- 
 mination to ensure success, and therefore I resolved 
 to attempt my own emancipation in my own way. 
 Accordingly, I laid myself on a mattrass, and marked 
 upon that, with a red pencil, the exact size into 
 which I could compress myself ; I then went, with a 
 brother Freemason, to dealers in furniture, boxes, &c., 
 and found an old trunk, with two locks, the exact 
 size I required ; this I purchased, and only awaited 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 1B3 
 
 the arrival of a neutral vessel, which was expected to 
 convey a number of females, children, and English- 
 men, who passed as subjects of neutral states, and had 
 corresponding passports. Curiously, whilst we were 
 dealing for the trunk that I bought, we were shown 
 one in which some person, for whose capture a great 
 price had been offered, escaped from England. In 
 about a week or ten days, the Danish brig the St. 
 Anna, Hans Hussen, master, arrived, in ballast, and 
 was to sail for Dover on the 10th of July, 1803. I 
 therefore threw a few things into the trunk, together 
 with a large bag, passed the trunk at the Custom 
 House, and, dressed as a sailor, I placed it very care- 
 fully, along with other luggage, in the cabin. My 
 friend went on board, and just before the mustering 
 of the crew by the Deputy Commissary of Police, 
 attended by a guard and the Town Sergeants ; the 
 minute examination by the Custom House officers 
 having taken place, my friend, after I had tumbled 
 everything into the bag, and stripped off my jacket, 
 locked me up in the trunk. I had not calculated the 
 expansion of the human body by heat, and he was 
 obliged to place his whole weight on the lid to force 
 it down ; he gave the key to an Englishman who had 
 a neutral passport, another brother Mason. There 
 being but very little wind, and the tide running to 
 the eastward three hours after high water, the skipper 
 
184 FISHFS AND FISniNG. 
 
 cast anchor in Calais Roads. I had been three hours 
 and a -half thus compressed, I suffered dreadfully from 
 cramp, but dared not breathe too hard. My friend 
 on board, who had the key, fearing I should be suffo- 
 cated, let me out ; I washed, dressed myself, and 
 came upon deck. There was another Englishman, 
 who had been brought off by a Erenchman in a sail- 
 ing boat, which proved the total ruin of the latter, 
 and he was obliged to fly over to England. Thankful 
 to the great '^Supreme Being who had listened to my 
 supplications, and assisted me so far, and entertaining 
 the opinion that were I taken, my life would not be 
 very safe if I were in the power of the Commandant, I 
 induced the passengers to believe that the vessel would 
 speedily, by the efflux of the tide, be aground ; and as 
 several on board knew I was well acquainted with that 
 part of the coast, and all were most anxious to get under 
 w^eigh for their native land, we made a determined at- 
 tack on the skipper by gesticulations, for we did not 
 know Danish, or he English, and very little French ; I 
 seized an axe, and made signs I would cut away the 
 cable, when he allowed his men to weigh anchor, and 
 trim the sails, and to our great joy got under weigh for 
 Dover, where we safely arrived. As we departed from 
 the French coast, we saw an English man-of-war brig 
 attacking three or four gun -boats, which had crept 
 out of Boulogne, and endeavoured to get into Calais ; 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 185 
 
 and another of our cruisers, of the same class, spread- 
 ing every stitch of canvass, bearing down to assist in 
 the destruction of these craft. I made our skipper 
 hoist Danish colours, as I was fearful the man-of-war 
 brig, as she neared us, might cause some delay by 
 overhauliog us. We had to land at Dover in boats, 
 and the boatmen, many of whom knew me, expressed 
 80 much pleasure, not for me personally, but as a 
 principle, that one had escaped from the unjust im- 
 prisonment, more particularly in such an extraordinary 
 manner, that they almost disputed who should carry 
 me ashore. 
 
 Mrs. Putland, a widow lady, who, with her family 
 of several children, came passengers in the St. Anna, 
 being disappointed of her eldest son's protection to 
 town, through his being on active service, as an officer 
 in the navy, asked me to take his place. I, therefore, 
 remained the next day at Dover, as her coach and 
 luggage had to be landed and cleared; and I had 
 enough to do to answer inquiries made by friends of 
 numerous persons who had been so villanously en- 
 trapped. At six in the morning of the 12th of July 
 we left Dover, with four good horses, and travelling 
 post. About three miles before we reached Dart- 
 ford, owing to neglect of proper greasing of the 
 wheels on the continent, one of the front wheels 
 took fire, which by water from a road- side cottage I 
 
186 PrSHES AND FISHING. 
 
 extinguished. I sent the family on to Dartford in a 
 carriage which I desired the postilions to fetch; also 
 a new wheel, and a smith, all which caused a con- 
 siderable delay, so that when we arrived at New 
 Cross, it was near half-past nine, and we were attacked 
 by a gang of luggage-stealers. By good management, 
 and showing a bold front, I saw the whole family safe 
 to their residence in Manchester Street. To gratify 
 the anxiety of the public, on the interesting subject 
 of the detenues, I sat down one night about ten 
 o'clock and wrote a little narrative on the subject, 
 which by eleven next morning was in the hands of a 
 publisher: the newspapers copied it, and had actions 
 commenced against them by him. 
 
 During about twenty-five years after my confine- 
 ment in the trunk, I suffered from a recurrence of 
 cramp of a most curious character; after getting 
 damp, unusual exertion in walking, &c., the sensation 
 was most painful, and appeared mostly as if the pain 
 were in the marrow of the bone ; but I have during 
 many years found an instant remedy, and now seldom 
 feel any symptoms of the affection. As it may benefit 
 those afflicted, I give the recipe. Compound cam- 
 phor liniment, and compound soap liniment, of each 
 one ounce ; tincture of Spanish flies, two drachms ; 
 tincture of iodine, one drachm : mix, keep in a glass 
 stoppered bottle. Eub some on the affected part 
 
FrSFlES AND FISHING. 187 
 
 when pain supervenes. My situation in the trunk 
 was of a nature most painful hoth to mind and body. 
 First, as the brig was swinging round, in order to go 
 out of harbour the proper way, those in charge of the 
 warp did not ease it so soon as they ought to have 
 done, consequently her stern caught the side of the 
 pier, and tore away some of her taffrail, which gave 
 the vessel a little shake ; but to me, who was lying 
 confined close to the spot, it appeared something of 
 considerable importance, and, joined with the Babel- 
 like confusion of voices constantly attendant upon the 
 departure of a vessel of a commercial description out 
 of a French port, made the first period of my position 
 not enviable. There were originally two locks to the 
 trunk (my temporary domicile) ; the one nearest my 
 head I took off, and cut the inner lining away, so that 
 I had all the air that could enter through that orifice. 
 Fancy the situation I was placed in, my knees drawn 
 up as high as possible, the lid forcibly pressing against 
 them, my neck bent, and my chin cousequently 
 pressed towards my chest, in a close cabin, in the 
 middle of the hottest of all hot days in the month of 
 July. I once felt an inclination to sleep, but I re- 
 solved not to give way to it ; independently of all 
 this, the fear of any accidental cause preventing the 
 gentleman who had the key from getting on board, 
 and the whole chain of natural mental anxieties, I was 
 
188 nSHES AND FISHING. 
 
 blessed with courage to endure, by a merciful Provi- 
 dence, whereby I was saved also from suifocation. 
 
 Bonaparte had not the full command then, as he 
 had afterwards, and therefore the whole odium of 
 this most atrocious act, a disgrace to . any civilized 
 nation, should not justly be attributed solely to him ; 
 that he felt great animosity toward the English na- 
 tion there can be no doubt ; and this was not to us, 
 who resided in Prance, a matter of any surprise. 
 Although the peace of Amiens had placed the two 
 nations ostensibly upon friendly terms, the press 
 Avas continually lavishing abuse and insults upon the 
 Chief Consul, and this he considered as the general 
 feeling of the English people. To a man like him, 
 it must have been, and was, very annoying ; our press 
 had no more right to interfere, or make observations 
 relating to him, or his government, than one person 
 has to do so, respecting another's domestic arrange- 
 ments. The residents in France saw one paper after 
 another interdicted, till at last they all became so ; 
 and it was the general opinion at that time, there, 
 that his rude conduct to Lord Whitworth was chiefly 
 induced by the virulence of the English press : if 
 Buch were the fact, the authors of all the insults on 
 that man, are morally the cause of the deaths of those 
 who perished in the war, from that time till the bat- 
 tle of Waterloo ; and after all, for what ? Merely to 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 189 
 
 gratify the morbid taste of those, who are desirous of 
 bringing down every human being to their own low 
 standard of moral worth. There are, unfortunately, too 
 many hireling scribes, and would-be wits, on both 
 sides of the channel, ready to pander to such propen- 
 sities, I believe there are some English periodical 
 publications now interdicted in France, I know there 
 were. Let meddlers beware ! 
 
 The conduct of the French government was inex- 
 cusable as to the detenues. Had the English been 
 taken whilst fighting against the French, it would 
 have been a different affair : but in this case, the 
 visitors were guests of the French nation, they in- 
 creased the trade of the places they frequented, by 
 spending their money freely ; the residents embarked 
 capital in .business, and complied with their laws, by 
 paying for a species of patent of naturalization : and 
 then, in defiance of every rule and custom of civilized 
 nations, all were made prisoners. Such were the 
 feelings excited amongst the detenues, and such their 
 desire of liberty, that few, if any, would have hesi- 
 tated to emancipate themselves, though in so doing 
 they were obliged to sacrifice the lives of any of the 
 opposing employes of the then French government. 
 
 When Bonaparte was at Calais, he crossed over 
 in a boat, and inspected Fort Eouge, at the entrance 
 of the harbour, which then mounted eight or ten 
 
190 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 24-poimders ; the soldiers placed tli^re are relieved 
 when the tide is out, as they then march to it on the 
 land side, and ascend a flight of stairs or steps. 
 
 Shortly after my return to London, I was sent for 
 to the office of the Secretary of State, and was intro- 
 duced to Admiral Sir Home Popham. I was re- 
 quested to give the whole particulars relative to this 
 fort, which, for some reason, the English government 
 wished to have destroyed ; I gave him the width of 
 the openings between the piles upon which it is erect- 
 ed, and this I could do most correctly, as I had often 
 been under it in a boat, after wild ducks I had shot, 
 which had drifted there. My animosity against the 
 French was then so strong, through the loss I had been 
 subject to, and the treatment I had experienced, that 
 I offered, if the means were supplied me, to destroy 
 it entirely. I knew the risk, but would then^have 
 been gratified to have taken the hazard ; I am now 
 happy I had not the lives of so many men to answer 
 for. The Admiral attempted to destroy it j but em- 
 ployed such very inefficient means that he merely dis- 
 placed a plank or two, which alarmed the garrison so 
 as to render any future attempt useless. 
 
 I had enough to occupy my energies to repair my 
 losses ; and for some time had neither tackle or time 
 to angle. After a short period, by my brother's 
 death, I having become the only son, my father and 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 191 
 
 mother, who had been estranged from rae by misre- 
 presentation, sent me an invitation, and I frequently- 
 visited them : when the season for angling came on, 
 I bought a general rod, &c., and there being a great 
 many perch, at that time, in some of my old fishing 
 places I renewed my acquaintance with angling by 
 very good sport in taking perch. 
 
 My orthography of the name Bonaparte may, to 
 some, appear erroneous ; but I think it is the correct 
 way. In the " Biographie Universelle ,'* it is said, 
 that T^apoleon the First left out the *' u," which had 
 been used by his father, as he wished it to be thought 
 he was more of French origin. Of this there can be 
 little doubt. 
 
 When Edward the Third obtained a grant, or pro- 
 bably forced from the clergy a ninth of their incomes 
 for two years, to enable him to prosecute his wars, 
 he did not consider that the clergy had acted honestly 
 by him, and therefore, on a reimposition of the tax, 
 in 1340, the king would nat accept the returns 
 of income made by the clergy themselves, but caused 
 assessors and venditors to be appointed, who were 
 to cause the principal parishioners in eveiy parish, 
 on their oaths, to deliver an account af the annual 
 value, and sources of the income of their respec- 
 tive churches ; the records of those valuations, with, 
 in most instances, the names of the jurors^ for twenty- 
 
192 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 seven counties, are in existence, and were printed 
 many years ago, by order of Parliament, a copy of 
 which I have. In the parish of Maiden ITewton, 
 in the county of Dorset, one of the jurors was William 
 Boneparte. In other of the parishes, in the same 
 county, Thomas Bonevyle, Robert Bonefeld, Law- 
 rence Bonefaz. In Suffolk, Simon Boneye. In Hamp- 
 shire, Badulphus Bonebrock. In Wiltshire, William 
 Boneteste, Radulphi Bienacr'. In Cambridgeshire, 
 Walter Bonebrok. In Bedfordshire, Richard Bone- 
 brok, Nicholas Bonebrok, Richard Bonebrok, Junior, 
 Nigel Bonegent. There can be little doubt that the 
 ancestors of these persons came over with William 
 the Norman, when he invaded this country, or after 
 he had gained it ; and affords a fair presumption that 
 the family of Bonaparte, was of Norman extraction. 
 Prince Lucien ^^ Bona/parte " presented a curious spe- 
 cimen of eel to the British Museum ; and Napoleon 
 the Pirst, when appointed Chief Consul for life, was 
 so invested as "Napoleon Bonaparte^ See ** Histoire 
 du Consulat et de TEmpire," par Monsieur A. Thiers, 
 The above records are in abbreviated Latin ; they 
 are very curiouSy for they shew the origin of a vast 
 number of surnames ; and are most iw^portant to the 
 clergy, as they shew in many counties what tithes, 
 glebe land, belonged then to the church, and must 
 still be its property. These rolls are very little known, 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 193 
 
 and very few can read them in the original, and those 
 who can read the printed copy are not numerous ; they 
 have, in some instances, been brought forward, ad- 
 vantageously, in support of the rights of the church. 
 Perch are a very voracious fish, and afford excellent 
 sport to the angler. The season for perch and pike 
 is from the first of July till the twenty-eighth of Fe- 
 bruary. Angle for the middle sized ones with a 
 worm, and where they run larger, with a minnow, 
 or small gudgeon; put your hook through just by 
 the back fin, use a cork float. Perch, like the pike, 
 take their prey by the middle, and, in this case, strike 
 as soon as there is a bite ; if the hook be placed in 
 the lip of the bait, give a little time to allow the perch 
 to turn the minnow, and swallow it head first. If 
 you intend to fish with worms, a little while before 
 you begin, throw in balls of clay, in which some 
 worms are embedded, with their tails just protruding, 
 and bait with rich brandlings, smelling very strongly, 
 and exuding a yellow liquid, or red worms with a 
 yellow tail ; do not give too much time on having 
 e. bite, or the hook must be cut out of the fish's gul- 
 let ; if you take one, you are almost certain of several 
 others, of which this is an example. 
 
 A fortunate tradesman, who had retired into 
 the country from the fatigues of business, invited, 
 most pressiugly, a London friend, upon several 
 
 
 
194 FISHES AND PISHING. 
 
 occasions of their meeting, to visit him at his 
 sylvan residence ; and, amongst other inducements, 
 promised, though he was no angler himself, to 
 afford his friend the sport of angling in his water. 
 This attracted the Londoner ; a day was fixed, and our 
 angler arrived with a full complement of rods, lines, 
 baits, &c., and was anxious to commence ; — hut no ! 
 luncheon was first to be disposed of; after which the 
 host introduced his friend to his water, which proved 
 to be a little round basin, not wider than the length 
 of one of the rods the angler had brought with him. 
 As must be naturally imagined, the visitor was disap- 
 pointed and vexed, though he did not choose to shew 
 his vexation; and, on the assurance that there were 
 perch in the pond, he put his tackle together, and the 
 moment he dropped his bait into the water, he hooked 
 a fine perch ; another, and another, followed ; and 
 when his friend came to tell him dinner was ready, 
 and enquired as to the success he had had, the angler 
 showed him thirty-five perch. ** Well !'* said the 
 good-hearted host, ** I am glad you have had such 
 sport ; I caused three dozen to be put in the day be- 
 fore yesterday.*' ** Oh !" replied the angler, " I will 
 take the other, and then I shall have nothing to do in 
 that way, after dinner." 
 
 Another anecdote, arising through perch fishing 
 may be introduced here. A tanner at Esher, haviug 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 195 
 
 premises abutting on the river Mole, a stout, good- 
 tempered old bachelor, in easy circumstances, ani 
 fond of practical jokes, was asked by the village sur- 
 geon, with whom he was on intimate terms, to have 
 some proper ground-bait thrown into the river, in a 
 hole adjoining his (the tanner's) grounds, as he (the 
 surgeon) had a friend coming from London to have 
 some perch fishing; the tanner said, ** he would bait 
 the hole.** The anglers arrived at the spot, and begun ; 
 eaoh, on the first swim had an apparent bite, and each 
 lost a hook ; this occurring again and again, the sur- 
 geon went home without being observed by the tan- 
 ner's people, and brought a grapnel, with which he 
 pulled up one or two small faggots, in which were 
 tied up pieces of old iron to sink them. He and his 
 friend left the place, and meeting the tanner, thanked 
 him for allowing them to fish, and for the trouble he 
 had taken in baiting the place, but said the perch 
 would not feed, the wind or sun was not favourable, 
 or some excuse of the kind, which disappointed the 
 tanner of his laugh at them. Some time after, on a 
 very hot day in July, the tanner had to ride to Lon- 
 don on some business, and returning in the evening, 
 he found it necessary to send his old maid servant for 
 some plaister. The village Esculapius wormed ( uc 
 for what purpose it was required, and persuaded h* r 
 to take plaisters which he prepared. The tanner 
 
 3 
 
196 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 applied them on going to bed, but was soon awakened 
 by intense pain. At an early hour poor old Nanny 
 was called by her master ; she put on her spectacles, 
 and exclaimed, " La, sir ! why they be two as fine 
 blisters as 1 ever did see." The surgeon boldly de- 
 clared, that Nanny explained herself so very imper- 
 fectly, that he thought he did quite right in sending 
 what he had done, and so availing himself of the old 
 maid's delicacy, he avenged himself for the trick 
 the tanner had played him, who discovered that he 
 had had the worst of the joke, and that it is dange- 
 rous to play with edged tools. The story became 
 known, and the tanner, instead of laughing, as he ex- 
 pected, at his angling friends, was laughed at himself. 
 In 1813, 1 joined my family with that of a friend, 
 who had obtained a large house and pleasure grounds, 
 and land, upon very reasonable terms, on the borders 
 of Henhault Forest. Outside our gates, upon the 
 waste, there was a large pond, the water of which 
 was very clear, and the bottom a loamy gravel ; a 
 one end there was a clear space, about twenty feet 
 out, — the rest of the pond was full of a wiry weed. 
 My friend's sons, and a young gentleman of my 
 family, though we had two fish ponds in our own 
 grounds, went outside to this pond to fish ; in about 
 an hour they caught a large dish full of fine perch ; 
 but they lost several hooks, which I attributed to 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 197 
 
 their inexperience. Next evening I went with them, 
 and my gut line was broken by a large fish ; these I 
 thought must be eels, who had entangled themselves 
 in the weeds, and so broken the line ; I therefore laid 
 an eel line across a clear part of the pond. I obtained 
 some minnows from London, with which I baited a 
 few of the hooks, but they remained untouched, 
 whilst those baited with worms, were picked clean. 
 My groom, and our gardener, proposed to get in and 
 mow the weeds, it being very hot weather, and the 
 pond not being deep, if I would hire or borrow a net 
 in London. They cut the weeds, and tying ropes to 
 the two ends of a long heavy chain, they thought to 
 pull out the weeds; but the chain began to roll, 
 gathering up the weeds, until, when about one-third 
 of the length of the pond from the end they were 
 proceeding to, the mass of weeds became high above, 
 the water, and immoveable. Two teams of horses 
 were at work, drawing timber; I boiTowed their 
 assistance, and drew the weeds out. We then put 
 the net through, and took as many tench, from three 
 to seven pounds each, as filled a large clothes basket, 
 which two men with difficulty carried up to the 
 house ; we threw in all that appeared under three 
 pounds, and all the perch. Just as we had finished, 
 Long John, one of the foresters, upon his white 
 horse, with his gun across the pommel of the saddle. 
 
198 FISHES AND FISHIJSG. 
 
 came and questioned us. I said, we were upon the 
 waste, and not on the forest ; however, a glass or two 
 of strong ale, and a similar quantum of brandy, made 
 all right with him, and he advised us to go to Hog- 
 hill pond, where he said there were immense carp 
 and tench — but we never tried it. 
 
 I was induced upon one occasion to angle in a large 
 pond for tench. I caught several about three-quar- 
 ters of a pound each, but then, on having a bite, I 
 found a large eft, or newt, or asker, on my hook, 
 which had taken my worm. The gardener who 
 owned the pond, said, ** Ah ! when these varmint 
 begins to bite, the tench leaves off; ** and this opinion 
 is confirmed by old authors, whose works I have. 
 
 I have generally caught tench by baiting with a 
 worm, but it is said a sweet paste is very excellent, 
 and I have found it so in the Serpentine river ; some 
 advise a little tar in the paste, but I never tried it. 
 One of these fish from a river is much superior to 
 any irom a pond, unless it have a marly gravel bot- 
 tom ; they do not, commonly, as it is said, exceed 
 five or six pounds weight, but one was taken at 
 Thorn ville Royal, Yorkshire, which weighed twelve 
 pounds. In the lake at Apse Court, Moulsey, Surrey, 
 I know one was taken above eight pounds ; several 
 of those taken near Henhault Forest, as before-men- 
 tioned, were full seven pounds. 
 
F1SHK8 AND FISHING. 1£9 
 
 A tench is said to be the physician of other fish ; 
 and it is a well-known fact, that no pike or perch 
 will take a small tench, if offered as a bait ; the slime 
 there is on a tench, possesses a healing property, and 
 instinct teaches other fish when wounded, to avail 
 themselves of it, as this instance will demonstrate 
 Minnows and gold fish, in a state of confinement, 
 impelled by hunger, eagerly seize a small common 
 fly. A gentleman, who was unfortunately unable to 
 leave the house for some time, through an accident, 
 on whom I often called, amused himself by making 
 small artificial flies, which he did very neatly ; he 
 kept some minnows, and a tench about two inches 
 and a quarter long, in a very large wide-mouthed 
 bottle; all the minnows had died, except one; my 
 friend was just finishing a fly as I went into his room, 
 and he held it upon the surface of the water in the 
 bottle, as he was often in the habit of doing ; the 
 minnow darted at it so rapidly, that he could not 
 withdraw the fly in time to prevent the hook from 
 pricking the minnow ; the little fish descended three 
 parts of the way down the bottle, poised himself for a 
 moment, with his nose pointing downwards, then 
 swiftly went the remainder of the way, rubbed his 
 nose during a few seconds against the side of the 
 tench, who remained perfectly quiet, and then the 
 minnow swam about as lively as before. We both 
 
200 FISnKS AND FISHING. 
 
 joined in the opinion that it is really no fable, as to 
 tench being the Esculapius of fish ; for here was an 
 example before our eyes, of a fish being wounded, 
 and immediately instinct directed him to seek a re- 
 medj-. 
 
 As a lad, I thought myself fully acquainted with 
 angling, for I had seen little or nothing of fly-fishing ; 
 beyond dibbing, my success was so great as a bottom 
 fisher, that my father's pocket suffered very consider- 
 ably, as I caught much more fish than could be con- 
 sumed by our family ; and my father sent, as presents 
 to our numerous friends in London ; to one a bagful of 
 eels, to another a brace of carp, to a third a large pike, 
 to a fourth a dish of perch, to a fifth six or eight 
 dozen of gudgeons, and these presents were often 
 varied, and repeated ; and he always paid the car- 
 riage, and seldom had his baskets, &c., returned. I 
 had several trunks for keeping fish alive, so that I 
 could make up a handsome present of fish at almost 
 any time. In conversation with a lady of rank, to 
 whomi had been introducedononeofmy visits to town, 
 the subject of angling was mentioned by her, and she 
 said there were many river fish that she had never 
 seen ; I replied, that I would send her a brace of every 
 fish that inhabited our waters, with their respective 
 names marked on them ; which I did, with a dish of 
 gudgeons and a bagful of eels. 
 
nSHES AND FISHING. 901 
 
 But a change came over the spirit of my dream ; 
 I was to see a new phase in the art of angling. A 
 physician who had married a lady of large fortune, 
 several years previously, came on a visit of a few days 
 to our house; this gentleman was a fly-fisher, and 
 almost thought any other way of angling derogatory^ 
 to him, though he did condescend, on one or two 
 mornings, to go out in a punt, gudgeon fishing. In 
 the evening, the fisherman took him nearly down to 
 an ait on the opposite or Middlesex side of the river, 
 about two-thirds of the way across ; a square stone 
 with a ring in it was then dropped, attached by a 
 rope, from the stern of the punt, which caused the 
 punt to move slowly down stream, and enabled the 
 angler to throw his fly near the osiers ; he caught a 
 great number of chub, from one to four pounds, and 
 one trout of three pounds. I was delighted with this 
 mode of angling, the ne plus ultra of that fascinating 
 art, but I had neither tackle, or knowledge suffi- 
 cient ; and other busy scenes of life awaited me, dis- 
 tant from my peaceful, paternal home, which I never 
 again inhabited, except upon a visit of a few days 
 at a time. 
 
 In 1805, I became acquainted with a Welsh gen- 
 tleman, Mr. L., whose description of fly-fishing for 
 trout and sewin, fired again my imagination ; and I 
 determined to become a fly-fisher. I bought a rod, 
 
202 FISHKS AND FISHING. 
 
 winch,* line, and flies for the purpose, and went out 
 with him several times to the "Wandle, and by degrees, 
 learned to throw a line sufficiently well to take 
 some trout ; I then went up the Thames to my well- 
 known locality. Many a poor little dace did I as- 
 tonish, by sending him over my head as many yards 
 behind me, as he had been, a minute previously, before 
 me ; and frequently a large fish had the advantage of 
 carrying off my fly, with the gut attached, through 
 my striking too forcibly. In trying to get out a long 
 line, I was often annoyed by hearing a crack behind 
 me, something like a coachman's whip, denoting 
 that my fly was gone upon a voyage in the air, of 
 which I had lost all control ; and as I was totally 
 ignorant of fly-making, I became a very good cus- 
 tomer to the fly -dresser. With all these disadvan- 
 tages, I succeeded in taking some large chub ; and 
 oue evening, upon a shallow, then existing near 
 
 * Never use a multiplying winch ; it has no power to con- 
 trol a large fish. By long experience I have found that a well- 
 made plain check winch is much superior. I have one, the 
 interior of which was taken out by a clock-Tnaker, and replaced 
 by a well-hammered wheel and check, so regulated, under my 
 direction, as to require four ounces to cause the handle to move ; 
 therefore I never fish with the hand upon my line. In strik- 
 ing, the resistance is quite sufficient to fix the hook in a fish, 
 but not suflicient to break the tackle ; if you hook a small fish, 
 he is not liable to be pulled out of the water ; and if a large 
 one. the line runs out under the slight resistance ofifered by a 
 retaining power of four ounces. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 203 
 
 Thames Lock, I hooked and killed a trout about two 
 pounds. 
 
 Soon after my return to town, I took my fly-rod, 
 &c., and went to the Horse and Groom, at Lea 
 Bridge, and caught a chub or two in the water at the 
 tail of the mill. I went round to the mill head, and 
 saw a neat little man on the Barge Walk, dropping 
 his fly very cleverly under sofne willows, and taking 
 several chub, a pound or more each; his rod was 
 shorter than mine, and he threw a greater length of 
 line than I, at that time, could have accomplished ; 
 but which I afterwards did easily. I entered into 
 conversation with him ; invited him to take tea with 
 me in the house; we afterwards went to the mill 
 tail, and he, in the most unassuming manner, pointed 
 out my defect in fly-fishing, which was too much im- 
 petuosity. He was rather astonished when he found 
 I could not make a fly, and giving me his address, 
 (Mr. H.) said, if I would call upon him, he would 
 have great pleasure in teaching me. He was highly 
 respectable, and I invited him to my house ; he came 
 and taught me how to dress a fly ; explained the differ- J 
 ence and advantages of hackles out of a live cock, | 
 over those taken after the fowl is dead — which is, 
 that the former keep their elasticity in the water, 
 and the latter collapse, and become like a rag. This 
 is well understood in France, in regard to beds; 
 
204 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 one made of live feathers, if you press your hand down 
 into it, rises again, and shows no mark of the inden- 
 tation ; whereas one made of dead feathers, leaves the 
 full mark of the indentation; and if the price of the 
 latter be forty francs, the price of the former would 
 be eighty or a hundred francs. I am not the apologist 
 of the persons who obtain these feathers for live beds, 
 or of the methods they fise, which I am told are cruel ; 
 not so, however, is the method of obtaining live 
 hackles, they are carefully plucked out, one at a time, 
 and are no more than pulling a hair at a time out of 
 a man's or woman's head ; they are in perfection the 
 latter end of September, or all the month of October. 
 The hackles from some cocks are most beautiful, light 
 or dark duns, speckled with gold-coloured spots; 
 some of these spots are so minute as to be seen only 
 with a magnifying glass; these from the necks of 
 hens, which make up cloak fashion as it is called, are 
 also highly prized. Live hackles of all descriptions 
 Mr. H. had in great numbers, and I believe he crossed 
 the breed of fowls, to obtain many of them ; and on 
 any angling excursion he made into the country, he 
 invariably purchased, if to be sold, even at a high 
 price, any curious bird which would yield feathers of 
 that description. He was very liberal in his gifts of 
 feathers to me, many of which I still have ; and after 
 his death, which I shall presently mention, his sou 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 205 
 
 kindly added from his father's stock to mine. Mr. 
 H. proved to me that most fly rods were too weak in 
 the middle ; that when held out horizontally they 
 drooped too much ; he could not find a rod that suited 
 his ideas, so he obtained tools and made his own ; he 
 pointed out to me the necessity of having the ferrules 
 well hammered upon triblets, (round pieces of steel, ) 
 and to protect his rod from the effects of rain, he 
 varnished it with copal varnish. At my request he 
 introduced me to an old Welshman, named David 
 Williams, whom Mr. H. had drilled into making 
 rods according to his plan ; this Williams was ac- *^..,^ 
 quainted with Clark, the unrivalled maker of glued- | ^ 
 up bamboo fly-rods ; the most excellent of all rods, i ^ 
 I obtained about ten sticks of the proper cane, and 
 Williams induced Clark to make one for me, and 
 anotlier for my friend, Mr L. 
 
 Williams was a very good angler, but an eccentric 
 character ; he always went out fishing by himself ; 
 would never tell any one where he was going, or on 
 his return say where he had been ; or acknowledge 
 to having caught more than a brace. One day the 
 landlord of the Duke's Head, Waliington, named 
 Webster, a house well known, at that time, to all an- 
 glers on the Wandle, was passing a part of the fre 
 water, and seeing Williams, whom he knew, he 
 enquired if he had had any sport. *' l^a ! na !" said 
 
206 FISHES A3^D FISHING. 
 
 the old man, " the fish wont tuche." No sooner had 
 he uttered these words, than the linen strap of his bag 
 broke, which he had concealed under his great coat, 
 for it was misty weather, and out tumbled upon the 
 grass twenty-two trout ! The landlord, to annoy 
 Williams for telling such a falsehood, insisted upon 
 holding the bag whilst the old sinner replaced his 
 fish, which done, "Webster said, " Do you call these 
 nothing ? Why, if the fish had tucked^ you would not 
 have been able to carry them home.'* 
 
 I continued my friendly intercourse with Mr. H. 
 during many years, and never had cause to regret 
 having formed his acquaintance. I was most deeply 
 grieved when he was deprived of his life at the age 
 of seventy-five, but healthy, and not seeming sixty, 
 through two conductors of omnibuses each pulling 
 him to obtain him as a passenger, when a third om- 
 nibus drove furiously up between the first two ; to save 
 themselves, the conductors hastily let go their hold of 
 my poor friend, who fell down in consequence, and 
 the wheels of the third omnibus went over him. His 
 leg and thigh were broken, and he was otherwise so 
 injured, that he died very soon after he was conveyed 
 home. Peace to his manes! I have never, in my 
 passage through life, met with a more kind, unobtru- 
 sive, upright, and generous man, as far as his means 
 would allow : he was, in fact, a complete personifi- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 207 
 
 cation of what we suppose Izaak "Walton to have 
 been. 
 
 I quite agree with Mr. Rennie, and other authors 
 of celebrity, that the amazing diversity of artificial 
 flies is not necessary. I used generally to find it the 
 most successful mode, to observe what fly was on the 
 water, and to use a fly or palmer of the same colour 
 as near as possible ; and if I had not one, to sit down 
 and make it. Palmers made of live hackles are very 
 successful, for they resemble a fly in rapid motion 
 which has fallen into the water, and is using its wings 
 to extricate itself, and the action the angler gives it, 
 by the tremulous motion of his rod, completes the 
 deception. Palmers, it is supposed by some persons, 
 are intended to represent the long-haired and varie- 
 gated caterpillars ; but I think the above explana- 
 tion is more reasonable. Throw into a river one of 
 these last-mentioned insects, it floats down with the 
 current an inert, unattractive mass; throw into a 
 stream a fly of any kind, and a caterpillar, the former 
 will be immediately and eagerly caught by a fish, 
 while the latter will be allowed to pass unnoticed for 
 a considerable time, and probably be wholly neg- 
 lected. 
 
 Mr. L. and myself, in coming home one evening 
 from the Wandle, I having a proper fishing basket, 
 were annoyed by observations and low witticisms on 
 
208 FISHK.S AND FISHING. 
 
 fishermen, as we passed, wbich I determined to avoid 
 in future, if possible. I had, therefore, a kind of 
 pouch-bag made, the pattern of which I had from my 
 old friend Mr. H. ; this being carried in the pocket, 
 was only called into requisition if fish were caught ; 
 whereas a basket is an incumbrance going, and also a 
 still greater nuisance in returning, particularly if you 
 have no fish in it. Next, to prevent the rod being 
 seen as such, I obtained a dark bamboo cane with a 
 root to it, such as is often used for the stick of an 
 umbrella ; I had a ferule at the small end, with a 
 cap screwed on, into the ferule fitted the screw of an 
 Irish landing-net of silk, the rim being in four pieces 
 of wood and brass ; I had a partition bag for the rod, 
 made of some light material, and when this was 
 wrapped round the centre stick, which projected at 
 top and bottom, even a very close observer woiild 
 have considered it was an umbrella. At the top of 
 this centre stick I had a female brass screw inserted, 
 to receive a small spear, for the purpose of placing 
 my landing net upright from the ground, to prevent 
 it being trodden on, and also to enable me in trout 
 fishing to see in a moment whereabouts it was. With 
 these arrangements, I could go out or come home 
 without any one supposing I had been angling ; but 
 this led to two or three rather ludicrous mistakes. 
 One day I was caught in a heavy shower on 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 209 
 
 MitcTiam Common, and hastened to the shelter of a 
 cottage ; two young ladies, who had also availed 
 themselves of the same accommodation, were standing 
 just within the door, when one said to the other, not 
 intending I should hear it, " See this gentleman, I 
 suppose he has a new umbrella, and is afraid the rain 
 will spoil it." Another time, I had been angling in 
 the Test, and on leaving, with my host and his wife, 
 in a post chaise, for the train, I asked my friend's 
 butler if he had put my fishing-rod into the carriage, 
 when he replied, " 'No, Sir ; but I have put your um- 
 brella in ;" and was running away to find the fishing- 
 rod, till I stopped him by saying, " it was all right." 
 I had a few weeks' leisure time, and having an 
 introduction to, and invitation by, a gentleman in 
 Somersetshire, I made his house in the way of ray 
 tour. Mr. H. was most hospitable ; he had been a 
 surgeon, but had retired from practice several years, 
 having found a method of making a fortune more 
 rapidly. He was a highly talented and educated 
 man, and we became so well pleased with each other, 
 that he would not hear of my departure ; in fact, 
 whenever I seriously talked of leaving, he would send 
 a servant down to the outer great gate of his demesne 
 to lock it, and then, laughing, toll me if I were deter- 
 mined to go I must teach my horse to leap his high 
 gate, with the chaise at his heels. A day or two 
 
210 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 after I and my wife arrived at his house, I went with 
 his nephew to a river about a mile and a-half off, 
 where I was told there were trout, and I took my 
 disguised fly rod in my hand. The river appeared a 
 deep, sluggish stream, by no means the heau ideal of 
 a trout stream, but I was assured there were plenty 
 of that fish in it. We came to a bridge, and there 
 was a country lad, with a hazel rod, sometliing like a 
 cart whip, and a line about half as long again as the 
 rod, trying to throw a great nondescript fly to a 
 bubble, that every now and then was caused by the 
 lazy rising of a trout, but beyond his reach. This 
 Izaak Walton of the village, when we arrived, was 
 just giving it up as a futile attempt : I said, *' What, 
 are you going away, leaving that fellow to laugh 
 at you.'"' *' Noa, noa, zur, I'll ha'un to-morrow.'* 
 ♦' Oh," said I, " I'll have him to-night." '' Ho, ho !" 
 shouted the rustic. *' What, we' thic thing, thee's 
 breUa ?" *' Yes," I said, and proceeded to set up my 
 rod, placed on my winch, and prepare for action. I 
 put on a red palmer with a yellowish body, then gra- 
 dually got my line out to a level with where the fish 
 had risen ; he made another bubble, and by a quick 
 turn of my wrist my fly was on the spot, and he was 
 hooked in a moment, to the great astonishment of all 
 the yokels who were looking on. He weighed about 
 a pound and a half. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 211 
 
 N'ext day, Mrs. M., who, from her nephew's account 
 of what he saw the over night, began to think highly 
 of my piscatorial skill, proposed that we should make 
 a party to go and angle in the same river. I was 
 informed we should require worms, and lines with 
 floats. We went, but defend me from such trout 
 fishing : we killed about eight brace, of a pound to a 
 pound and a-half a fish. When we arrived at home, 
 Mr. M., who occasionally imitated the Somersetshire 
 dialect, began to jeer us, saying, " What, do'e call 
 thic things trout ? come along we' me, and 111 show 
 thee trout, and what's more, I'll gi' thee leave to 
 catch them if thee can, by any mode thee art master 
 of, except netting; and thee may'st begin after 
 dinner." Sure enough, he showed me, in an artificial 
 canal, two hundred yards long, ten feet wide, about 
 six feet deep, and the water so clear that a pin 
 thrown in would be seen at the bottom, some, but 
 not many, very large trout. 
 
 During dinner and dessert, Mr. M. laughed, and 
 said he had shewed me trout, but defied me to catch 
 them ; if I could, he would acknowledge I was an 
 angler, but not without. After dinner, I found some 
 worms, and as I was going out, Mrs. M. said, " Catch 
 some of his trout, if you can, by any means, but do 
 not let him laugh at us and our angling." He and I 
 went to the canal, I taking with me a strong trolling 
 
 p2 
 
212 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 rod. I put on a large hook, baited it, and presented 
 my worm to a fine large trout, who turned away, 
 having plenty of food. Mr. M. said, " There he be, 
 why doesn't giv'um thy bait?" At last he went 
 away, laughing ; as soon as he was gone, I took ojff 
 the worm, whipped on two more large hooks in the 
 manner of a grapnel, wound a small piece of lead off a 
 plummet round the shanks, and dropped them very 
 gently a couple of yards ahead of a large trout, 
 brought it gradually underneath his gills, struck 
 suddenly and strongly upwards, caught him fast, and 
 knowing my tackle to be strong, gave him no play, 
 but landed him directly ; and as soon as I had taken 
 off my grapnel hooks, and put a single one on, I 
 carried up my fish, which weighed above six pounds, 
 to the house, and shewing it to Mr. M., asked him if 
 he thought it would be enough for that portion of to- 
 morrow's dinner. Mrs. M. laughed ; but he stared 
 with astonishment, and for some moments could not 
 speak. At length he said, " Thee art the devil ! thee 
 sha'n't fish in my canal any more." '' Oh !" said T, 
 ''I'll take every fish in it, if you desire them." 
 " No, no ! I revoke my license to fish in my canal," 
 rejoined he. Mrs. M, was much pleased, for she had 
 told him not to be so sure that I did not catch some 
 of his overgrown fish, l^ext day, there were two 
 iriends of Mr. M.'s to dinner, and whilst we were at 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 213 
 
 our dessert, I stated that Mr. M. had defied me, by 
 whatever art I was master of, to catch any of the fish 
 in his canal. I then said, I had found them too well 
 fed to take the bait I offered them, and therefore 
 resorted to another species of art ; and producing my 
 triangular hooks, showed how I had beaten Mr. M. 
 He laughed as heartily as any of the rest; and I 
 advised him, if ever he defied another angler to catch 
 his trout, to make a stipulation that it should be by 
 fair fishing, 
 
 Mr. M. introduced me to a Mr. W., who had- a 
 legitimate trout stream, very much over-stocked, for 
 he seldom took any out for his own use, or as presents, 
 and never invited any one to angle, unless he was 
 quite sure they either were not anglers, or that they 
 had no tackle. I went to his house and grounds one 
 day with Mr. M., who was resolved, with my assist- 
 ance, to play off a practical joke upon Mr. W, I 
 took with me my disguised fly rod, and whilst Mr. 
 W. was regretting that he had no tackle, or he should 
 have been delighted to have seen me catch some of 
 his trout, I turned to my friend M., and said, "Well, 
 we can go another day angling to where you pro- 
 posed taking me, and for which I brought my tackle ; 
 and as Mr. W. says it will give him such pleasure to 
 see me catch some trout, I will, with his leave, begin." 
 Mr. M. could with difficulty restrain his laughter, and 
 
214 riSHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Mr. W. his mortification. I caught several brace 
 which I laid upon the lawn, and then said, " I hoped 
 I had gratified him (Mr. W.) by complying with his 
 wishes ; that I would take one brace for Mrs. M.'s 
 supper, and leave the rest." On our road home, Mr. 
 M. enjoyed the fun, and said he thought Mr. W. 
 would never press any one to angle again, if he saw 
 an umbrella in the hand of the person, lest it should 
 turn out to be a fly rod. 
 
 In corroboration of Mr. Ronnie's observation before 
 referred to, as to the uselessness of the multiplicity 
 of artificial flies, the following may be confirmatory of 
 his opinion, and I believe of most experienced fly- 
 fishers. 
 
 *' The inexperienced trout fisher generally encum- 
 bers himself with a large book, containing a whole 
 host of flies, for the dressing of which, he has resorted 
 to the fur of every animal under the sun, and the 
 feathers of every bird that cleaves the air ! He has 
 materials without end, flies without number, with as 
 many names as would puzzle and confound the most 
 skilful entomologist. 
 
 " This is all useless. The genuine trout fisher, on 
 the contrary, takes with him very few flies, and kills 
 as many fish as he pleases. But he is by no means 
 an inattentive observer of every thing, — every indi- 
 cation of weather, — every change in the state of the 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 215 
 
 atmosphere, — every ripple that marks the whereabout 
 of the fish. The yellow dun for the tail fly, and the 
 red palmer for the bob, are generally sufficient for 
 most streams, with a white moth for the approaching 
 darkness. A few flies of this description, and an 
 extra line or gut-length, wound around the hat for 
 readiness, and the saving of time, are far better than 
 a heavy and useless book of flies. On some occasions, 
 however, it is necessary to be provided with a few 
 materials more closely resembling the flies upon which 
 the fish may be feeding." — ("Sporting Scenes and 
 Country Characters, by Martingale.*' Longman and 
 Company.) 
 
 There are, nevertheless, peculiar artificial flies 
 which are very attractive on some rivers ; for instance, 
 the river Wandle; no May-fly is ever seen on it, 
 neither do its waters become thick by storms of rain, 
 like the Mole and the Wey, but it has a small fly, 
 which all the London fly-dressers know as the cock- 
 tail. I have departed from the usual shop fly, bearing 
 this name, with, great advantage to my sport, by 
 making the two little hairs of the tail, of fibres of the 
 golden pheasants' topping, or blue fibres of the king- 
 fisher ; also, by having some of the extreme ends of the 
 bodies of a corresponding blue, or bright yellow. 
 
 In the Dartford river, a very dark red palmer, with 
 peacocks' herle, and a little bright yellow at the end 
 
216 FrSFIES AND FISHING. 
 
 of the body, either finely ribbed, or not, with silver, 
 is, I am told, very killiag ; but natural hackles, so 
 dark a red, are scarce. 
 
 In the Thames, palmers of a tolerable good size, of 
 any description, will take chub and dace ; but the 
 fly with which Mr. Brand, a legal gentleman, of 
 Staples Inn, a most successful fly angler, killed trout 
 and salmon in the Thames, was. a palmer made of a 
 deep red and black live hackle, body of bright green 
 floi^s silk, ribbed with gold, and not too small. 
 
 I have not had the advantage of enjoying the noble 
 sport of fly-fishing for salmon, but I have often thought 
 of the straijge-looking things salmon flies are. I am 
 told they are intended to imitate the dragon-fly — if so, 
 they are very poor imitations ; however, as I belie"ve 
 the best salmon fishing occurs some time before the 
 dragon-fly makes its appearance, any nondescript 
 substance moving on the surface of the water, like a 
 thing of liie, probably proves attractive to the hungry 
 fish. 
 
 An angler's weight of fish is often very erroneous ; 
 there are small neat steelyards to be found at most 
 tackle shops, very useful for deciding any diflerence 
 of opinion on that point. Sir Humphrey Davy had 
 the butt of his rod marked with a scale of feet and 
 inches, and he said that a trout seventeen inches in 
 length, and nine inches in breadth, would weigh two 
 
FISHES AND PISHING. 217 
 
 pounds; this method of estimating the weight of 
 trout must be erroneous, as much depends upon the 
 superior food to be found in some rivers, beyond what 
 is in others, whereby the flesh of the fish becomes 
 more or less compact and solid. 
 
 In 1846 many most eulogistic observations were 
 made in a sporting journal, stating that a certain 
 tackle-maker had made some flies of an improved 
 description, which proved eminently successful in the 
 Thames. I knew the person referred to, and thinking 
 he might have found some novelty, which had proved 
 as attractive as was represented, I went to his shop, 
 to purchase some of these killing flies. The proprie- 
 tor was out, but his wife, who knew me well, showed 
 me some palmers, made of red and black hackles, 
 with dark bodies ribbed with gold, similar to many 
 I had already. I was disappointed, as there was 
 nothing new about them, being similar, only not so 
 good, in my opinion, as some given to me between 
 thirty and forty years before, by Mr. Brand, before- 
 mentioned. However, as I had caused trouble, I 
 proceeded to look out a few; meantime, the good 
 lady assured me that, " The hooks were not common 
 hooks, but were made purposely, and peculiarly well 
 hammered and tempered, and that the bodies of the 
 flies were ribbed with real gold'^ I saw the fallacy 
 of these attempts to impose upon me, and impress 
 
218 FISHKS AND FISHING. 
 
 me with a high opinion of these flies, and to enhance 
 the price, so I cautiously selected half-a-dozen. She 
 divided them into two parcels, three being rather 
 larger than the other three, but all, as she assured me, 
 were the real Thames Jlies, The larger three, she 
 said, ** I shall only charge you one shilling each, and 
 the other three ninepence each." I suppose it was 
 intended I should consider my self /<:^t;owr^^; but I did 
 not, for I could have bought as good flies, on as sound 
 hooks, and with as much gold (?) on them, at any of 
 the tackle shops for one shilling and sixpence, whereas 
 these six real Thames flies, so improperly puffed, cost 
 me five shillings and threepence. But I have never 
 troubled this lady's shop with another visit. I con- 
 sider myself, and am thought by others, a good fly- 
 fisher, but I never caught one fish, even a chub, with 
 any of these flies. 
 
 I must here remark that there is, in point of fact, no 
 such thing as real gold lace, or gold thread ; it is silver 
 gilt with such a fine film of gold, that it would take four- 
 teen millions of such films of gold to make the thickness 
 of one inch ; whereas if fourteen millions of leaves of 
 common printingpaper could be placed one on the other, 
 they would make a pillar three thousand nine hun- 
 dred and sixty feet high, (Dr. Black,) or above nine- 
 teen times as high as the Monument. And the 
 ductility of gold is such, that one ounce of it is suf- 
 
FISHES ANB FISHING. 219 
 
 ficient to gild a silver wire more than thirteen hun- 
 dred miles long. (Fourcroy.) 
 
 There are so many excellent descriptions of rivers, 
 lakes, &c., published, with an account of the fish they 
 contain, that it is unnecessary to attempt to give 
 directions to anglers relative to them, when that part 
 of the subject has been previously so well explained ; 
 1 shall therefore merely make observations on those 
 rivers or waters which appear to have escaped the 
 observation of former authors, and of which I can 
 give some account, or have had personal acquaintance 
 with. 
 
 Serpentine River, in Hyde Park, so denominated 
 from its shape, which was different from the usual 
 custom at the time it was formed, as then all pieces 
 of ornamental water were made straight. It was 
 undertaken by command of Caroline, Queen Consort 
 to George the Second, in 1730 ; a string of ponds and 
 gravel pits being drained and converted into this . 
 piece of water, at an expense to the country of ■/ 
 £6000. 
 
 It was formerly supplied by a little rivulet called 
 Bays Water, one branch of which arose at Kensall 
 Green, in the Harrow Road, another about Kilburn 
 Wells, a third near Fortune Green, a fourth at West 
 End, Hampstead, and a fifth in Belsize Park, behind 
 Primrose Hill. These all united, and passing under 
 
220 FISHES AND TISniNG. 
 
 the Paddington Canal, by an arch near Westbourne 
 Green, went through some tea gardens at Bayswater, 
 so called from the name of the above rivulet, thence 
 the stream passed partly under a bridge across the 
 Uxbridge E-oad, and entered the upper end of the 
 Serpentine Eiver, in Kensington Gardens. Sixty 
 years ago, and I do not know how recently, young anglers 
 found amusement at these tea gardens in catching 
 roach, paying sixpence for the afternoon, or nothing if 
 they had tea there. I am informed that this brook, 
 having become exceedingly filthy, through the large 
 increase of buildings in that locality, had been 
 arched over by the Commissioners of Sewers, and its 
 course diverted to a large sewer leading to the 
 Thames. Where the supply of water now comes 
 from to preserve that of the Serpentine in anything 
 like a healthy state, I do not know ; but any super- 
 abundance of the water from the Serpentine, passes 
 under some of the houses at Knightsbridge, into the 
 Ranelagb common sewer, and thence to the Thames, 
 close to which a water company drew their supplies 
 in 1827; a shameful proceeding, properly exposed, 
 and I think now prevented by the Acts of the legis- 
 lature ; the guilty parties, directors and officers, 
 ought to have been condemned to have no other 
 beverage than that taken from the very spot which 
 tliey chose as fit for their customers. In former 
 pages I have spoken of the fishing in this water. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 221 
 
 Dagenham Ereach was caused by the breaking of 
 the sea bank, through a very high tide and a heavy 
 storm of wind, on or about 1703. One hundred and 
 twenty acres of land were swept away, the whole 
 marshes drowned, and not drained till 1714. Par- 
 liament made a grant of £40,000 or £45,000; I 
 believe 12th Anne, cap. 17, refers to this grant. Mr. 
 Perry undertook to repair the sea bank, and to do 
 what was required, for the above sum ; but it was 
 said he lost £3,000 by the undertaking. At the spot 
 where the breach took place were found exposed to 
 view the trunks of many large trees, that must have 
 been buried for ages. This gulf could not be drained 
 in consequence of its immense depth, and, as it is 
 thought, the bottom being a quicksand, which has led 
 to the belief, amongst some persons, that it is bot- 
 tomless. There are large bream here in abundance, 
 roach, perch, pike, carp, tench, and eels. When Mr. 
 Fry, the banker, had this water, at considerable ex- 
 pense, he had cod, soles, and turbot, placed in it 
 alive, but they were never seen afterwards, the most 
 probable conclusion is that they died, and that the 
 other fish devoured their remains. It appears, from 
 measurement on a large map, to be half a mile long, 
 and at its widest part three-quarters of a furlong 
 broad. 
 
 I never fished in this water, but several persons 
 
222 FISHKS AND PISHJNa. 
 
 who have done so, report that the fish caught there 
 must be cooked as soon as taken ; and from the 
 description given, I imagine that they contain too 
 much albumen in their composition, therefore im- 
 mersing them in boiling lard, or oil would be the best 
 means of converting them into wholesome food ; and 
 those fish that are usually boiled, the water should 
 be boiling when they are put in, with a good fire 
 under the kettle. (See observations on cooking fish.) 
 
 Formerly, several gentlemen, some from London, 
 others from the neighbourhood, had boats on this 
 water for the purpose of angling ; and the resort of 
 company to it, was of great service to the village of 
 Dagenham. 
 
 There is great depth of water close to the edge, 
 therefore anglers should be cautious not to go too near, 
 unless they are good swimmers ; an example of the 
 most providential escape of Mr. James Briscoe, of 
 Barking, is recorded in the "Morning Post,'* of Sep- 
 tember 27th, 1841. He was trolling for pike, and 
 hooked a large fish, which soon ran all the line off 
 his winch, and had not the fish taken a course paral- 
 lel with the shore of the Grulf he must have broken 
 the tackle. Mr. B. kept him in play, but unfortu- 
 nately getting too near the water, he fell in, where 
 the water was twenty feet deep, and not being able 
 to swim, he cried loudly for help, which attracted 
 
FISIIKS AND nsuiNG. 223 
 
 tlie notice of some men who were at work in the 
 marshes, and with considerable difficulty Mr. B. was 
 rescued. Seeing the? rod moving about on the watei*, 
 one of the men who could swim well, stripped, swam 
 after, and seized the rod ; after many struggles, the fish 
 was landed and proved to be a pike which weighed 
 sixteen pounds and a half, and measured nearly three 
 feet in length. 
 
 I wrote to the keeper of this water, relative to the 
 terms for angling therein, and on the 31st of August, 
 1854, received a reply from him (W. Clapham) that 
 by paying one shilling for a day, the person may take 
 what fish he can. It appears by the map that, by 
 railway, stopping at the Eainham station, the angler 
 could reach the water in a walk of about two miles ; 
 or one mile one furlong to the smallest end of the 
 gulf ; and one mile five furlongs to the Breach House, 
 both from the village of Dagenham. 
 
 In May, 1835, 1 was told by an experienced angler, 
 that there are plenty of rudd in this water, and very 
 good sport may be had by throwing an artificial 
 fly for them ; I do not know if this be so. Rudd are 
 found in the Rhine ; in the Lakes of Holderness, in 
 Yorkshire ; in those not far from Lincoln ; the river 
 Yare in Norfolk, which runs to Norwich, and to the 
 sea near Yarmouth ; and the river Charwell, which 
 passes near Banbury, Oxfordshire. The true rudd is 
 
224 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 considered one of the first class of fishes ; it is broader 
 than a carp, with scales as large and thicker than a 
 bream, usually twelve to fourteen inches long, of a 
 dusky yellow colour ; the largest are about two 
 pounds. They bite freely, feeding near the top of 
 the water ; baits, red worms and flies. 
 
 At Godstone, in Surrey, according to Salter, there 
 is a pond or ponds, containing abundance of carp, 
 from three to five pounds each; he says, at the 
 White Hart Inn, there, all particulars can be learned — 
 the price charged is thirteen pence per pound for all 
 you catch. He relates that an angler, in one day, 
 took sixty-six pounds and a half of these fish, for 
 which he had to pay three pounds twelve shillings ! 
 
 Six to eight dozen of trout have been taken in an 
 afternoon, in a water belonging (in 1800) to Mr. 
 Brown, four or five miles above Dorchester. 
 
 Durham, Stockton, &c., salmon and trout. — In the 
 river Wear, and its tributaries, salmon fishing is to 
 cease on the 16th of September, and recommence the 
 12th of February. This was settled at Quarter Ses- 
 sions, in October, 1 849, through the interference of 
 the Anglers' Association. 
 
 Hampshire, about Christchurch, salmon and trout. 
 Indeed there are abundance of the latter fish in al- 
 most every river in this county ; particularly the Test, 
 at Whitchurch, Long Parish, Chilbolton, and Stock- 
 
FISHES AND FISHINO. 225 
 
 bridge ; above E-edbridge, there are salmon, salmons- 
 trout, and mullet. In the Itcben, wbicb was formerly 
 a most excellent trout stream, these fish are compa* 
 ratively scarce ; but the grayling are abundant. 
 
 Herefordshire, in the Wye and the Lug. It is 
 said the salmon are always good, but this, I believe, 
 is not true ; they have their proper seasons as well 
 as trout. In the Teme, near Presteign, I am informed 
 by a resident of the highest respectability, is uncom^ 
 mon fine angling for trout in its season ; and about 
 the second week in September, for large graylings. 
 
 Hertfordshire has most of its rivers well stocked 
 with fish, particularly trout. Mr. L. and myself 
 went, on one occasion, to Watford, and by throwing 
 a very long line, we caught four brace of trout ; I 
 have been there several times since, but the sport is 
 uncertain. 
 
 Kent. — At all the Grays there are trout ; also at 
 Bexley, Cray ford, and Dartford ; but they are mostly 
 white trout. A famous fly-fishing match took place 
 in the waters of LuUingstone Castle, some years ago, be- 
 tween two gentlemen named Pocknell and D' Almaine, 
 both of the Stock Exchange, in consequence of a bet 
 between a miller (A No. 1) of Dartford and a sport* 
 ing gentleman of Blackheath ; which was decided in 
 favour of D' Almaine, who had caught thirty-six 
 brace and a half, whereas Pocknell had only caught 
 
226 FISUES AND FISHING. 
 
 thirty-five brace. The then Sir Thomas Dyke be- 
 haved most hospitably and kindly to these gentle- 
 men, and was much interested in the result of the 
 match, which took place a short time previous to the 
 decease of the baronet ; therefore, I presume, must 
 have been about 1846. 
 
 Virginia Water, the most beautiful lake near 
 London, is only a short distance from "Windsor. It 
 is well stocked with fish ; and his Majesty George 
 the Fourth used often to amuse himself there, with 
 angling. This water has one source, from a spring 
 in a large pond in Cranbourn Wood, near Ascot 
 Heath, which supplies four or five ponds in Sunning 
 Hill Park. From Sunning Hill wells a stream runs, 
 which joins that from Sunning Hill Park, about 
 Bucket Hill ; from thence it expands, and runs 
 through Windsor Great Park, into the east end of 
 Virginia Water, In Windsor Great Park, near the 
 Lodge, is a large lake, which, after forming three or 
 four long ponds, also passes into Virginia Water, on 
 its northern side, near where the waters from Sun- 
 ning Hill enter. To the west of the Great Lodge is 
 a loDg pond, communicating with one much larger, 
 from whence there is a narrow cut to the extreme 
 north point of the other end of Virginia Water. 
 The superfluity of the whole falls over a cascade, and 
 passes under the Bagshot Koad, this side the twenty- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 227 
 
 one mile stone, and runs into the Trumps' Mill River, 
 to which mill it assists in giving a head of water. 
 Many years ago, the cascade gave way, and consider- 
 able damage was done in the neighbourhood. An 
 immense quantity of fish were taken in all the brooks 
 with which Trumps' Mill River communicates ; one 
 runs by the upper part of Chertsey town, into the 
 Thames ; another branch runs to Woburn Park, and 
 there dividing this park from Ham Haw, one part 
 falls into the Thames, in Chertsey mead ; the other 
 continuation, called the Bourne Brook (before men- 
 tioned), passes into the Wey navigation, by Wey- 
 bridge Bridge, and so into the Thames, at Thames 
 Lock. 
 
 How permission to angle in Virginia Water can be 
 obtained, or whether obtainable at all, I am unable 
 to say. 
 
 There are many ponds in the neighbourhood of 
 London, but having never taken the trouble to go to 
 them, I can give no information. Salter, however, 
 in one of his works on angling, to the best of my 
 recollection, gives fuU information on that head. 
 
 As connected with pond fishing, I will mention 
 a ludicrous incident : — I passed over Clapham 
 Common, on my way to dine with my friend, Mr. L., 
 who then lived near that locality ; and having ob- 
 served, as I drove past, on the surface of the water of 
 
 Q-2 
 
228 FISHES AND FISHING, 
 
 a pond, with an island in it, innumerable gnats, and 
 some small fish rising at them ; I mentioned it to 
 him, and in the evening we walked to the pond ; he 
 taking with him a fly-rod, &c. He put on a small 
 fly, but could not catch one to satisfy our curiosity 
 as to what fish they were. Two or three young 
 gentlemen, the water being low, had jumped across 
 to the island ; they had with them a fine large brown 
 water-dog, who was swimming about, snapping at 
 the gnats; as he approached nearly within the 
 length of Mr. L/s line, I said, *' Perhaps the dog 
 would like the fly." Mr. L. replied, " I'll try him !" 
 and suiting the action to the word, dropped the fly 
 before the dog ; swift as a trout could have done, he 
 took the fly, and was hooked ; the poor animal feel- 
 ing the hook, swam rapidly to the shore ; away went 
 the line off the winch, the dog ran out upon the com- 
 mon, and my friend following him at his utmost 
 speed, who being stout, and having had the advan- 
 tage of a good dinner, found it no easy task to run, 
 and jump over brake, furze, and briar, playing the 
 ^og> yet laughing most heartily, though anxious to 
 save his , excellent tackle. The young gentlemen, 
 myself, and several other persons were unable to 
 speak for laughing. At length I begged the owners 
 of the dog to call him, or the hook might injure the 
 animal ; the dog, thoroughly frightened at seeing a 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 229 
 
 person following him about, with what must have 
 appeared to him a long whip, and feeling something 
 pulling at his mouth, approached his masters, trem- 
 bling all over ; as soon as the line was slackened, the 
 fly, which had merely stuck in the lip, dropped out, 
 and no injury was done to either rod, line, or dog. 
 
 About Soutbgate there are many rivulets; one 
 near East Barnet, called Salmon Brook ! Why, I 
 know not, as that fish could never have visited it. 
 
 About six miles and a half on the Edgware Road, 
 at a place called the Hyde, is a piece of water, at the 
 "Welsh Harp, where, I have been told, there is very 
 good pond angling, by paying a moderate sum. 
 
 I was once induced, a very few years ago, to go 
 by railway to Stratford, and walk thence to a hamlet 
 called Philihrooky near two miles to the left from the 
 station, towards Leyton, where, in a large pond, 
 called Rockholts Point, I was informed I should find 
 plenty of fish ; but the person who obtained the per- 
 mission as a favour, it being private property, could 
 not tell me of what species they were. I therefore 
 burthened myself with a long rod, artificial minnows, 
 gudgeons, worms, and paste, and went to the water, 
 which was, I think, nearly or quite a furlong and a 
 half, or more, long — probably forty yards wide, about 
 two feet deep, free of weeds, and so clear that I 
 could see all over it — but no fish of any kind appeared. 
 
230 FISHES AND FISHING. ' 
 
 However, I put my rod together, baited my hook, 
 and threw in some pellets of paste — but they re- 
 mained untouched. Presently three or four genteel 
 boys approached me ; and one, respectfully, asked if 
 I had had any sport ? I replied in the negative ; when 
 judge of the disappointment of an angler, not very 
 fond of bottom fishing, even in a river, after being a 
 fly-fisher, and'still less of it in a pond, to be told, — 
 " I do not think you will have any sport. Sir ; for 
 the pond was netted, and every fish that could be 
 caught was taken out, about three or four days ago ; 
 and here are the places where the nets were dragged 
 on shore," shewing me evident marks on the bank. 
 I therefore put up my tackle, returned home, and 
 never since have wetted a line in a pond. 
 
 There were in ancient times, as chronicles tell, 
 " abundance of choice fish in this pond, also in a pond 
 above, with an island in it.'* These waters belonged 
 to, and formed part of the ornaments attached to a 
 large house and grounds adjoining, whose owners 
 lived in great splendour, had boats on the two ponds, 
 and with music and fireworks, &c., on the island, and 
 dancing on the lawns, enlivened the whole neigh- 
 bourhood. Now the island pond is nearly dried up, 
 serving only as a passage for the water to the large 
 pond from a rivulet, which is formed_by a spring in a 
 pond above Buryfield Farm, about a mile to the north. 
 
FTSHF8 AND FISHING. 23 1 
 
 by the side of the road leading from Leyton to As- 
 sembly Row. In the island pond there were, and 
 probably are, a great quantity of mussels of an im- 
 mense size ; and in a pond near, the neighbours say, 
 was found an oyster alive ! The surplus of water 
 from the great pond runs into a convenient receptacle, 
 on the right side of the road to Leyton, which supplies 
 the neighbourhood with water ; thence the super- 
 abundance passes across the road, under an arch, to 
 an immense water-cress bed, and thence into a branch 
 of the River Lea. It is probable there are fine eels 
 in these ponds. - 
 
 Curious circumstances occur to anglers, or are seen 
 by them. Dr. Gillespie relates, that he saw a swallow 
 from above, and a trout from below, both pounce 
 upon the same June fly ; down came the swallow, 
 and up came the open mouth of the trout, into which 
 in pursuit of his prey, the swallow pitched his head : 
 the struggle was not long, but severe ; the swallow 
 was once or twice nearly immersed in the water, 
 wingk^and all, before he disentangled himself from 
 the sharp teeth of the trout. Both bird and fish must 
 have been much frightened at the encounter. 
 (Scrope's *' Tweed.") 
 
 A gentleman, fishing with live May-flies in the 
 Wye, and having one on his hook, went into an inn 
 on the roadside, leaving his rod on the outside ; a 
 
? 
 
 232 FTSHK9 AND FISHING. 
 
 fine dimgliill cock took a fancy to the fly, and became 
 hooked in the soft part of his beak ; feeling the hook, 
 the cock moved from the spot ; in doing so he pulled 
 the rod down, with which he was running away in 
 great alarm ; the angler, seeing his rod departing, 
 gave chase, regained the hold of his rod, when the 
 cock mounted into the air, and was with great diffi- 
 culty brought down and secured. 
 
 At Hampton Ait, on which ducks are generally 
 kept, I have seen them take a gudgeon with the 
 hooks which had been left outside by some angler, 
 who had been spinning or trolling ; in most cases 
 the duck was killed by it, and often the tackle much 
 injured, through the carelessness of the angler. 
 
 A boy named Donaldson, belonging to Coldstream, 
 while fishing very lately fur trout, in the Chapel 
 stream, below Tweed Mill, with a worm as a bait, 
 caught a mussel four inches long, and two broad, 
 which was found to contain no less than forty fine 
 pearls of different sizes ; some of the pearls are thought 
 to be worth ten shillings each. The day before, the 
 same boy hooked and landed a fine clean salmon, 
 eight pounds weight, with trout tackle. — "Border 
 Advertiser." 
 
 Oppian speaks of the nacre ; this shell fish is a 
 species of mussel, and furnishes mother-of-pearl. A 
 little fish of the crab genus resides within the sh.ell 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 233 
 
 of the nacre, and the above Greek poet treats the 
 connexion as a sort of partnership for obtaining food. 
 These mussels were called by the Greeks pinnae, and 
 the small fish that lived in the same domicile pin- 
 natores and pinnophylax. The nacre, to prevent 
 itself from being driven about by the motion of the 
 sea, spins a quantity of long silken fibres, which it 
 attaches to rocks, or any substance, even the sand. 
 These fish are about a foot long, but have sometimes 
 attained the length of two feet ; they were formerly 
 much sought after, in order to obtain the silky fibres, 
 which being spun into threads, were manufactured 
 into a variety of articles of dress. The common mussel 
 sends out a number of filaments, and by the observa- 
 tions of Eeaumur, those filaments are for the same 
 purpose of fixing itself to some solid substance. On 
 opening mussels a little bunch of green fibres are 
 discovered, these are the parts produced by the fish, 
 whereby it keeps itself upright ; and these fibres, if 
 not extracted before the fish be eaten, are very dan- 
 gerous to the health, because the other portions of the 
 fish easily digest, leaving a mass of these fibrous sub- 
 stances, being indigestible, to accumulate together by 
 the motion of the stomach, producing in a strong con- 
 stitution considerable disturbance, and in a person of 
 very delicate habit of body, dangerous and even fatal 
 conse(juencee. For some of this information I aui 
 
234 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 obliged to the " Pennj^ Cyclopaedia," the " Penny 
 Magazine," the researches of a friend visiting the 
 British Museum, and my own references to Oppian's 
 " Halieuticks.'* 
 
 At Uxhridge, by putting up at the Crown and 
 Cushion, or at the White Horse, and taking your 
 refreshment there, you could, a few years ago, angle 
 in the Colne ; but you had to pay for the trout you 
 took away, fish ten to twelve inches, two shillings a 
 pound; twelve to eighteen inches, half-a-crown a 
 pound. 
 
 About two miles from Uxbridge is a small village, 
 called Yewsly, and I am told that the landlord of 
 the " Tkout " there can give his customers permission 
 to angle. I think this must be the village, a little 
 to the right of the West Drayton Station, where there 
 is a very comfortable house bearing that sign, with 
 good accommodation and moderate charges; the 
 angler pays one shilling for his day's angling. I am 
 told there is good angling at the place you are taken 
 to, some little distance across the railroad, if the 
 weather be appropriate ; but I was not fortunate in 
 having a favourable day, and I have not been there 
 since. 
 
 The Rivee Brent runs at the back of the Coach 
 and Horses, at Han well, and there are, it is said, very 
 deep holes, containing large bream. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 235 
 
 The Riyer Mole has innumerable sources, derived 
 from small springs, which form rivulets, that by ac- 
 cumulation swell into a river. One of these rivulets 
 rises on Colley Moor, not far from Cole Harbour, and 
 meandering in its course, swells into a large pond, 
 near the Evelyn Arms, at Wotton, which pond for- 
 merly belonged to the monks of Chertsey Abbey, and 
 is believed to have been one of their reservoirs for 
 fish, probably for carp, because that fish was, it 
 is believed, introduced into England not more than 
 fifty years before the suppression of this Abbey, and 
 being considered a luxury, there can be little doubt 
 but these monks took care to enjoy it. This pond is 
 above a mile in length, but full of weeds ; it com- 
 municates with another large pond, by a continuation 
 of the rivulet, which last pond forms a mill-head for 
 Wescot Mill. All the different little streams I men- 
 tion unite into a considerable river, and approach 
 Boxhill, where it sinks into clefts of chalk, like as 
 through a sieve ; this river was formerly called the 
 Biver Swallow. In 1670, by the highway side, a 
 great quantity of earth fell down from the side of the 
 hill, and discovered a pit thirty feet deep, and at 
 the bottom the water could be seen running. On the 
 other side of Boxhill, next to Leatherhead, the river 
 appears to spring out of the ground, in a greater or less 
 quantity, according to the wetness or dryness of the 
 season. 
 
238 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 The EivER Wandle has, or formerly had, several 
 (lifFerent species of trout. There was at Hackbridge 
 a small kind, which never grew to a large size ; 
 they were very numerous, and rose at any small fly. 
 The trout in the whole of the Croydon branch are 
 dark in colour, the flesh white, and not well fla- 
 voured ; whilst those from the other, the Carshalton 
 branch, are larger in size, thicker, and broader in 
 proportion to length, beautiful in appearance, seeming 
 as if covered with a thick coat of yellow varnish, show 
 great sport when hooked ; their flesh is red, and I was 
 told by a distinguished personage, to whom I had the 
 honour of presenting a leash, weighing above seven 
 pounds, that he had seen and tasted trout in every 
 part of England, and in many places on the conti- 
 nent, but never saw any so handsome, or tasted any 
 so good before. I certainly adopted the means to 
 keep them good. I killed them as soon as taken, and 
 packed them in nettles. The same eulogy was passed 
 on these fish by the late Duke of Wellington, to 
 whom I had the pleasure of presenting some of these 
 fish, on several of the anniversaries of his birth. 
 
 I have always found the proprietors of the private 
 waters on this river, with one or two exceptions, 
 very kindly disposed to anglers of respectability. One 
 of the exceptions was Mr. William Gee, who resided 
 at Beddington Park, as the steward of his brother. 
 
FISHES AND flSHING. 239 
 
 and ostensibly the owner of it. An anecdote is told> 
 and I believe it of him, that Mr. Scott, when Attor- 
 ney-General, wrote a note to Mr. Gee : — " Mr. Attor- 
 ney-General presents his compliments to Mr. Gee, 
 and will feel obliged to Mr. Gee, if he will gire Mr. 
 Attorney-General a day's fishing in Beddington 
 Park.'* To which the following answer was re- 
 turned : " Mr. Gee's compliments to Mr. Attorney- 
 General, and if he was Lord Chancellor, he would 
 not give him a day's fishing in Beddington Park." 
 
 It is singular that this, and other immense property 
 formerly belonging to the monks, was obtained by a 
 courtier from Henry VIII. ; that this courtier then 
 was detected in conspiring with Cardinal Pole to re- 
 establish the Catholic religion, was punished by 
 decapitation, and forfeiture of his estates. His son 
 proved himself to Mary so good a Catholic, who had 
 not only lost his father by that father's attachment 
 to the " true religion," but also had been reduced to 
 beggary in consequence, that she granted to him 
 above thirty manors in Surrey, and other counties, 
 together with advowsons, &c., a copy of which grant 
 I have. When Elizabeth became queen, he professed 
 himself to her a most zealous protestant^ and by his 
 courtly, insinuating manners, and good personal 
 appearance, induced the virgin queen to honour him 
 with a visit at Beddington, during a day or two at a 
 
240 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 time. When James came to the throne, this man 
 shuffled off, and finally and totally evaded the pay- 
 ment of a fee-farm rent for part of his estate. Having 
 no heirs, he contrived to get his nephew into the 
 property at his death ; the line failed again in the 
 person of a descendant of this nephew, who left it by 
 will to many reversioners in succession, provided that 
 the park, gardens, house, furniture, paintings, plate, 
 &c., should be preserved as heir looms for ever ; the 
 second of these reversioners was the brother of Wil- 
 liam Gee, whose wife managed to induce the next 
 reversioner, but who was led to believe he was very 
 distant, to sell his birthright for, comparatively, a 
 mess of pottage. Mrs. W. Gee obtained a will in her 
 favour, from her brother-in-law, who devised to her 
 all his real and personal estate, under which, amongst 
 other things, she took this park, &c. ; and it would 
 have been a curious coincidence if the crown had 
 asserted a right to the property (in consequence of 
 failure of heirs male, to whom it was limited) and the 
 subject had gone before John Scott, Lord High 
 Chancellor, formerly Mr. Attorney- General, to whom 
 Gee would not give a day's fishing. 
 
 Mrs. Gee died, and left this park and estate to an 
 alien in blood, and name. What has become of the 
 plate, paintings, and other heir-looms I do not know, 
 but suppose they must be where they ought to be. 
 
PISHES AND FISHING. 241 
 
 By law I learn, they are not liable to the debts of the 
 tenant for life. 
 
 In the canal whose end faces Beddington House, 
 I have seen trout as long as a small hedge stake, and 
 almost as thin ; this arises from the want of more 
 water running through it, which could be easily 
 effected, and would bring more food for the half- 
 starved fish ; another evil is, the quantity of decaying 
 vegetable matter constantly falling into it from the 
 leaves of the surrounding trees, (which should be 
 carefully swept up, and burned) ; every alternate tree 
 ought to be cut down, the fish taken out of the canal, 
 and preserved, whilst it was emptied and completely 
 cleansed, then there might be trout in it as large as 
 in the upper pool at Carshalton ; but they would 
 never be as good, being altogether a different species 
 of fish. 
 
 I once caught a trout, just by the arch which lets 
 the water from the upper to the lower pool in Car- 
 shalton town, by letting down a hook baited with a 
 worm. I had great difficulty in keeping him out of 
 the arch, but landed him where horses and carriages 
 used to pass through the pool, and he weighed six 
 pounds. And I saw one at Mr. Curtis' s, Paper- 
 roaker, lower down that branch of the river, in a 
 sort of pound, where he was constantly fed, and 
 weighed twelve pounds. It was intended that he 
 
 E 
 
242 FISHES AND FiSHING. 
 
 should grace the dinner table on the day the son 
 attained his majority. 
 
 The regular season for angling with a fly, and that 
 is the only bait allowed in the private waters of the 
 Wandle, is, from the first of May to the fifteenth of 
 September ; the same as in the Hampshire and other 
 trout rivers. And, upon one card of admission sent to 
 me, for the then Mr. Ansell's Printing Ground, it is 
 requested, that no fish be killed under half a pound 
 weight. Now this I consider is too small ; and it 
 would be better to permit none to be taken under the 
 size directed by 1 Eliz., cap. 17, viz. not less than 
 eight inches from the eye to the end of the flesh, in 
 the middle of the tail ; and a well-fed fish of that 
 size wiU weigh three quarters of a pound. 
 
 Some of the trout in this river come into season 
 the latter end of March or the beginning of April ; 
 the late Sir Anthony Carlisle shewed me two or three 
 brace, which he had then, the middle of March, taken 
 in Mr. AnselPs water, and they appeared, to the eye, 
 in very good condition. 
 
 Trout fishing in Wales, Cumberland, and West- 
 moreland, begins two months before it does in Kent, 
 Surrey, Middlesex, and Hampshire ; in these latter 
 four counties, the season is from the first of May to 
 the first of September, in some streams, and to the 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 243 
 
 tenth or fifteenth, in others. In the Test to the 
 last-mentioned day. 
 
 Trout are taken in the Thames in March ; but they 
 are valueless as food, and no person ought to he al- 
 lowed, either with fly, or spinning a gudgeon, dace, or 
 bleak, to take them until the Ist of May; and it is 
 illegal to take them after the 13th of September. In 
 the Tweed, the salmon fishing ends the 15th, and in 
 the Severn, the 17th of September. 
 
 In the "Globe" of 12th Sept., 1854, it is stated 
 under the head " Severn fish, Mr. Lloyd took between 
 Cound lane and Coppice head, last week, two salmon, 
 one six pounds, and the other twenty-two pounds, in 
 prime condition ; nine and a half brace of perch ; four 
 and a half brace of trout ; and six and a half brace of 
 greyling.'* — Copied from the^'ShrewsburyChronicle." 
 
 Near Shrewsbury j Ludlow, Cundover, and Wem, 
 there are salmon, salmon trout, trout, grayling, sal- 
 mon fry, gravlings, or gravel last springs, or samp- 
 sons ; these last being young salmon, should not be 
 taken under a heavy penalty, being, no doubt, identi- 
 cal with the skegger of the Thames, and the scegger 
 of the Mersey. In the Clun Water there are some 
 barren trout, which are in season all the year, accord- 
 ing to Taylor. Have these barren trout ever been 
 examined by a competent naturalist, as to their 
 sexual character ? 
 
 E 2 
 
244 FISHES AKD T■1SHI^-G. 
 
 SoMEESETSHiRE. — At Glastonburj, in the Brent, 
 where it forms a large lake, the Yeovil, the Brue, the 
 Parrat, the Tone, the Axe, and many other rivulets, 
 there are trout, particularly near Ilchester, Prome, 
 Pethorton, Langport, Taunton, Dunster, also at Mit- 
 ford, three or four miles above Bath. In most parts 
 of this county the trout are small, but plentiful, and 
 of good flavour; but at Milton, near Bruton, the 
 stream is slow, and the mode of fishing will not suit 
 a fly-fisher, as I before mentioned, being float-fish- 
 ing; and the fish are dark, and not pleasant as 
 food. 
 
 Surrey. — The Wandle, the Mole, and the Thames, 
 contain trout in abundance. 
 
 Yorkshire. — Its rivers and waters are well stocked 
 with fish. In the East Riding, a small but rapid 
 stream, called Duffield, or Drielfid Beck, has trout, 
 few less than two pounds, and frequently they are 
 taken five to six pounds each. About six miles 
 from Sheffield, there are abundance of trout. I have 
 never had the advantage of angling in North, or 
 South Wales ; but I am assured by several of my 
 friends, natives of that part of the kingdom, that a 
 trout angler cannot fail of finding sport in every stream 
 of that principality. A few observations on the fish 
 of some of its waters may be acceptable : — 
 
 The Dee, in Merionethshire, passes through 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 245 
 
 Pemble Mere ; and it is a curious fact, that though 
 the Dee abounds with salmon, and the lake with a 
 much-esteemed fish called guiniad, yet no salmon are 
 taken in the lake, nor any guiniad in the river. A 
 description of this rare fish, and its habits, from an 
 old author, may not prove uninteresting. It is be- 
 lieved to be the Ferra of Rondelatius ; the Alhula 
 Salmonisimilis oi^i\\o\i^\ihY \ called by the Welsh, 
 from the whiteness of its body, guiniad, signifying 
 something like whiting in English. Its shape is not 
 much unlike that of a salmon ; length twelve or 
 thirteen inches ; back of a dusky colour, belly white ; 
 tlie scales of a middle size ; upper jaw a little longer 
 than the lower, the mouth like that of a herring. It 
 generally lies at the bottom, amongst water gladiol ; a 
 plant peculiar to these mountain lakes. It is in sea- 
 son in summer ; the flesh is white, the taste like that 
 of trout ; it is esteemed because it is a rarity. It is 
 also found in Lake Leman, near Geneva, among the 
 Alps. Another old author says, they are found in 
 the same lakes and waters as the gilt char ; also in 
 some northern rivers. They spawn in December, 
 previous to which they force themselves up the most 
 rapid streams, advancing in two ranges and forming 
 in front an acute angle, led by a single fish. This 
 author says their flesh is insipid, and must be eaten 
 as soon as caught ; same baits as for trout. From 
 
246 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 this it may be inferred, that the guiniad does not take 
 a bait in the river, or the salmon in the lake ; and 
 probably this may account for the vulgar error of the 
 river Dee passing through the lake, without any ad- 
 mixture of the two waters. Eut it is evident that 
 the water of the river is not inimical to them, but 
 the contrary, as they go up the river to spawn. The 
 difference of opinion, as to their flavour, may be ac- 
 counted for by one person having anticipated tasting 
 a fish of superlative delicacy, and finding that, like 
 most anticipations of pleasure in this world, it was 
 not carried out by the reality. "Whereas, another 
 person tastes them as being a rarity, having fallen in 
 his way, without thinking previously about them ; 
 and to him they are palatable and pleasant. 
 
 Beecknockshiee. — About the middle of the county, 
 I think, near Brecknock, there is a large piece of 
 water, which was formerly, and may be now, so 
 overstocked, that people about there say, there are 
 two-thirds water, and one-third fish ; but of what 
 species, I am ignorant ; they may be worthless Cru- 
 cian carp, or the useless hybrid that swarm in the 
 Serpentine. 
 
 Caemaethenshiee. — In the Gwili, down to Aber- 
 gwilly, and thence to its junction with the Toway, 
 there is, I am informed, plenty of trout ; and in the 
 latter river there are fish of the trout genus, called 
 
FISHES AND FISHING, 247 
 
 sewen or seuen. Hofland thinks these are the sea 
 trout, or whitling of Scotland ; and the white trout 
 of England and Ireland. They are taken with a 
 gaudy fly ; weiglit from two to six pounds. He says 
 they are more round and thicker than the salmon ; 
 and is of opinion, that the Fordwich trout, of the 
 Stour, near Canterbury, are the same species ; but 
 these latter trout seldom, if indeed ever, it is said, 
 take a bait. 
 
 In June, 1823, I arrived with a friend, late one 
 Sunday evening, at the chief inn of Wells by the 
 Sea, Norfolk ; it was a damp, chilly evening, we had 
 been travelling all day through the most wild part 
 of the county; so much so, indeed was it, that on a 
 heath or common, where there were many tracks, our 
 post-boy stopped the chaise, and absolutely mounted 
 its roof to look out for a steeple; so it might be really 
 and truly said we were steepU chasing. In such a 
 part of the county, as might naturally be supposed, 
 we had obtained only very meagre refreshment ; 
 and on arriving at our hostelry, we enquired what we 
 could have for supper. Amongst other things, we 
 were told, they had poultry, and some sea trout, said 
 to be just caught, which were brought to us ; they 
 looked fresh, and like small salmon ; they were 
 cooked and brought to table ; but on tasting, we si- 
 multaneously sent away our plates — for of all the 
 
248 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Specimens of the finny tribe I ever lasted, these were 
 the very worst ; if herrings, sprats, and bad trout 
 had been mixed to compose them, they could not 
 have been more disgusting. 
 
 I enquired how they were caught, and found it was 
 by a long net, to each end of which a horse with a 
 rider was attached. In some parts near the beacli, 
 where the sand was low, near the shore, the tide 
 flowed in round it more rapidly than on the high 
 bank further out, and the fish came with the water 
 into that low part. When the persons accustomed to 
 the sport saw it was the proper time, the horses 
 separated, one on each side of the flowing tide, with 
 the net swiftly sweeping the water of all the fish that 
 had come in, the horses being put to a gallop. The 
 reason was, that these sands are something like those 
 of the Goodwin, and those on the Somersetshire side 
 of tlie Bristol Channel, and many other places ; they 
 become a species of quicksand as soon as the tide 
 flows. 
 
 Referring again to the river "Wandle, myself and 
 several of my friends used to go, in the middle of 
 summer, in the afternoon, to this river, have the 
 evening fishing till late, go to the Duke's Head, Wal- 
 lington, where we always found, by sending a letter 
 beforehand, a comfortable supper and bed ; and could 
 leave our rod and line, with the fly on which we 
 
FISHES AND FISHIKG. 249 
 
 intended to use in the morning, in a large room, and 
 let ourselves out at any hour we pleased ; as there 
 were several parts of the river which, to be successful, 
 must be fished before, or as soon as break of day. I 
 had acquired a habit of always awaking at any hour 
 I pleased. I was to have accompanied a friend of 
 mine one afternoon, but was prevented by some cause 
 which I forget, and he went by himself. The fol- 
 lowing morning was cloudy, yet there was a moon, 
 not visible. He awoke, thought it was the day 
 breaking, could not see the hour by his watch, hur- 
 ried on his clothes, and walked quickly up to a piece 
 of water above Beddington Park. As he was going 
 round Beddington churchyard wall, he heard a slight 
 rustling noise, and at the same moment saw some- 
 thing moving, of a light colour, upon the top of a 
 tombstone ; just then the church clock struck one, a 
 horrible unearthly scream sounded from the spot 
 where the moving figure was, and away flew the 
 screamer — a screech owl! My friend had to walk 
 about for an hour and a-half, before there was a 
 chance for him to use his fly with advantage, as 
 he had shut himself out of his inn by the spring 
 lock. Some timid persons in that neighbourhood 
 have believed this churchyard to be haunted ; but my 
 friend most certainly saw the substantial gh^st which 
 had frightened many. 
 
250 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 About half way between Chertsey Bridge and 
 Lalebam, in the Thames, there is a spot called the 
 Kocks J they appear as if large masses of the bank had 
 been excavated, and fallen over into very deep water, 
 some of the irregular parts being, when the water is 
 low, only a foot, or even less, under the surface, 
 whilst around probably the water is from fifteen to 
 twenty feet deep. With a long light rod, a fresh 
 wind at the angler's back, a long blow line, and the 
 hook baited with a natural stone or other fly, or a 
 grasshopper, often from the Surrey side, many large 
 chub were taken ; but of late years that part called 
 Laleham borough is enclosed, and I do not know if 
 the Thames can now be reached in that part, at least 
 certainly not without permission of the owner of the 
 land. 
 
 My family had lodgings at Chertsey in the autumn 
 of 1826, and I went on a Saturday, and returned on 
 the Monday evening, or Tuesday morning. I had 
 taken an acquaintance with me on one occasion, and 
 on the Sunday night I told him that the fisherman 
 whom I employed was going with me to net a piece 
 of backwater, where we expected to find some pike. 
 At six o'clock the next morning we went to the scene 
 of action. 1 gave my visitor the cork line to pay 
 over the side of the punt, and I did the same with 
 the lead line, whilst the fisherman made the circuit 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 251 
 
 with the boat : my companion begged me to stop a 
 moment, till he put on his gloves, and, to the astonish- 
 ment of the fisherman and myself, he put on a pair 
 of kid gloves, but little soiled ; they soon, however, 
 became too dirty ever to be cleaned, so he left them 
 in the punt ; and when we had finished our sport, 
 went to the inn, washed his hands, had some rum or 
 brandy and milk, put on a clean pair of kid gloves to 
 walk home to breakfast. I had the pleasure of taking 
 with me a leash of good pike, or rather jack, for nei- 
 ther of them attained four pounds, therefore were not 
 pike. The fisherman, who did not know the gentle- 
 man's name, used often to inquire after him, as the 
 gentleman who wore gloves when he went netting ; 
 and we often laughed at the occurrence, till the death 
 of the poor young man stayed any mirthful recollec- 
 tions of him. 
 
 The navigation of the Thames is, as I before ob- 
 served, most materially altered for the better, as to 
 the traffic, and, I presume, also for the increase of 
 the City funds, but to the complete destruction of the 
 Thames fishery for salmon, by the ill-judged forma- 
 tion of the weirs. Formerly, within my recollection, 
 there was no lock before you reached Boulter's Lock, 
 near Taplow, about fifty-four miles by water from 
 London Bridge ; and in very dry summers the pas- 
 sage of barges, particularly those called west country 
 
252 FISHES A2?D FISHING. 
 
 barges, which were of double the tonnage of the 
 others, was very difficult ; I have seen eighteen horses 
 or more employed to draw one up against the then 
 rapid stream. The number of locks and weirs since 
 then erected by the City are five or six ; but what the 
 tolls taken by the corporation amount to, is probably 
 only known to their own officers. 
 
 It is not much above, if so much as an hundred 
 years ago, since men were employed to tow barges 
 up the river Thames ; amongst the cosmoramic views 
 at the Polytechnic, there used to be one of Windsor 
 Castle, with several men towing a barge. How they 
 managed in flood time I cannot imagine ; the barges 
 frequently could not work before the erection of the 
 locks ; sometimes there was too much water, and 
 sometimes too little ; during floods, many horses and 
 some of their drivers were occasionally drowned ; and 
 in summer barges were often aground, and could not 
 move before a quantity of water, which was penned 
 back at Boulter's Lock, was suddenly let down, and 
 this was called a ^^ fiashP It always came down of 
 a Sunday afternoon, and sometimes also on a Thurs- 
 day, when the craft that were aground floated, and 
 all was bustle and hurry to get down or up the river. 
 I have, when a boy, walked down to Sunbury, on 
 purpose to have a ride home in the barge belonging 
 to a relative : the burthen of the barge was stated as 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 253 
 
 being forty-five tons, and with only thirty-five tons 
 in, and ten horses to draw the barge, I have felt her 
 grate on the gravel in going over the site of Coway 
 stakes, just above Walton Bridge, where it is asserted 
 Julius Caesar crossed the Thames, when he left his 
 camp on St. George's hills, the trenches of which were 
 quite visible sixty or seventy years ago. 
 
 Dr. Battie was the person who caused horses to be 
 used instead of men, to tow barges on the Thames, 
 which so offended the men who were thus employed, 
 that they attempted once to throw him over Marlow 
 Bridge ; but he placed his wig wrong side in front, 
 and acted Punch to them so irresistibly and hu- 
 morously, that they let him escape; after which, he 
 always carried pistols. He lost £1,500 by the spe- 
 culation, j 
 
 A horse can draw horizontally, 770lbs ; a man can 
 draw llOlbs. ; therefore, it requires seven men to 
 produce a tractile power equal to one horse ; now, as 
 that time fifteen to twenty horses were necessary to 
 tow a large barge up against the stream then existing, 
 it would take from 105 to 140 men to tow a barge up, 
 and then they could only work whilst the river was 
 confined within its banks. 
 
 He cured a young gentleman of quinsey by acting 
 Punch in the same way, which gave rise to the fol- 
 lowing lines : — 
 
254 FISHES AND FISHING. ^ 
 
 '* And he who lately in a learned freak, 
 Poached every lexicon, and published Greek, 
 Still madly emulous of vulgar praise, 
 From Punch's forehead wrings the dirty bays."* 
 
 William Battie, M.D., bora 1704. Intended for 
 the law, settled at TJxbridge, in a medical capacity. 
 After, was physician to St. Luke's Hospital, which 
 he resigned in 1764: died, in June, 1776. Buried, 
 Kingston-on-Thames. — " Kugae Chirurgicae." By 
 W. Wadd, F.R.C.S.L. Nichols and Son, 25, Parlia- 
 ment Street, 1824. 
 
 Towage on the Thames by horses is very expensive ; 
 and I suggested the idea, about ten years ago, of 
 towing two or more barges at once, by means of 
 steam ; but for this purpose, I was aware that com- 
 mon steam tugs would be objectionable, as the great 
 disturbance of the water by the paddle wheels on 
 their sides, would injure the banks in the upper 
 portions of the river, and I was informed that though 
 the screw had great propelling power, its tractile power 
 was found insufficient. I therefore made drawings 
 of a steam tug with a large wheel in the centre, and 
 made a model of a vessel of the description, with 
 great power, which would answer the purpose, with- 
 out any lateral wash affecting the banks, whereby 
 two or more barges could be towed up the river with 
 greater celerity, and at less than half the expense. I 
 ' Professional Anecdotes. Knight and Lacey, 1825. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 255 
 
 entered a caveat preparatory to taking out a patent ; 
 but, owing to my professional engagements, I did not 
 proceed with it. I think the plan would answer 
 well for the Thames, and if modified in point of size, 
 for canals also. 
 
 Since the construction of this model, a company 
 started steam tugs on the Thames with, as it was 
 said, improved paddles at the sides ; but they occa- 
 sioned very great damage to the banks above Ted- 
 dington, and from that cause, I believe, this method 
 of drawing barges against the stream has been some 
 time discontinued. 
 
 I said that the construction of the weirs, as directed 
 by the City of London, were ill-judged ; a legal friend 
 tells me that by 17th Eichard II., cap. 9, the jus- 
 tices of the peace are to make diligent search, and 
 see that the weirs of rivers are not very straight for 
 the destruction of fry and brood, but after the old 
 assize, used and accustomed ; so that, these weirs in 
 the Thames are illegal, as well as ill-judged. 
 
 At the Horse and Groom, Lea Bridge, there were 
 some of the best roach anglers I ever met with ; for 
 goodness of tackle, skill, patience, and respectability, 
 they had no superiors. The accommodation was 
 excellent ; the place quiet and retired ; and I have 
 no doubt, from what I have heard, that it still pre- 
 serves the character. 
 
256 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Ground baiting was practised more than 1650 
 years ago. Oppian describes that the paste was made 
 of odorous cheese and flour ; and being divided into 
 pills, the fishermen threw a shower of them in, to 
 attract the fish ; so that fish must have had a pen- 
 chant for cheese, from very early periods of the 
 world. Another ground bait from the same author 
 is, goat's flesh and fat, incorporated with flour, and 
 scattered into the water in small pieces, for one kind 
 offish, the scare. (See Willoughby.) 
 
 I was recently told by a very old angler, of pro- 
 verbial veracity, and elevated rank in society, that a 
 small piece of clean-scraped rind of strong cheese put 
 on the hook whereon the fly is dressed, will attract 
 chub very much ; this also proves how acute must be 
 the sense of smell in fish. Probably, flies that are 
 intended for chub fishing, would be rendered more 
 attractive, if they were rubbed with strong cheese, or 
 enclosed in a box with some. 
 
 In angling with a ledger for barbel, from a punt, 
 have some well-worked clay, let it be made into 
 hollow balls, four or five inches diameter ; fill these 
 balls with lob worms, close them up well, leaving a 
 tail or two of them a little projecting ; put one now 
 and then gently into the water over the side of the 
 boat, it will descend gradually to about the place 
 where your bait is placed, which should be a good 
 
PISHES AND FISHIlfG. 257 
 
 maiden lob worm, well scoured, in a piece of damp, 
 old greasy net, taking care there is no salt in the 
 greasy water in which the net has been moistened, 
 or wash it in some fat mutton broth, which has 
 neither spice, salt, or pepper in it. 
 
 Another ground bait for barbel is hollow balls of clay 
 with a little pounded greaves mixed up in them ; the 
 balls to be filled with boiled greaves, and liver gentles. 
 
 Another for roach and dace : a smaller hollow ball 
 filled with liver gentles, sticking a few outside. 
 
 The rationale of this is, that the fish being attracted 
 to the balls by that which is outside, and probably 
 smelling something in the interior, which they desire 
 to appropriate to themselves, will knock and rub 
 themselves against it, till with that, and the action 
 of the water, the ball breaks, and the contents attract 
 numbers of fish to the place ; if now you give them 
 a superior bait on your hook, you will be certain to 
 have the largest fish ; if you ground bait with worms, 
 use a fine scoured worm, as before observed, on your 
 hook ; if the ball contain greaves and liver gentles, 
 use on your hook a picked piece of scalded greaves, 
 and on the point a fine gentle ; and so with roach 
 and dace, bait with fine gentles. 
 
 That the above rationale is tlie true one, may be 
 proved by watching the motions of the fish in clear 
 water. 
 
258 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 These balls do not answer so well to throw off a 
 bank ; but if the clay be well tempered, and the balls 
 made small, they may be placed in the swim by the 
 contrivance of a piece of board, or a small imitation 
 of a bakfer's peel. In still water they answer very 
 well. Do not be afraid of alarming the fish ; such is 
 their Eve-like propensity, that if a stone be thrown 
 in, a congregation of fish will soon assemble around 
 it, an irrefragable proof of the acuteness of their sense 
 of hearing ; and I do not advise placing the balls of 
 ground bait gently in the water from fear of frighten- 
 ing the fish, but to prevent the balls from breaking 
 by throwing them into the water. 
 
 Ealls made with clay and finely ground malt, or 
 clay and fresh grains, or clay and boiled rice, or clay 
 and liver gentles, or in a still place chewed bread, or 
 a spoonful of common gentles, or for chub, bran, 
 scalded bread, and very strong-smelling cheese ; bait 
 with honey paste mixed with cheese. In a quiet 
 eddy, small pellets of paste made with bread, and a 
 little moist sugar ; bait with honey paste. 
 
 Most of the ground baits will not keep over twenty- 
 four hours. 
 
 An old work on angling advises paste made by 
 dipping the bread in liquor in which greaves have 
 been boiled, as an excellent bait for barbel. Is this 
 taste or smell that prompts barbel, chub, and carp to 
 prefer greaves, cheese, and honey ? 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 259 
 
 I have always found it advantageous to ground bait 
 over night, for the morning's fishing ; and on leaving 
 off, to throw in the remainder of my ground bait and 
 paste, gentles, or worms, particularly if I intended to 
 angle the next day. 
 
 Some authors advise boiled potatoes, to be mixed 
 with bread, bran, and barley-meal. Depend upon 
 this as a fact, that judicious ground-baiting is the 
 most sure method of obtaining sport in bottom- 
 fishing. 
 
 A good paste for chub, in the cold months, when 
 they lie at the bottom, is the crumb of a roll, honey, 
 and the strongest-smelling cheese [you can obtain ; 
 work these well together with saffron, to colour, or 
 without it; make small balls of scalded bread, a little 
 clay, and strongest cheese ; fish in an eddy, and throw 
 in small balls, or rather pellets, occasionally. 
 
 Or a very killing bait for chub is, sheeps' or bul- 
 locks' brains boiled, and made into a paste, with a 
 little strong cheese, and bread just dipped into water, 
 throwing in little pellets of the same continually. 
 
 Gudgeons are in season in the spring, as soon as 
 the weather becomes warm. They are not allowed 
 to be angled for in the Thames before the first of 
 June, and they will bite from an hour after sunrise 
 until an hour after sunset. The small ones of this 
 fish are used either as spinning baits for trout, or alive 
 
 B 2 
 
260 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 for them and perch, and on trimmers or night lines 
 for large eels, and the larger size for pike ; they are 
 sold at the fishing-tackle shops. By a work published 
 one hundred years ago, gudgeons were then very 
 plentiful in the Mersey; they are, however, common 
 in most rivers, if the bed of it be sand and gravel ; but 
 of late years there have not been so many in the 
 Thames as there were formerly. 
 
 The blood- worm, found in large quantities on the 
 surface of mud, appears as if it were formed of ten or 
 twelve little globes, connected with each other, 
 diminishing rapidly in size near the tail ; the head is 
 the largest part of it, and seems as if there were a 
 mouth always open, with three little forks protruding; 
 it is of a bright crimson colour, and a most disgusting 
 thing to handle ; the myriads of gnats that fly about 
 on summer evenings spring from this worm. E'ear 
 Whitehall Stairs the surface of the mud generally 
 looks red, and the vulgar opinion is, that this appear- 
 ance was never seen before the decapitation of Charles 
 the First; the plain fact is, the blood-like colour 
 arises from the immense quantity of blood-worms 
 about that spot, probably existing as long as the sub- 
 stance in which they live and breed was deposited 
 there; more recently they may be observed, when 
 the tide is out, in the mud oif Temple Gardens. 
 
 Gudgeons in the Thames are usually angled for 
 
ITSHES AND FISHING. 261 
 
 from a 'punt ; three persons can very conveniently 
 occupy one, with the fisherman. It is not uncommon 
 to see ladies and gentlemen enjoying this sport ; the 
 anglers sit in chairs, the fisherman plumbs the depth, 
 arranges the floats, baits the hooks, rakes the grave], 
 takes ofi^, and puts the fish into the well of the punt, 
 and if sport become dull in one spot, moves the boat 
 to another : it is not uncommon to see the anglers 
 with gloves on. Most persons cause refreshments to 
 be conveyed on board, and it is a very pleasant way 
 of passing a summer's morning. The hours of angling 
 are generally from ten or eleven till four or five ; and 
 the take with three rods varies, according to the 
 judgment displayed by the boatman, the goodness of 
 the tackle, and the degree of skill of the anglers, and 
 will be from eight to twenty dozen of fish, which the 
 fisherman takes out of the well, counts, and conveys 
 to your inn or lodgings. The season is from the first 
 of June till the twenty- eighth of February, the same 
 as the season for roach and dace in the Thames, but is 
 different in the Lea. 
 
 In the Thames small short red worms with a yellow 
 tail are the best bait ; the hook should be tied on very 
 fine gut, because perch sometimes visit the spot to 
 pick up a young gudgeon, and wiU in most instances 
 take your worm, and would probably break away if 
 hair were used. It is also very necessary to have 
 
262 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 proper tackle for pike, as they are sometimes attracted 
 by the shoal of gudgeons ; and if your sport for those 
 small fish fail, it is probable one of those fresh- water 
 sharks has intruded on your fishing ground. 
 
 Some persons prefer angling from the bank, so as 
 to be able to move about, or do not choose to be at 
 the expense of a punt and fisherman. It is useless 
 to expect sport unless the gravel be raked ; I, there- 
 fore, invented, many years ago, a portalle gudgeon- 
 rake, with bayonet joints, it being nearly impossible 
 for an angler to convey one of those in general use 
 to any distance. My first rake of this kind was sold 
 with my other fishing tackle, when obliged to sell it, 
 as I before-mentioned, in France ; that one had a 
 large jointed iron landing-net ring, with net complete, 
 which by removing the rake fitted the screw, and 
 which I found useful, as I have said, in fishing for 
 crabs ; the rake and ring of the net should be coated 
 with black varnish, and I had a hole through the 
 rake, and a small brass staple on each joint, through 
 which a piece of plaited cord passed, to prevent losing 
 any part of it. Mr. Anderson, of Long Acre, a year 
 or two ago, carried out my original plan ; but since he 
 has made the folding rods, I think the plan would be 
 advantageously adopted for this indispensable adjunct 
 to a gudgeon-fisher's apparatus. 
 
 The gudgeons in the Lea are more fastidious than 
 

 eight's PORTABLE GUDGEON RAKE 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A • B . EiJJi^ form, for tht-B^oM- 
 JWIron. Work cnaJ:edy w/jAikoyk varmjh. 
 
 .U 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 263 
 
 their brothers and sisters of the Thames : the former 
 must be angled for with a very fine hook of thin wire, 
 tied on single hair ; the bait must be blood worms ; 
 the angling is from the bank, and the occasional angler 
 must either hire or borrow a rake to take into the 
 marshes with him, a load for a donkey ; and he must 
 rake, bait, and unhook his fish. The gudgeons in the 
 Lea are not so numerous as those in the Thames, but 
 they are mostly of a good size. 
 
 This species of fish do not generally weigh more 
 than four ounces, or exceed nine inches in length ; 
 but one was, it is said, taken at TJxbridge, which 
 weighed half a pound. 
 
 A village on the Loire, between Orleans and Blois, 
 in Prance, is celebrated for the quality, size, and 
 cooking of its gudgeons. 
 
 Eoach fishing is also practised from punts, in the 
 Thames, at all the stations from Richmond upwards ; 
 and an immense quantity of roach are taken, very 
 much under the size allowed by Act of Parliament ; 
 if many of those who angle would but adhere to the 
 law on the subject, and set at liberty again all roach 
 under eight inches from the eye to the end of the 
 flesh at the middle of the tail, this species of fish , 
 of a size good for something when caught, would 
 be plentiful. At Richmond, a gentleman with whom 
 I am acquainted, about four years ago, caught a 
 
264 PISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 roach weighing four pounds, which was preserved, 
 and shown to numbers of persons. 
 
 Many anglers fish in the Thames off the banks, for 
 roach ; and at the Island, or Ait, just above Hampton 
 Court Bridge, called the " Angler's Ee treat," is a very 
 quiet retired place ; from its banks many roach are 
 taken. In the "Weir hole, at the end of the Ait, 
 large trout, chub, pike, and barbel are caught ; also 
 in the Tumbling Bay Hole ; — in fact, I do not know 
 any portion of the ITiames having a more extensive 
 range for an angler. Haevet, the tenant of this 
 island, and his family, are most civil, accommodating 
 persons ; he is licensed to sell beer, and furnishes din- 
 ners, tea, &c. ; the charges are very moderate. If he 
 would constantly ground-bait the waters around the 
 Island, he might have the majority of the fish in that 
 large expanse of water from Teddington Lock up to the 
 Tumbling Bay, on one side of the island ; and from 
 Moulsey Lock to Sunbury Lock on the upper side, con- 
 stantly about it ; and no angler would go thither, if 
 at all competent, without finding sport. His incli- 
 nation is good to carry out the advice of his friends, 
 but his means are not equal to the performance of 
 this necessary, and advantageous duty to himself, and 
 family, who would be so much benefitted by the 
 number of anglers, which the certainty of sport 
 would attract to his domicile. The railway to Hamp- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 265 
 
 ton Court has its terminus close to the Ait; and 
 there are some excellent fishermen at Moulsey, close 
 to Hampton Court Bridge. 
 
 Sunbury, Walton, Weybridge, and Chertsey Bridge 
 Fisheries are all at considerable distances from the 
 respective railway stations ; though there are always 
 conveyances to be had on very reasonable terms. 
 The landlord of the inn at Chertsey Bridge has 
 generally a fly ready to convey anglers from the 
 station of the railway to the river, and to take them 
 back. 
 
 Punts, fishermen, baits, and every accommodation 
 can be obtained at all the principal villages and 
 towns on the banks of the Thames ; and it is more 
 pleasant to have a companion for barbel fishing, 
 which is a great source of amusement [at the proper 
 season. Por gudgeon fishing, a punt will very con- 
 veniently accommodate two gentlemen and a lady, 
 or two ladies^and a gentleman. The panoramic map 
 of the Thames, by Eeynolds, 174, Strand ; and the two 
 maps, for anglers, from Richmond to Henley, and 
 from Henley to Oxford, by ITetherclift, — will be found 
 most valuable guides for sportsmen on our noble 
 river. 
 
 I have been informed, that in the neighbourhood 
 of Ashton Keynes, a little above Cricklade, there are 
 trout from six to eight pounds each ; the water is 
 
266 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 very strictly preserved ; but gentlemen properly in- 
 troduced are allowed to angle with a fly. 
 
 At Pangbourne, also, it is said, there are large 
 trout in the Thames. 
 
 I was' out in a punt, 'at Maidenhead, with an ex- 
 perienced fisherman, and tried spinning, and fly-fish- 
 ing during a whole day; I had .not a run with the 
 former, and only took some chub with the latter. I 
 was afterwards told, there was too much netting 
 going forward in that neighbourhood. 
 
 The river Loddon, which enters the Thames op- 
 posite Shiplake, has the reputation of producing large 
 pike, and they are said to be numerous. 
 
 In the Kew Eiver, above Hornsey, at a bend 
 where the water is wide, I have been informed dace 
 of three-quarters of a pound each are frequently 
 caught with a fly, similar to the cock-tail of the 
 Wandle ; and that in flavour they are equal, if not 
 superior, to many trout. In the preserved parts of 
 this river, about Southgate, Enfield, Winchmore Hill, 
 &c., there are carp, pike, chub, dace, large gudgeons, 
 and eels, all of a peculiar excellence. 
 
 In the river Rib, where the road crosses it, at 
 Wade's Mill, about two miles from Ware, near Thun- 
 dridge, there used to be abundance of trout ; but I 
 cannot tell what there may be now. Also, at a flour 
 mill, about two miles beyond St. Albans. 
 
PISHES AND FISHING. 267 
 
 The laws regulating the size of fish allowed to be 
 killed, it is proper to notice. 
 
 By 1st of Elizabeth, cap. xvii., no pike to be taken 
 under ten inches, from the eye to the end of the flesh 
 in the middle of the tail : salmon, sixteen inches : 
 trout, eight inches : and barbel, twelve inches ; all 
 measured in the above manner. 
 
 By 3d George II., cap. xxi., roach not to be 
 taken in the Thames under eight inches; or dace 
 under six inches, measured in the above manner. 
 Where there is one taken of the legal size, there are 
 tens of thousands taken under four or five inches, 
 which are useless as articles of food, but are thought 
 much of by Cockney anglers. 
 
 By 33d George II., cap. xxvii., no person shall 
 take, or have in his possession, on water or on shore, 
 or sell, or expose for sale, any unsizable fish, or fish 
 out of season ; nor any smelt less than five inches long, 
 measured as above : and any person may seize all 
 such unsizable fish, or fish out of season, with the 
 baskets and package, and charge a constable with the 
 offender, and the fish, basket, and package to be 
 taken before a justice of the peace ; and on convic- 
 tion, the whole goods to be delivered to the prose- 
 cutor, and the offender shall, besides, forfeit twenty 
 shillings, half to the poor of the parish, and the other 
 half to the prosecutor ; and in default of payment, 
 
268 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the offender may be committed to prison, and hard 
 labour, for any time not exceeding three months. 
 The penalty may, at the option of the magistrate, be 
 reduced to one half. 
 
 Any person catching, and offering salmon for sale, 
 of less than six pounds weight, forfeits £5 ; and the 
 same penalty attaches to the buyer and the seller, 
 with forfeiture of the fish. The £5, half to the poor, 
 and half to the informer; distress upon goods for 
 penalty ; if no goods, commitment for three months, 
 unless the penalty be paid. 1st George I., cap. xviii. 
 sect. 15. 
 
 A few observations on the laws regulating angling 
 may be useful. In navigable rivers, the proprietors 
 of the land have no exclusive right, that is, no one 
 can prevent a person from angling from the towing 
 path ; or in a boat close to the private grounds of an 
 individual having such on the bank of a navigable 
 river. 
 
 Navigable canals having a towing path, or foot- 
 way, by the side of them, become, in fact, the King's 
 highway; but I cannot find that the question has 
 been mooted as to the right of angling in a canal 
 made by a company of persons, who have purchased 
 the land through which they have cut the same ; it 
 is reasonable to think that the company could pre- 
 vent any person from angling therein, unless they 
 
PISHES AND PISHING. 269 
 
 have waived the right for thirty years, as the law now 
 stands. 
 
 The 7th and 8th of George lY., cap. xxix. sect. 
 34, enacts that any person unlawfully and 'wilfully 
 taking or destroying any fish, in any water running 
 through, or being in any land adjoining or belonging 
 to the house of any person, being the owner of such 
 water, or having a right of fishery therein, shall be 
 guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted there- 
 of, shall be punished accordingly : And any person 
 unlawfully and wilfully taking and destroying, or 
 attempting to take and destroy any fish in any water 
 not being such as aforesaid, but which shall be pri- 
 vate property, or in which there shall be any private 
 right of fishery, every such offender being convicted 
 thereof before a Justice of the Peace, shall forfeit and 
 pay, over and above the value of the fish taken or 
 destroyed, (if any) such sum of money, not exceeding 
 five pounds, as to the Justice shall seem meet : Pro- 
 vided always, that nothing herein before contained 
 shall extend to any person angling in the day-time ; 
 but if any person shall, by angling in the day-time, 
 unlawfully and wilfully take or destroy, or attempt 
 to take or destroy any fish in any such water as first 
 mentioned, he shall, on conviction before a Justice of 
 the Peace, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding five 
 pounds ; and if in any such water as last mentioned, 
 
270 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 he shall, on the like conviction, forfeit and pay a sum 
 not exceeding two pounds, as to the justice shall 
 seem fit." 
 
 Section 35 enacts, *' That if any person shall at 
 any time be found fishing against the provisions of 
 this Act, it shall be lawful for the owner of the 
 ground, water, or fishery, where such offender shall 
 be found, his servants, or any person authorized by 
 him to demand from such offender, any rods, lines, 
 hooks, nets, or other implements for taking or destroy, 
 ing fish, which shall then be in his possession : and 
 in case such offender shall not immediately deliver 
 up the same, to seize and take the same from him for 
 the use of such owner : Provided always, that any 
 person angling in the day-time against the provisions 
 of this Act, from whom any implements used by an- 
 glers shall be taken, or by whom the same shall be 
 delivered up as aforesaid, shall, by the taking or de- 
 livering thereof, be exempted from the payment of 
 any damages or penalty for such angling." 
 
 How far this act may operate against the former 
 laws and judicial decisions still in force, must be left 
 to the sages of the law to determine. I merely give 
 these sections of the Act from the Act itself, with all 
 its tautology, &c., &c. 
 
 Ko respectable angler will attempt to angle in a 
 private water without the permission of the owner. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 271 
 
 and any unprincipled 'person who does so, deserves 
 every punishment the law may award to him. 
 
 On the 25th of October, 1785, the Lord Mayor 
 (Eichard Clarke) and the Court of Aldermen made a 
 law, that no person should angle in the Thames on 
 Sundays, under a penalty of forty shillings. Anglers 
 therefore sought other streams ; and it was observed, 
 I remember at the time, that there were as many, if 
 not more anglers, than before that civic law was pro- 
 mulgated. His Eoyal Highness the Duke of York, 
 Bishop of Osnaburgh, went to live at Oatlands soon 
 after, and it was a regular practice for him and his 
 company on most Sundays, in fine weather, to be out 
 in punts, as I have often seen them angling in the 
 Thames. The example of his Royal Highness, as may 
 be well supposed, rendered this most unpopular law of 
 the Lord Mayor and Aldermen perfectly unavailing j 
 for they were afraid to attack ROYALxr and episcopacy, 
 and could not reasonably attack the poorer orders. 
 It was a law. which they had, in point of fact, it 
 was said by legal men, no power to make. This ob- 
 noxious attempt to interfere with the liberties of the 
 subject remained in a state of abeyance till Septem- 
 ber, 1840, when John Tagg, of Thames Ditton, 
 fisherman, was summoned before the magistrates, at 
 the Town Hall, Kingston, for angling in the Thames 
 on Sunday, the 6th inst. Mr. Guy, for the defend- 
 
272 PISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 ant, contended that the Lord Mayor and Aldermen 
 had no power to make any such law ; the justices 
 thinking such power was given by an Act of Geo. II., 
 fined him in the lowest penalty, twenty shillings. 
 The only power the Lord Mayor and Aldermen ever 
 had by that or any other Act as to fishing in the 
 Thames, was to punish persons for using unlawful nets 
 or engines for taking fish, or, becoming public prosecu- 
 tors, proceeding against persons for taking them 
 under the -specified sizes mentioned in Acts of Par- 
 liament ; but neither the Corporation or its officers 
 do this duty. The persecution of John Tagg, who is 
 esteemed as a most quiet, industrious, and respectable 
 man, it was ascertained, originated with a confede- 
 racy of Puritans, of whom the general opinion was, 
 that they would have been better employed in attend- 
 ng to their own duties. 
 
 Many very severe observations were made in the 
 public journals upon this transaction, which it is not 
 necessary to repeat^ and it brought to light another 
 insane, but abortive attempt, to involve the chief 
 magistrate of the city, in a still more extensive inter- 
 ference with the pleasures, the comforts, and the 
 commerce of the river Thames ; fortunately the Lord 
 Mayor possessed too much good sense, to aid or abet 
 the scheme of putting a stop to all traffic on the 
 Thames on Sundays, and probably it was fortunate 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 273 
 
 for the proposers of it, that he acted with such cau- 
 tion, and thereby saved them from the consequences 
 which might have ensued. 
 
 I am not about to enter into a discussion whether 
 angling on Sundays, not in the Thames alone, but 
 in every other water should be prohibited ; but I will 
 mention a few of the persons who would be injured 
 most seriously by any such prohibition. The owners 
 of fishing-tackle shops in London would lose a con- 
 siderable portion of that trade which they have en- 
 gaged in for the support of their families. The 
 fishermen on the Thames would lose probably one 
 fifth or more of their present incomes. The proprie- 
 tors of houses of entertainment frequented by anglers, 
 who have paid large sums in the way of good- will, 
 fittings-up, &c., would, many of them, become 
 insolvent. 
 
 The fascination which exists in seeing fish caught, 
 pervades all classes of society ; and if to a passive 
 spectator it is so attractive, how much more so is 
 that of being the active agent, by whose skill 
 in adapting baits and tackle the most cunning of the 
 finny tribe are captured ; and if anglers of the middle 
 and poorer classes could have their amusement inter- 
 fered with by a legislative prevention of Sunday 
 angling, such is the paramount inflaence of this sport, 
 that many artizans and others would neglect their 
 
274 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 work at a great loss to their employers, and their 
 own families, in order to have a day's angling. A 
 scene that actually occurred in the Homerton 
 Marshes, may illustrate this fact. 
 
 A man was at the above spot^ angling, when a 
 gentlemanly person approached, and the following 
 colloquy ensued : — 
 
 Gentleman. Good afternoon, friend. Have you 
 had any sport ? 
 
 Angler. Kot much, sir.. . Only these. 
 
 Gent. How long have you been at it ? 
 
 AngL Ever since four this morning. 
 
 Gent, "What are you ? Any trade ? 
 
 Angl. Yes. A weaver, sir. 
 
 Gent. What can you earn a day at your trade ? 
 
 Angl. About seven shillings. 2,. 
 
 Gent. Have you no work at home ? 
 
 Angl. Yes, sir; plenty. 
 
 Gent. What are these fish worth ? 
 
 AngL I cannot say, sir ; no great deal. 
 
 Gent. Eut suppose when you go home, if you 
 were to offer these fish for sale, what would they 
 fetch ? 
 
 Angl. (Laughing.) Oh, I do not think they would 
 sell for sixpence. 
 
 Gent. Indeed ; do you see yonder house ? That 
 is a mad-house ; put up your tackle as fast as you 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 275 
 
 can, for if the master, or any of the keepers see you, 
 they will lock you up as a madman. 
 
 The gentleman then walked rapidly away. 
 
 Yery soon after, the angler was rather startled by 
 seeing two men issue from the house, and approach 
 him hastily ; they inquired if he had seen a gentleman 
 pass, describing him, and if so, which way, and told 
 him that the gentleman was a lunatic who had escaped. 
 The angler pointed out the way the gentleman had 
 gone, and he was soon captured. The master of the 
 establishment went out and thanked the angler for 
 the information he had given, which led to the cap- 
 ture of his patient, and seeing the angler was poor, 
 made him a present for the assistance he had rendered, 
 when the angler repeated the conversation that had 
 taken place, and it found its way into ^* Examples of 
 the lucid intervals of insane per sons. ^^ 
 
 Another anecdote, though not relating to angling, 
 showing the acute reasoning of insane persons during 
 their lucid intervals, may probably be admitted here, 
 M. Baron, who was, previous to the Reign of Terror 
 in France, during the first Revolution, the most cele- 
 brated harlequin of the French stage, was obliged to 
 fly to this country for safety, and first became head 
 waiter, and afterwards proprietor of the Cafe de 
 quatre Nations, at the corner of Nassau and Gerrard 
 Streets, Soho. About 1807-8 I frequently dined at 
 
 T 2 
 
276 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the house, and heard the following related as having 
 actually occurred there. A poor man stationed him- 
 self so as to enjoy the savoury smell emanating from 
 the kitchen, and ate a piece of dry bread ; no doubt 
 knowing that M. B. was a humourist and a kind- 
 hearted man, and that he was then within hearing, 
 said, " "Well, I have now enjoyed my dry bread under 
 the smell of this cookery, as well as if I had gone 
 inside and had my dinner." M. B. told the man, 
 that as he was so satisfied, he (M. B.) thought he ought 
 to receive some payment for the advantage derived ; 
 to which the man demurred, saying he had had no 
 property of M. B.'s; that which he enjoyed cost M. 
 B. nothing, and he had no power over it. M. B., 
 seeing a gentleman coming down Nassau Street, pro- 
 posed to refer the case to him. The gentleman, on 
 being addressed, stopped, very civilly heard the state- 
 ment of both parties ; he then asked M. B. for two 
 clean plates, and the poor man for a piece of money ; 
 he turned one plate over the other, placing the money 
 between, and holding them near M. B.'s ear, caused 
 the money to rattle between the plates, asking if he 
 heard that ; on M. B. replying in the affirmative, he 
 returned the money to the poor man, and the plates 
 to M. B., saying, " This case having been referred 
 to me, I decide, that as the poor man has been satis- 
 fied with the smell of your meat, you must be satisfied 
 
FISHES AlsD PISHING. 277 
 
 with the sound of his money ;" the gentleman then 
 walked away^along Gerrard Street. M. B. called 
 one of his waiters to give the poor man some cold 
 meat, but before it could be brought, a person came 
 in haste to M. B., describing the gentleman who had 
 acted as judge ; and being informed the route he took, 
 followed, arrested his further progress, and brought 
 him back past the cafe. He proved to be a lunatic 
 who had escaped from his private keeper ."^ 
 
 I was walking in the meadow by the Horse and 
 Groom, Lea Bridge, on the Essex side, one Sunday 
 afternoon, having gone thither merely for the advan- 
 tage of the fresh air, but not to angle. On the oppo- 
 site side sat an angler, patiently watching the motion 
 of his float ; a person who appeared to be an acquaint- 
 ance, and who was near me, called to the angler, and 
 asked how long he had been there ; the angler replied, 
 "Ever since one this morning ; I came down last night 
 to bait this place, and I was here so early for fear any 
 one else should take it." On being asked by his friend 
 what sport he had had, he stooped down, pulled up 
 a piece of twine, attached to which was a carp, ap- 
 parently about five pounds weight, by one end of the 
 twine being passed through the fish's mouth and 
 brought out at his gills, in order to keep it alive ; 
 
 * There have been several versions of this occurrence pub- 
 lished, but this I believe to be the true one. 
 
278 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 whilst holding his prize, with great exultation at his 
 good fortune, the fish gave a caper, the knot slipped, 
 and the carp descended into his native element, to the 
 great vexation of the poor angler, whom I think 
 e\rery one who saw it pitied very sincerely.— A type 
 of this world, when we think our labonrs have been 
 crowned with success, it all dissolves, and ''like the 
 baseless fabric of a vision, leaves not a rack behind." 
 Anglers form a most numerous and influential 
 class of the community ; but for every respectable one 
 who can afford to fish any day in the week he may 
 think proper, there are probably fifty respectable 
 individuals who cannot devote any other time than a 
 portion of Sunday to their favourite sport, which in- 
 duces them to go into the country, whereby they 
 cleanse their lungs from the foul air they have 
 breathed for the previous six days ; and there are an 
 equal number of the inferior class who are attached 
 to this amusement. Now taking the whole of the 
 disciples of Izaak "Walton, there cannot be found a 
 more quiet, orderly, and temperate set of men than 
 they are ; and though I am not a Sunday angler my- 
 self, 'yet I know many most moral worthy men whoare ; 
 and feeling as I do that angling is truly the contempla- 
 tive man's recreation, and that the wisest and best of 
 men in all ages, distinguished for amenity of temper, 
 scientific attainment?, and unaffected piety of life, 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 279 
 
 have been lovers of the art which requires quiet and 
 solitude. "No man surrounded as he must he, thus 
 situated, with the wonders of creation, can fail to look 
 up with veneration and gratitude to the great and 
 glorious Architect of the universe, for the benefits 
 bestowed upon him ; whilst the invigoration of mind 
 and body, resulting from exercise in the open air, the 
 change of scene, reanimates the health and spirits, 
 and renders the angler more capable of exertion on 
 his return to the active duties of life. 
 
 The antiquity of angling can be proved by reference 
 to the Eook of Job, who died 3407 years ago ; by 
 Isaiah, who was put to death 2550 years ago ; by 
 Plutarch, who gives the scene between Cleopatra and 
 Marc Antony : besides, did not Christ order a hook 
 and line to be cast into the sea, and the fish to 
 be taken ? and did he not choose the greater number 
 of the apostles from amongst fishermen ? According 
 to Oppian, the Emperor Severus practised the art of 
 angling, out of a boat in an artificially made lake, 
 wherein dainty fish were bred and fed, of a species 
 fit for the royal table. It was the favourite sport of 
 the Emperor Trajan, and in more modern times it 
 has been that of ]S"elson, Paley, Davy, Chantry, and 
 a host of celebrated characters. 
 
 God gave to man the dominion over the fish of the 
 sea, the fowl of the air, and over every living thing 
 
280 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 that moveth upon the earth. Man is by nature a 
 carnivorous animal, hence in the rude and unculti- 
 vated state of the human race, the support of their 
 lives and that of their families depended upon their 
 skill in the chase, their dexterity and ingenuity in 
 subjecting the feathered and finny tribes to their 
 control and use. Examples of this state of natural 
 liberty have been of late years found to exist, and 
 even at this day there may be undiscovered hordes 
 of uncivilized beings, who individually endure what 
 to civilized man appear hardships, but to the savage 
 is indescribable pleasure, and the chief business of 
 his life. 
 
 " Coarse are his meals, the fortune of the chase, 
 Amidst the running stream he slakes his thirst : 
 Toils all the day, and at th' approach of night, 
 On the first friendly bank he throws him down, 
 Or rests his head upon a rock till morn ; 
 Then rises fresh, pursues his wonted game, 
 And if the following day he chance to find 
 A new repast, or an untasted spring. 
 Blesses his stars, and thinks it luxury." — Addison, 
 
 This yearning after the delights of the chase, the 
 excitement of the dog and gun, and the amusement 
 of angling, in all its branches, derived from our ab- 
 original ancestors, is still so strong upon us, in our 
 civilized state, that few persons can be found who do 
 not feel an almost uncontrollable desire to participate 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 281 
 
 in one or the other of these rural, health-giving 
 sports. 
 
 My own experience is, that when I have had an 
 an opportunity of enjoying a few hours' fly-fishing* 
 on the bank of a trout stream, I have found my whole 
 system revivified for some time after. By the inhala- 
 tion of air, containing a large proportion of pure 
 oxygen, the blood, consequently, becomes oxygenated 
 in a greater degree ; the circulation of all the fluids of 
 the body is increased, and healthily improved, for it is 
 scarcely necessary, at the present day, to explain this, 
 when even the more humble classes know the import- 
 ance of pure air to ensure the health of the body, 
 through the lungs receiving a larger portion of oxygen. 
 The artisan who is confined in an unwholesome atmo- 
 sphere during six days, requires fresh air to renovate 
 his constitution ; and those who desire to abridge his 
 comforts in this respect, are no friends to their fellow 
 beings. They who thus attempt to injure the health 
 of the poorer part of the community, if the Pythago- 
 rean system were to be the true one, should be con- 
 
 * Fly-fishing is more conducive to'health than bottom fishing ; 
 for in the former there is considerable exercise for the muscles of 
 the arms, in throwing the line, and for the legs in moving about. 
 Spinning a minnow, and trolUng are next in point of advan- 
 tageous results to the health : another superior advantage of fly- 
 fishing is, that it is practised by the side of rapid and aerated 
 
282 FISHES AKD FISHING. 
 
 demned to the same labour, privations, and want 'of 
 fresh air, to which they would condemn the labour- 
 ing population ; the miseries of which they never 
 knew. IS'o ! no ! They enjoy the luxuries of life ; 
 they take their pleasure in riding, walking, or sport- 
 ing, six days of the week, and have nothing to think 
 of but their pleasures and comforts. 
 
 It cannot be supposed, in this enlightened age, that 
 any attempt could be entertained by the Houses of 
 Parliament to interfere with the innocent amuse- 
 ments of a large proportion of the community. Mo- 
 nomaniacs may propose very unwise laws, and have 
 done so : but the good sense of our legislators have 
 hitherto repelled the^propositions. The human mind 
 cannot be coerced, as to its religious feelings ; and the 
 endeavour to do so, by the hand of power, is sure to 
 prove abortive. Puritans have subverted the throne, 
 and killed their king in this island ; beware of ever 
 letting them be in the ascendant again. Are not the 
 horrible scenes now progressing in India, attribut- 
 able, whatever may be said to the contrary, to the 
 well-intentioned endeavours to make proselytes to the 
 Christian religion ? 
 
 I overheard a short time ago, a boy of a respect- 
 able family of the middle class, about ten years old, 
 talking to another, about how his Sunday was spent ; 
 he said, he " went three times in the day to chapel. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 283 
 
 (for his parents were dissenters of some sort) and 
 twice to a Sunday school ;** and said he, " Let me get 
 a little older, and 1*11 have less praying, and some 
 pleasure, for I have none now. God never intended, 
 I think, that we should worry him with prayers, 
 and hymn- singing, and neglect the exercise good for 
 one's health," 
 
 Let it not be supposed that I advocate any neglect 
 of religious duties, but I do reprobate causing chil- 
 dren, who are naturally volatile, to regard religious 
 duties, by their excess, as distasteful j and thereby 
 lay the foundation of irreligion in the adult. iNTo ! 
 let children be taught that it is degrading to themselves 
 to act improperly ; and not that punishment awaits 
 them if they do so, and they will grow up to be 
 honourable beings, above committing an action which 
 the inward monitor, their consciences, warns them, is 
 contrary to the true principles of moral integrity. 
 
 In the Court of Queen's Bench, on 14th iN'ovember, 
 1854, in a case of trespass. Bland v. Lipscombe, 
 the question involved was, the right of the inhabit- 
 ants of Leatherhead to angle, with rods and lines, 
 from a certain towing path, on [the bank of the river 
 Mole : they pleaded immemorial custom to angle for 
 recreation and not for profit. The plea of the inhabit- 
 ants was demurred to, on the ground that such an- 
 gling must be for profit. The counsel supporting the 
 
284 PISHES iLND FISHING. 
 
 plea said such angling was for recreation, and not for 
 profit. 
 
 Lord Campbell decided, that as the plea was, that 
 such angling was not for profit, it was bad. So that 
 the demurrer stands good against the plea. Kow 
 without knowing any thing of this case, or pretend- 
 ing to give a dictum as to the law, the common-sense 
 of the matter appears to be, that the inhabitants of 
 Leatherhead should have pleaded a prescriptive right, 
 by immemorial custom, to angle with rods and lines 
 from that towing path, and there have stopped : no 
 person goes out to angle without expecting and hop- 
 ing to take fish ; and if any parties have, by imme- 
 morial custom, a right to angle in a particular spot, 
 they are not accountable to any person whatsoever as to 
 what they do with the fish they may catch, whether 
 they give them away, sell them, or cook them. If 
 they be entitled to angle, they are also entitled to do 
 what they will with the results of their sport. The 
 fish were in a state of fercB naturae, and become 
 the absolute acquired property of him who can catch 
 them ; and every angler does fish for the acquirement 
 of that which he has not, and therefore fishes for 
 jprojit. 
 
 A result of this case was, that Charles Lipscomb, 
 a labourer at Leatherhead, applied to be discharged 
 from prison j he was opposed by 'N. Bland, Esq., of 
 
 1 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 285 
 
 Randall* 8 Park, Leatherhead. The jury, on the trial 
 in the Queen's Bench, gave a verdict for the plaintiff 
 (Mr. Bland), with £10 damages ; and the costs 
 amounted to £154. The insolvent, who was heard 
 on 2l8t of July, 1855, maintained that he had aright 
 to fish, and that the fish belonged to Mr. Ladbroke, 
 the Lord of the Manor ; it appeared that there is a 
 public /oo^-path along the side of the river. Mr. 
 Commissioner Murphy adjourned the case for enquiry 
 whether the inhabitants believed they had a right to 
 fish. If so, he would not keep the insolvent in pri- 
 son ; but if the insolvent had persisted, well knowing 
 he had no right, then he should feel it his duty to 
 give a very serious judgment. The Commissioner 
 has since been satisfied upon that point ; and Lips- 
 combe was discharged on 24th July. 
 
 In the case previously, as stated by the newspa- 
 pers, of this action, it was then said that there was a 
 towing path by the side of the river Mole, from whence 
 the inhabitants of Leatherhead were, by immemorial 
 custom, entitled to angle with rods and lines ; now a 
 towing path would indicate that the [river was navi- 
 gable, which, according to legal authorities on aquatic 
 rights, would alter the case very materially ; for all 
 rivers which maintain a perpetual stream, and are 
 capable of being navigated, are public rivers. But a 
 public foot-path hj the side of a river, bounded by 
 
286 nSHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the ground of any person, does not give the inhabit- 
 ants of the town or village in which such ground is 
 situated any right to fish in that river, unless the 
 said inhabitants can prove that the pathway has been 
 used without interruption ; also, that they have an- 
 gled therefrom during thirty years. If they cannot 
 prove this, any of them who angle from the pathway 
 in question commit a trespass upon the property of 
 the owner of the soil, who has a right to the fishery 
 half way across the river ; or the whole, if he be the 
 proprietor of the land on both sides ; and the Lord of 
 the Manor, as such, has nothing to do with the fishery 
 or fish. 
 
 Mr. Commissioner Murphy made a very sensible 
 and judicious observation, as to sending this case for 
 trial to the Court of Queen's Bench ; the matter ought 
 to have gone before a justice of the peace. Mr. Eland 
 should, I think, have proceeded under the 7th and 8th 
 George IV., cap. xxix., sect. 34 : however, as that gen- 
 tleman thought proper to employ lawyers upon the 
 subject, he wiU now probably have to pay them. 
 Bnt if any of the inhabitants of Leatherhead had been 
 taken before a magistrate for angling, at the place 
 where Lipscombe angled, and proved his right to do 
 80, as before observed, no magistrate could legally 
 convict him under this, or any other act, because the 
 right accrued to such inhabitant by previous laws of 
 
FISHES AND TISHING. 287 
 
 the realm. The inhabitants of Leatherhead will not 
 perforin the duty they owe to their children, and 
 children's children, if they do not defend this right of 
 angling, if it be their right. There are too many 
 instances of persons dressed in a little brief authority, 
 or who have in some way acquired wealth, using or 
 abusing their power, to circumscribe the recreations 
 of the more humble of their fellow mortals, particu- 
 larly in that of angling ; but it must be admitted 
 there are a great number of truly noble and wealthy 
 individuals, who act with every possible urbanity 
 and consideration towards those more humbly cir- 
 cumstanced. 
 
 A most destructive method of catching trout is, I 
 am informed, practised at, and near Leatherhead, 
 when the May-fly is on the water ; it is by a line 
 stretched across the river, to which is affixed a num- 
 ber of hooks, baited with the natural fly. A man on 
 each side of the river lets these baits drop from time 
 to time, and as soon as a fish is hooked, the one 
 poacher, for I can no otherwise denominate them, 
 gives out line, and the other draws it in, and baskets 
 the fish. N"o one under the title of an inhabitant of 
 Leatherhead, should be allowed to plunder and injure 
 the river in that disgraceful manner. Fellows of 
 that class fish for profit only. 
 
 Should the inhabitants of Leatherhead establish 
 
288 riSHES AND FISHING. 
 
 their right to angle from this foot-path, it will not 
 authorize any visitor to angle there, neither can an 
 inhabitant of that town delegate his authority to 
 another person, who is not an estallished inhabitant. 
 
 In the case of Eawlins v. Jenkins and others, really 
 versus the mayor, burgesses, and freeholders of "Whit- 
 church, in Hampshire, for trespass, by angling in the 
 river Test, which they could only do by entering a 
 close belonging to the plaintiff, the defendants 
 pleaded a prescriptive right by immemorial custom. 
 The case was tried before Mr. Justice Coleridge, at 
 the spring assizes, held at Winchester, in 1842; and 
 the verdict was, after a long trial, in favour of the 
 defendants. A new trial was granted, and owing to 
 some misconception, the verdict was for the plaintiff. 
 Another trial was applied for on account of the 
 alleged misdirection of the judge; but it was not 
 obtained, so the parties are much as they were, 
 except a little lighter in pocket. 
 
 In the navigation from Weybridge Eridge to 
 Thames Lock, it is the old river Wey, and above the 
 lock at "Weybridge Bridge, to Godalming, it is an 
 artificially made canal ; now, the proprietors of the 
 whole navigation to Godalming have very inju- 
 diciously placed boards forbidding persons to angle : 
 but from Thames Lock to Weybridge Bridge, it is the 
 original river, and probably was originally, ages ago, 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 289 
 
 navigable up to Byfleet ; over that, the Wey naviga- 
 tion proprietors never had any exclusive right, and if, 
 by the purchase of the land through which the cut was 
 made above Wey bridge Bridge, they in the commence- 
 ment had any such right over the canal so cut above 
 that Bridge, they have never exercised it, as I can 
 prove, for seventy-five years ; and as the best part 
 for angling is in the parish of Chertsey, the au- 
 thorities of that parish should take immediate steps 
 to prevent the rights of the parishioners from being 
 deteriorated. 
 
 In 1509, in an Act passed for repealing a former 
 Act, which was supposed to have an injurious ten- 
 dency to the interests of fishermen, it is stated, 
 ** that fish are much behoveful, and necessary to the com- 
 mon weal of this realms 
 
 First of Henry VIII. states, *'That days and 
 meats are indiiferent according to the gospel, but that 
 abstinence from flesh meat is a mean to virtue, and 
 to subdue men's bodies to their soul and spirit." 
 
 The 2nd and 3rd of Edward VI. imposed penal- 
 ties on persons eating flesh on fish days ; for the first 
 offence a fine of ten shillings, and ten days' imprison- 
 ment, and abstinence from flesh during the whole of 
 that period ; for the second offence the penalty and 
 other punishments were double. The sick and aged 
 could obtain licenses to eat meat. In 1562 the penal- 
 
290 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 ties were increased to £3, and £2 upon any house- 
 holder who was cognizant of the offence, if he did not 
 inform against the offender. A nobleman might eat 
 meat whenever he pleased, if he paid £1 6s. 8c?. per 
 year. A knight might do so for ISs. 4d., and a com- 
 moner, 65. 8c?. The money was paid into the parish 
 poor-box, under control of the Priesthood. 
 
 Fish of various species could very profitably be 
 bred in ponds in the inland parts of this country, 
 independently of the supply from the sea, and it 
 would be the means of giving nutriment to many 
 families, if the breeding of fish were more encouraged. 
 Eels, for instance, are extremely prolific, and would 
 afford to those who bred them for sale, a most ample 
 return, whilst the outlay would be trifling ; they are 
 very nourishing, and persons who feed much on them, 
 as is the case, Mr. Dickens says, of the inhabitants 
 around Lake Como, who are robust and long-lived ; 
 whilst sickly neighbours resort to the same locality, 
 and find restoration of their health, through partaking 
 of the same food. 
 
 From the same author, in " Household Words," 
 vol. iii. p. 423, we learn the following was a gentle- 
 man's directions for a Saturday's dinner, in the seven- 
 teenth year of the reign of Harry the Eighth. 
 
 ** First, leich brayne. Item, frommetye pottage. 
 Item, whole ling. Item, great jowls of salt sammon. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING, 291 
 
 Item, great salt eels. Item, great salt sturgeon jowls. 
 Item, fresh ling. Item, fresh turbot. Item, great 
 pike. Item, great jowls of fresh sammon. Item, 
 great ruds. Item, great turbots. Item, tarts. 
 
 ** Second course. Martens to pottage. Item, a great 
 fresh sturgeon jowl. Item, fresh eel, roasted. Item, 
 great brett. Item, sammon chines, broiled. Item, 
 roasted eels. Item, roasted lampreys. Item, roasted 
 lamperns. Item, great burbutts. Item, sammon, baken. 
 Item, fresh eel, baken. Item, fresh lampreys, baken. 
 Item, clear jilly. Item, gingerbread." 
 
 This could not surely be all served at one dinner, 
 but must be a dietary for Saturdays, when probably 
 one, two, or three of these dishes were indispensable 
 at table, on that day of the week. 
 
 Thus our ancestors promulgated laws and orders, 
 relative to the eating of fish, with a view to render 
 persons more chaste, as they did not consider fish 
 conveyed so much nutriment to the human system, 
 or was so exciting to the passions as flesh ; in respect 
 to nutriment, their ideas were very erroneous, and 
 also as to "subduing men's bodies." 
 
 An opinion has been entertained by some authois 
 on medical subjects, that eels, salmon, herrings, lam- 
 preys,, mussels and lobsters prove injurious to some 
 constitutions; this is quite true ; the first four dis- 
 agree with many, in consequence of the large propoi- 
 
 u 2 
 
292 PISHES AND FISHIVG. 
 
 tion of fatty matter which enter into their compo- 
 sition, the fifth I have before explained, and the last 
 from the indigestible nature of its flesh ; the effects 
 of the former, are nausea, and probably bilious head- 
 ache; and the latter, efflorescence of the skin, partially 
 or wholly, with some fever. 
 
 In the eastern parts of the world there are poison- 
 <)U8 fi-sh, such as the Tetradon Ocellatus of Linnseus, 
 round in Japan, where it is prohibited to be eaten by 
 the officers and soldiers ; so in the western there are 
 many of that description, some that will destroy life 
 in half an hour, by exciting the most frightful con- 
 vulsions ; the yellow- bill sprat has this property. 
 Many of the other fishes in the "West Indies, which 
 have the character of being poisonous, may be safely 
 eaten if the precaution be adopted to take out every 
 portion of the entrails immediately the fish is cap- 
 tured ; if it remain long before this be done, the 
 whole fish becomes unfit for food, which appears as 
 if its aliment were of a deleterious nature, and the 
 same thing occurs with the above fish of Japan. 
 This gives a strong reason for adopting the method 
 of taking out the entrails of all fish, as soon as 
 possible after they are caught. And much of the 
 injurious properties ascribed to the six species of fish 
 which I have named, may be traced to the length of 
 time they are kept in a state apparently fit for food, 
 
FISHES AND FISHIIfG. 293 
 
 after they are dead, by means of ice, and chemical 
 preparations. 
 
 Dr. Davy says, " He has made some experiments 
 on the degree of nutriment there is in fish, and the 
 results go far to prove that there is much nourishment 
 in them, little less than in butchers* meat, weight 
 for weight ; and in effect it may be more nourishing, 
 considering how, from its softer fibre, fish is more 
 easily digested. Moreover, there is, I ^find, in fish 
 (in sea fish) a substance which does not exist in the 
 flesh of land animals, viz., iodine — a substance which 
 may have a beneficial effect on the health, and tend 
 to prevent the production of scrofulous and tubercular 
 disease — the latter in the form of pulmonary con- 
 sumption, one of the most cruel and fatal with which 
 civilized society, and the highly educated and refined 
 are afflicted. Comparative trials prove that in the 
 majority of fish the proportion of solid matter — that 
 is, the matter which remains after perfect desiccation, 
 or the expulsion of the aqueous part — is little inferior 
 to that of the several kinds of butchers' meat, game, 
 or poultry. And if we give our attention to classes 
 of people, classed as to quality of food they princi- 
 pally subsist on, we find that the ichthyophagous 
 class are especially strong, healthy, and prolific. In 
 no other class than that of fishers do we see larger 
 families, handsomer women, or more robust and active 
 
294 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 men, or a greater exemption from the maladies just 
 alluded to. Other circumstances maj^ contribute to 
 the beneficial effect, but are not, I think, by them- 
 selves sufficient to account for the effect. There are 
 facts of a corroborative kind ; such as the well-ascer- 
 tained efficacy of cod-liver oil — an oil containing 
 iodine — in arresting the progress of consumption ; 
 the efficacy of the same substance in relieving or curing 
 some chronic aliments, especially bronchocele ; and 
 the virtue of fish diet, of raw fish, as employed in 
 Siberia and Holland, in the treatment of many chronic 
 complaints resisting ordinary medical treatment, of 
 which there are well- authenticated accounts.'* 
 
 Dr. Armstrong, in the " Art of Preserving Health," 
 wrote, about 1747, thus of the inhabitants of some of 
 the frozen regions of the globe. 
 
 " Far in the horrid realms of winter, where 
 Th' established ocean heaps a monstrous waste 
 Of shining rocks and mountains to the pole, 
 There lives a hardy race, whose plainest wants 
 Relentless earth, their cruel stepmother, 
 Regards not. On the waste of iron fields, 
 Untam'd, untractable, no harvests wave, 
 Pomona hates them, and the clownish god 
 Who tends the garden. In this frozen world 
 Such cooling gifts were vain ; a fitter meal 
 Is earned with ease ; for here the fruitful spawn 
 Of ocean swarms, and heaps their genial board 
 With generous fare, and luxury profuse. 
 These are their bread, the only bread they know.*' 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 295 
 
 Recent authors confirm the fact, that there are 
 tribes of human beings who live mostly on fish, and 
 some who seldom partake of other food, yet they are 
 strong, healthy, and active. 
 
 The savage aborigines of a portion of New England 
 were formerly entirely supported during a great por- 
 tion of the year, by the immense quantity of herrings 
 they took at the mouth of one of their large rivers, 
 which they dried in the sun, and used instead of 
 bread. So numerous are the salmon, and its varieties, 
 in the rivers of Kamschafcka, that they provide an 
 abundant supply of food for the inhabitants, and the 
 elegantly - formed, resplendent silver - scaled keta, 
 which forms the toukola or household bread of the 
 inhabitant's, with all the others, ascend their rivers 
 in summer, and diffuse plenty in these dreary parts 
 of the world. The natives have, during many months, 
 a variety of different species of fish, which not only 
 swarm in different rivers, each choosing its own, but 
 they penetrate to the inland lakes, &c. ; and Provi- 
 dence has kindly provided most abundantly, upon the 
 sea shore, two plants of most excellent anti-scorbutic 
 properties, as necessary correctives of constitutions 
 feeding so entirely on fish, much of it dried and 
 salted. 
 
 Siberia and Greenland owe much of their food to 
 the salmon, which in one instance force their way up 
 
296 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 a river thirteen hundred miles, then across a lake, 
 and ascend another river ; and in a second instance 
 pass up a river two thousand miles long. I might 
 enlarge very much on this subject, but I think what 
 I have stated is enough to prove that fish afford a 
 great proportion of nutriment, and every protection 
 should be extended to them in all countries, by pre- 
 venting their being taken when full of spawn, and 
 also in these kingdoms under the size fixed by law. 
 This year''^ all fish were very late in depositing their 
 ova ; and in the neighbourhood of Hampton Court, 
 there were a very large number of roach, dace, and 
 chub taken during the fence months, whereby mil- 
 lions of fish were destroyed. A most unsportsman- 
 like plan was also resorted to, by drawing a cluster 
 of naked hooks across little channels, which the fish 
 were endeavouring to get up to spawn, whereby 
 hundreds were caught, and double the number injured. 
 "Where was the society's water bailiff? or the Con- 
 servators (?) of the Thames and their officers ? 
 
 It would assist the naturalist, as well as the angler, 
 most essentially, if they could see fish in their native 
 element at considerable depths. Some time ago there 
 appeared in the *' Northern Warder," observations to 
 the following effect, under the head " Norwegian 
 Water Telescopes. — This appears to be a tube three 
 
 * 1856. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 297 
 
 to four feet long ; the fishermen immerse one end in 
 the water, and leaning over the gunwale of their boat, 
 and allowing no light to come to their eye, they look 
 through the glass, whereby they can see objects per- 
 fectly clear, ten to fifteen fathoms deep, or sixty to 
 ninety feet. 'Navy and coasting vessels of Norway 
 carry them to examine if their anchors be foul. 
 They have been introduced and used on the Tay, 
 whereby in twelve feet water everything is seen as if 
 at the surface. The meanest fisherman can make 
 them.'* I should think our Baltic fleet availed them- 
 selves of this invention to aid their navigation, or to 
 detect any dangerous snare laid for them. I wrote to 
 Admiral Dimdas on the subject, when he commanded 
 in the Baltic, knowing him from his having been my 
 patient : he called and thanked me on his return. 
 
 Mr. Leslie, of Lausenburgh, U.S., has constructed 
 an instrument for examining the beds of rivers, or 
 other situations under water, to facilitate excavation, 
 speedy discovery of drowned bodies, or of lost pro- 
 perty. It is by the addition of lamps useful at night. 
 I have not seen any instrument of the kind in this 
 country ; and if it be useful as stated, it should be 
 brought into notice. A tolerably clear explanation 
 of it is given in the ** Journal of Science, Literature, 
 and the Arts," No. xxxv., 1824; John Murray, 
 Albemarle Street, London. 
 
1 
 
 298 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 I think tills instrument may be very much im- 
 proved, and intend endeavouring to do so. 
 
 Fly-fishing in ihe Ganges. 
 
 *' The science of fly-fishing is completely set at 
 defiance, and rendered comparatively futile, in many 
 parts of the Ganges: for instance, at the junction of 
 the Soane. Pancy a noble river like the Ganges, fed 
 by the everlasting snows of the Himalaya, and the 
 countless streams which add their silvery tribute from 
 every glen and ravine along its course. Picture this 
 impetuous torrent, after being fretted into foam 
 amongst the rocky chasms of its native mountains, 
 leaping joyously into liberty and light, and roaring 
 triumphantly as it bursts from its long confinement, 
 and flings its glittering spray through its romantic 
 gorge of Tapabund, hurrying along tumultuously to 
 the open sea ! Fancy a twenty-eight pound marseer 
 at the end of your line, where the Soane (itself also 
 a river) mingles its waters with the heavy billows of 
 the Ganges. The fish makes directly across to the 
 rapid, where the best boat that ever stemmed a tide 
 would be shattered into a thousand splinters ; there 
 is a sweeping bay to the right, which totally prevents 
 your moving from the spot. 
 
 ** The marseer is a gallant fish ; and an active one 
 in prime condition. Rebellious at the trick you played 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 299 
 
 him, and determined to go headlong down yon foam- 
 ing rapid, he springs away, making the water fly 
 from' your line like smoke ; and now he has caught 
 the additional impetus of the roaring stream as it 
 hurries to the fall. Place your finger on the line. 
 What ! it cuts you, does it } I defy you to feel your 
 fish, as a skilful rider does his horse ; the fish will go, 
 and you must let him ; he has only been two minutes 
 hooked ; your line is all out (200 yards) and you are 
 up to your chin in the water. And now, hold hard, 
 science is vain. All you can do is, to give him the 
 butt, trusting alone to the strength of your treble gut 
 bottom, and the elasticity of your rod and line. 
 
 '' If any sportsman should affect to drop the cor- 
 ners of his mouth at the sport I have described — 
 but faintly, I should delight to see him with * a go-a- 
 head varmint ' on the hook, at the above sport ; and 
 if he were able to manage him in the known rules of 
 angling science, all I can say is, tliat I would * hide 
 my diminished head.' " 
 
 A gentleman to whom I shewed this, which I cu^ 
 out of a periodical, enabled me to correct the printed 
 statement ; and informed me that he had angled in 
 the river Soane ; that he had always from 200 to 250 
 yards of line on his winch, which frequently would 
 be all run out ; that he was obliged to wade, but not 
 up to his chin ; that the sand of the river is very fine, 
 
300 FISHKS AND FISHING. 
 
 and shines like gold, and that the shores abound 
 with beautiful agate pebbles. 
 
 ^* Hints for Anglers. — Never mind what they of 
 the old school say about ' playing him till he is 
 tired.* Much valuable time, and many a good fish, 
 may be lost by this antiquated proceeding. Put him 
 into your basket as soon as you can. Everything de- 
 pends on the manner in which you commence your 
 acquaintance with him. If you can at first prevail 
 upon him to walk a little way down the stream with 
 you, you will have no difficulty afterwards, in per- 
 suading him to let you have the pleasure of seeing 
 him at dinner. 
 
 *' Do not leave ofi' fishing early in the evening, be- 
 cause your friends are tired. After a bright day, the 
 largest fish are to be caught by whipping between 
 sunset and dark. Even, however, in these precious 
 moments you will not have good sport, if you con- 
 tinue throwing after you have whipped your fly off. 
 Pay attention to this; and if you have any doubt 
 after dusk, you may easily ascertain the point, by 
 drawing the end of your line, quickly, through your 
 hand, particularly if you do not wear gloves. 
 
 " When you have got hold of a good fish, which 
 is not very tractable — if you are married, gentle 
 reader, think of your wife, who, like the fish, is 
 united to you by very tender ties, which can only 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 301 
 
 end with her death, or her going into weeds. If you 
 are single, the loss of the fish, when you thought the 
 prize your own, may remind you of some more serious 
 disappointment." — Jesse's ** Natural History.'* 
 
 I have mentioned the antiquity of angling ; the 
 noble, good, pious, and learned men who have prac- 
 tised and patronized this recreation ; but it has also 
 had some well-known opponents ; for instance, the 
 float-fisher, drew from the prejudiced and surly Dr. 
 Johnson, the very amiable and agreeable expression 
 of his opinion — that it was an amusement carried on 
 by " a stick and a string, with a worm at one end, 
 and a fool at the other." And he, in the plenitude of 
 his self-conceit and ill-nature, fancied himself a wit, 
 in uttering this sarcasm. The fact was, he was so 
 near-sighted he could not see a float ; and, therefore, 
 never could know what the sport was : and as to fly- 
 fishing, it was totally beyond his comprehension. 
 
 Lord Byron also wished to be considered witty on 
 the subject : 
 
 " And angling too, that solitary vice, 
 Whatever Isaac Walton sings, or says, 
 The quaint old cruel coxcomb in his gullet 
 Should have a hook, and a small trout to pull it." 
 
 The noble (?) lord was lame, and could not enjoy the 
 amusement latterly , though he did when young, ac- 
 cording to Hofland, in the large ponds at New stead 
 
302 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Abbey. So he was like many others in this world of 
 ours, who 
 
 " Compound for sins they are inclined to, 
 ,, By damning those they have no mind to." 
 
 Note. — Izaak Walton died 14th December, 1683, 
 get. 90 years. 
 
 Peter Pindar too, in taking the part of the fish 
 against the angler, says — 
 
 *' And when he tries to pull thee out, 
 God give thee strength, thou little trout, 
 To pull old Izaalf in." 
 
 Dr. Walcot was a professed cynic, who lashed, 
 or flattered himself he did lash, everybody, poor old 
 King George the Third not excepted ; but in the ma- 
 jority of instances, though his satirical poetry might 
 produce a momentary laugh, the shaft which he at- 
 tempted to point with wit, very often fell harmless to 
 the ground, through the ill-nature displayed towards 
 worthy and estimable characters. 
 
 ** For his censure was praise, the enlightened allow, 
 
 And not laurels, but thistles oft adorned his poor brow." 
 
 There are many accounts of fish which have the 
 power of traversing the land as well as the water, or 
 of climbing trees. Mr. Yarrell very kindly lont me 
 Dr. Francis Hamilton's (formerly Buchanan) account 
 
riSHKS AND FISHING. 303 
 
 of the fishes of the river Ganges and its branches ; 
 from which I make the following abridged extract. 
 
 The fish to which this faculty of ascending trees is 
 attributed, is called the Coius Cobojcus, or the climbing 
 perch ; the fin of its tail is nearly rounded ; it has 
 seventeen prickles, and eight soft rays in the united 
 fins of the back, with ten prickles and ten soft rays 
 in the fin behind the vent, with faint black belts 
 traversing the sides. 
 
 Captain Dal dorf, a Dane, " Linnsean Transactions," 
 vol. iii. p. 62, states, that he saw one of these fish 
 climbing up a palm tree. 
 
 This fish is found ever)- where in the marshes, 
 ponds, and ditches of India ; although it abounds in 
 sharp bones, the natives of Calcutta use it much in 
 diet; the women believing that it increases their 
 milk, and the men that it possesses great invigorating 
 'powers ; it seldom exceeds six inches in length. It 
 has beneath each eye a horny process, indented on 
 the lower edge, and ending before in a sharp point, 
 which the animal can, at pleasure, turn out. 
 
 Each gill- cover consists of three plates — the two 
 hindermost of which are indented with numerous 
 strong parallel spines ; all these are powerful organs 
 of locomotion, when the fish is on land. 
 
 A climbing fish was known to the Greeks; but 
 though mentioned by Oppian, in about twenty difier- 
 
304 FISHES AND FISHING. ^ 
 
 ent parts of his *' Halieuticks,*' and most curious 
 qualities attributed to it, we do not correctly know 
 this fish, the^r^^^: *'he has eight long legs or fibres, 
 four on each side of his head, which serve him to 
 crawl, cling to the rocks, and entangle his prey." 
 The above poet says, book iv., verse 335, 
 
 " With all the transports of an eager spouse, 
 Th' enamored preke gallants Minerva's boughs. 
 Surprizing singularity of love ! 
 That brutal souls a leafy fair should move, 
 And fishes court the daughter of the grove." 
 
 In the following lines it is stated, that where near 
 the shore an olive tree is found, with swelling berries 
 and luxuriant boughs, the preke will ascend it and 
 remain. 
 
 '* But when remiss exhausted nature lies, 
 Back to the sea the languid crawler hies, 
 Satiate with love and vegetable joys." 
 
 The Grecian fishermen avail themselves of the 
 propensities and passions of fish, for loading a bough 
 of the olive-tree with lead, they drag it along deeply 
 depressed, at the stern of their boat. The preke en- 
 twines himself amongst the branches, allows himself 
 to be drawn into the boat, and only relinquishes his 
 hold of the bough with his life. 
 
 Another curious passion in fish is, that of the sargo. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. ' 305 
 
 (see Willougliby, p. 260 and 309. tab. v. 4,) for goats; 
 which, when the animals are driven into to refresh 
 and cool them, these fish tumultuously throng and 
 gambol amongst the goats. 
 
 The fishermen of that period, clothed in a goat 
 skin, with the horns on their heads, walked into the 
 water ; the fish crowded around, they baited with 
 goat's fat and flesh incorporated with flour, and the 
 fishermen endeavour to take every one of the shoal ; 
 but should they not have sufficient rapidity of motion, 
 and dexterity to jerk the fish up and instantly cast it 
 ashore, the other fish discover the cheat, and instantly 
 leave the spot, nor will even real goats tempt them to 
 return. The fish are large, and the rods and lines 
 must be stout. Does not this caution of the fish 
 appear very like a reasoning faculty ? 
 
 This fish, it appears, has the power of moving about 
 when out of its native element, and might possibly 
 get on the branches of trees hanging into the water. 
 There is no known fish which can exist so long with- 
 out water, as they are brought to Calcutta market, 
 and are alive in dry earthen pots at the end of five or 
 six days. 
 
 This is one of the fishes supposed to fall with rain 
 from the clouds, which is no doubt erroneous, for 
 during the dry season the waters it inhabits are re- 
 duced by evaporation, and it exhausts its food, when 
 
 X 
 
306 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the rainy season commences, like a larger Indian 
 fish, it moves from its uncomfortable position, and is 
 found wriggling and leaping amongst the wet grass. 
 
 Dr. Hamilton mentions several other curious ani- 
 mals of the fish species, of which I shall give a con- 
 cise account. A fish at Bengal called by the English 
 the Sable fish, said to be the highest-flavoured fish 
 known, being like a compound of salmon and her- 
 ring. IS'ot, I imagine, a very delicate flavour. 
 
 Cypkintjs Eoba, one of the carp tribe, about two 
 feet long, very few bones. 
 
 Cypkinus Catla, three to four feet long, fat and 
 delicious when not too large, those which are become 
 so are rank tasted ; this fish is free from bones. 
 
 Cypkintjs Cuesa, two to three feet long, very like 
 the English tench ; the natives entertain the opinion 
 that if this fish be eaten on the same day that milk is 
 drank, the person so doing will be afflicted with the 
 disease called Mephantiasis. 
 
 Cyprinus Eohita grows to three feet long, much 
 propagated in ponds, a most excellent and valuable 
 fish ; but like our own carp, those from rivers are 
 much superior in flavour. 
 
 Cyprinus Putitora, in the eastern part of Eengal ; 
 they are found sometimes nine feet long, and their 
 scales so large as to be made into gambling cardb ; 
 these* also are fiee from bones. 
 
FISHES AND FISBING. 307 
 
 Pliny, "Hist. Mundi," L. IX. c. iii., says eels 
 are found in the Ganges three hundred feet long ! but 
 Dr. H. says he never saw or heard of any larger than 
 those of Europe. 
 
 Another species of eel found in the estuaries of the 
 Ganges are said to grow to seven cubits and a-half 
 long, or about thirteen feet ; but Dr. H. says he never 
 saw one that measured half that length. As the tide 
 comes up into these inlets, the eels taken there are 
 most probably congers, and many of that tribe may 
 be much longer than the above dimensions. 
 
 A genus called Ophiocephalus has a great number 
 of species ; these all afford a light and wholesome, 
 though rather insipid diet. They are very tenacious 
 of life, indeed so much so, that in China they are 
 often carried in vessels of water, and slices are cut 
 for sale as wanted ; these slices selling dear whilst 
 the fish retains life, but that portion which remains 
 after the tortured fish has ceased to live, is considered 
 valueless. Some of this species are from two to three 
 feet in length. Our gastronomists probably learned 
 the art of crimping fish from the Chinese; but ashamed 
 to act as the Chinese do in this respect, they give the 
 fish a tap on the head to stun it a little, and then 
 make their cuts, which, according to Sir Anthony 
 Carlisle and others, is useless, if the muscular fibres 
 do not contract, that is, in truth, unless the fish is 
 
 s2 
 
308 PISHES AND PISHING. 
 
 killed by the transverse cuts ; or more plainly, unless 
 the exquisite gourmand sees or believes the poor fish 
 evinces, or has evinced excruciating suffering, by the 
 quivering of every portion of his mutilated body, his 
 fastidiously pampered appetite is not gratified. Nine 
 times out of ten the improvement is imaginary ; for, 
 as I have elsewhere observed, the fish vrhich it is 
 pretended by fishmongers to be in reality crimpedy has 
 been deprived of vitality for many hours before the 
 transverse incisions are made. 
 
 One species of this last- mentioned genus inhabits 
 holes in the perpendicular banks of some rivers, where 
 they lie with their heads out, watching for their 
 prey. 
 
 Another species of this genus is frequently found 
 amongst wet grass, after heavy rain, erroneously sup- 
 posed to come down with it, an explanation of which 
 is before given. 
 
 BoLA CoiBOK is a very beautiful fish, four feet long 
 and upwards. 
 
 BoLA Pama, four to five feet long, only goes up as 
 high in the river as the tide reaches. 
 
 SiLUEFS has a prickle, barbed, and a defensive 
 weapon against any enemy except man ; it has also 
 apparently two vents. 
 
 I have looked carefully over the work of Dr. 
 Hamilton for the fish mentioned in the article on fly- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 309 
 
 fishing in the Ganges, by the name of marseer, but 
 do not find one which bears that name, and I omitted 
 to ask the gentleman with whom I conversed on the 
 subject, the generic name of the fish. 
 
 A gentleman gave some curious particulars of a fish 
 called the Cower fish of Bengal, in a newspaper ; but 
 it requires authentication. 
 
 Salmon are not known in the southern parts of the 
 world, being for the most part natives of northern 
 climes. 
 
 Mr. Dickens states that near the Indian Archipelago, 
 the waters are said to contain a species of sea-snake, 
 which it is certain death to handle. 
 
 "William Ghislin, Esq., proprietor, editor, printer, 
 and publisher of the " Cape Monitor," has favoured 
 me with the following — 
 
 SYI^OPSIS OP THE EDIBLE FISHES AT THE 
 
 CAPE OE GOOD HOPE.* 
 
 TRIGLlDiE. 
 
 1. Tkigla Capensis. Cuvier and Valenciennes. (?) 
 
 {Hoode Knorhaan, red Gurnard of the Colonists.) 
 
 Head, back, upper part of body, and fins rose red. 
 
 Belly, silvery white, shaded by rosy patches. Scales, 
 
 very small ; lateral line, nearly parallel. Interior 
 
 * The author of the account of these fish was Dr. Pappe. 
 
310 PISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 surface of the pectoral fins, dark yellowish green, 
 with large black marks towards their bases, speckled 
 with a number of pure white irregular spots. Iris, 
 red. Length, twelve inches. 
 
 Baron Cuvier, in giving a very short diagnosis of 
 this species, specimens of which were sent him from 
 the Cape by Delalande, remarks, that " the dark spots 
 at the inner surface of the pectoral fins were 
 wanting ;" but I have reason to believe that his 
 specimens had faded, and that, through the eifect of 
 the spirits in which they were preserved, the natural 
 colours had been more or less obliterated. Experience, 
 and the accounts of the fishermen here, convince me 
 that this and the following species are the only ones 
 of the genus caught in our bays. 
 
 Cuvier's observation, that the fish bears a great 
 resemblance to the Trigla Kumu of New Zealand, is 
 perfectly correct. Flesh firm, but palatable. Caught 
 in summer with the hook, but not very common in 
 Table Bay. 
 
 2. Tkigla. Peeonii. Cuv. and Yal. {Graanwe 
 or hruine Knorhaan^ Grey Gurnard.) Head, large ; 
 forehead, sloping ; body, declining in breadth towards 
 the tail; muzzle, projecting; teeth, small, but 
 numerous ; upper mandible longest, divided into two 
 lobes, and beset at its margin with five denticles. 
 Two spines, unequal in length, are placed above each 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 311 
 
 eye, and a strong spine at each side of the occiput ; 
 opercular and scapular spines, pointed sharp. Anterior 
 side of the first ray of the first dorsal fin, slightly ser- 
 rated ; the second and third rays of that fin longer 
 than the remaining seven. Eidges of dorsal groove, 
 armed with a row of twenty-four blunt denticulations. 
 Pectoral fins, large, reaching beyond the vent ; tail, 
 lunated. Lateral line, smooth; scales, 'small, oval. 
 Head, back, and side brownish grey, mottled with 
 white spots ; belly, pure white, mixed with purple ; 
 pectoral fins, olive green on the inner surface, edged 
 with azure, and embellished by a large black mark, 
 sprinkled with white and sky-blue dots; lower jaw, 
 and part of the pectoral and caudal fins, pale red, 
 tinged with yellow; iris, white, with aurora-red. 
 Length, from seven to fourteen inches. 
 
 This species appears to be nearly related to T. 
 lAjra, of Europe ; and although it does not correspond 
 in every particular with Cuvier's description, yet I 
 think that it is the same fish which was anatomized 
 by that prince of naturalists. 
 
 ^ot often caught in Table Bay ; flesh equal to that 
 of the preceding species. 
 
 SCORPCENIDCE. 
 
 3. Sebastes Capensis. Cuv. and Val. — {Jacob 
 Evertsen.) Body, oblong, robust. Head, large, bony, 
 
312 JBTSHES AND FISHING. 
 
 channelled above and between the eyes, and armed 
 with spiny processes; gill covers and properculum 
 strongly toothed at the margins. Eyes, very large, 
 protruding from their sockets. Mouth, wide, gaping ; 
 lips, fleshy ; teeth, crowded, paved small, sharp, and 
 curved in both jaws. Soft rays of dorsal fin longest. 
 Liver, unequally three-lobed ; gall-bladder, of an oval 
 form, and the pylorus provided with numerous ccecal 
 appendages. Air-bladder, large. Tile-red, with 
 shades of orange, white and yellowish-green ; marked 
 on the sides with a few flesh-coloured spots. Belly, 
 white, tinged with orange. Palate and peritonaeum, 
 greyish white. Length, twelve to fifteen inches. 
 Called Jacoh Evertsen, after a Dutch captain, remark- 
 able for a red face, and large projecting eyes. 
 
 This fish, though common to Table Bay almost at 
 all seasons, is highly prized for its flesh by most 
 colonists. 
 
 4. Sebastes Mactlatus. Cuv. and Yal. {San- 
 cord.) Similar to the former, but shorter, — of a more 
 slender form, and with eyes, neither projecting, nor 
 mouth much gaping. Liver, rather large, three- 
 lobed ; gall bladder, narrow, and club-shaped ; pylo- 
 rus, without regular coecal appendices, but surrounded 
 by a glandular greasy mass. Natatory bladder want- 
 ing ; palate and peritonoeum, black. Snout, obtuse ; 
 teeth, criniform, arranged in a band around the inner 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 313 
 
 edge of both jaws. Upper part of body, tile-red, 
 mingled with orange, and shaded with brown. Scales, 
 with greenish -brown edges. Belly, white, clouded 
 with orange, and tinged with yellow. Length, eight 
 to twelve inches. Dorsal fin, dim tile-red, sprinkled 
 with yellowish green irregular marks, and with 
 darker chestnut brown spots at the base of the 
 membranous portion of its first spiny rays. Hue of 
 pectoral, anal, ventral, and caudal fins, orange, with 
 carmine- red : the eight lower rays of the pectoral 
 fins detached at top from their connecting membrane. 
 Iris, yellow. 
 
 A very delicious fish, but not very common. 
 Caught chiefly in winter. Dr. A. Smith, in his 
 illustrated work on South African Zoology, has con- 
 founded this species with the former. Though in 
 their general outlines closely related, both fishes are, 
 however, easily discerned, not only byoutward appear- 
 ance, but yet more by their anatomical difi'erences ; 
 the one having a swim-bladder, and the other not ; 
 and from the colour of the palate and peritonoeum, 
 which are white in the first species, but black in the 
 second. 
 
 SCLiENINiE. 
 
 5. ScL^NiNiE HoLOLEPiDOTA. Cuv. and Val . ' ( JTa- 
 helfauw.) Body, elongated, stout. Head, large, 
 rounded, bony ; mouth, moderately large ; both man- 
 
314 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 dibles armed infrontVith a row of strong, short pointed, 
 cylindrical, hooked teeth ; none on the palate. Dorsal 
 fin divided by a deep notch ; its soft rays longer than 
 the spiny ; caudal fin, truncate. Head, purplish blue, 
 with aurora-red, mottled with yellow and green 
 shades. Back and sides, above the lateral line, 
 greenish blue, marbled with faint orange and purple ; 
 fins, often rose-red ; lower part of the body, pale flesh- 
 red, mixed with green, purple, and white. 
 
 A large fish, from two to three feet long. Com- 
 mon on the coast ; caught with the hook and drag 
 net. Is one of the staple fishes on the market, dried 
 and salted like cod, and exported to the Mauritius 
 and elsewhere. Its flesh, when young, is good, but 
 firm and diy in adult individuals. 
 
 6. Otolithxjs ^quidens. Cuv. and Val. (Geel- 
 beck.) 'Body, oblong; head, conical; mouth, middle- 
 sized; lower jaw, pointed, longest. Teeth in both 
 mandibles nearly alike, numerous, sharp, crooked, 
 the anterior ones of the upper jaw largest. Eirst 
 dorsal fin, low, spiny ; caudal, semilunated. Back and 
 sides above thel ateral line, dull, bluish purple, inter- 
 mixed with green and orange ; upper surface of head, 
 flushed with aurora-red ; lower parts, silvery white, 
 tinted with purple-grey ; inside of mouth, gamboge- 
 yellow. Hence the vernacular name Geelbeck (yel- 
 low mouth). Iris, orange. Clumsy, attaining a length 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 315 
 
 of three feet or more. Flesh dry, but fit for saltiDg. 
 Common along the whole coast, where it is caught 
 abundantly with the hook or net. It forms an 
 article of food for the poor and lazy, and it is also 
 prepared for exportation. 
 
 7. TJmbkinka. Capensis. Mihi. N. SP. (Baard- 
 mannetje.) Snout, obtuse, thick, truncate ; lower jaw, 
 shortest with a barbel ; dorsal fins, distinct. Head, 
 reddish brown, tinged with gold. Back and sides, 
 asji-coloured on a silvery base. Lower jaw and belly, 
 white, sprinkled with minute dark spots. Scales, 
 large. Iris silvery. Measures from two to two and 
 a half feet, and is reputed for its delicious flesh. 
 Chiefly caught in False Bay, during summer. 
 
 8. Cheilodacttlus Fasciatus. Cuv. and Val. 
 (Steenvisch.) Body, oblong, spindle-sbaped ; head, 
 small ; lips, fleshy retractile, the upper one longest. 
 Eyes, middle-sized, placed near the crown ; mouth, 
 small ; teeth, velvety. The five last rays of the pec- 
 toral fins extended beyond their membrane, cartila- 
 ginous ; second ray largest, being three inches long ; 
 the other three, shorter and shorter. Caudal fin, 
 forked, scales large, almost quandrangular ; seven lon- 
 gitudinal stripes covered with smaller scales, along the 
 whole extent of the dorsal fin. Head, olive green, 
 intermixed with orange ; upper part of side, brim- 
 stone yellow, tinged with green, purple, and orange 
 
316 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Body, crossed by five or six irregular vertical, pur- 
 plish brown bands. Belly, yellowish white, mottled 
 with olive green. Mouth and pectoral fins, deep 
 orange ; the lengthened rays of the latter rose red, 
 upper ones and tail variegated with purplish lines. 
 All other fins yellowish green, with purplish brown 
 stripes or blots. Iris, yellow. Length, thirteen, 
 breadth, four and a half inches. 
 
 A good table fish, caught with the hook ; not very 
 abundant in Table Bay. 
 
 SPARIDiE. 
 9. Sargijs Hottentottus. A. Smith. {Hangherger ) 
 Body, broad, nearly ovate. Head, small, projecting 
 in front; incisors, firm, trenchant, similar to the 
 human. Colour, blackish brown, tinted with purple ; 
 back and sides, crossed by five broad black vertical 
 bands ; belly, silvery white. Length, about eighteen 
 inches. 
 
 Common to Table Bay from June to August, and 
 much in request, particularly at the time when it is 
 with roe. It is also cured and pickled for economi- 
 cal purposes. Erom the circumstance of its being 
 chiefly taken in deep water, near a place called Hang- 
 berg (over a hanging rock), it has received its present 
 colonial name. It feeds on shell-fish, and is caught 
 with the hook. 
 
 10. Sabqus Capensis. A.Smith. {Hottentot Fish.) 
 
PISHES AND FISHING. 317 
 
 Eody, much resembliDg that of the former, but more 
 attenuated at base, and destitute of any bands or 
 vertical stripes. Head, purplish ; back, dull, bluish 
 green, with a metallic gloss ; sides, beneath the lon- 
 gitudinal line, silvery, with a reddish tint. Iris, 
 white. 
 
 Caught at all seasons with the hook, and is not 
 only a superior table fish, but forms, when salted and 
 dried, an article of exportation. Mostly confined to 
 Table Eay and the West Coast, where it is found abun- 
 dantly. Length, from twelve to fourteen inches. 
 
 11. Chrtsophrys Globiceps. Cuv. and Yal. 
 {Stompneus.) Muzzle obtuse, body broad; teeth 
 thick, firm, numerous. Back, bluish grey, with 
 aurora red ; belly, white, silvery. The younger 
 individuals have three or four transversal bands, 
 which disappear in the adults. 
 
 A favourite fish, and often caught in great abund- 
 ance during summer, with the drag-net ; it also makes 
 an excellent pickle fish. 
 
 12. Chrtsophrys Laticeps. Cuv. and Val. — {Roode 
 Steenhrassem.) — Head, very large, gibbous ; crown, 
 elevated, broad, convex, tapering towards the snout ; 
 eyes, almost vertical ; mouth, of a moderate size ; 
 muzzle pointed, but blunt; lips, tieshy; upper man- 
 dible armed in front with four large, strong, coaical 
 teeth, and ihe lower one with six, corresponding with 
 
318 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 those of the upper ; middle teeth smaller than t^ e 
 lateral. Eows of sharp-pointed teeth inside the 
 mouth, followed by bands of round, granular molars. 
 Soft rays of dorsal fin higher than the spiny ; caudal 
 nearly truncate. Scales, large. Liver, divided into 
 two unequal lobes of an ochreous hue, and with the 
 gall-bladder proportionally small : gullet, dilated into 
 a big, strong, muscular stomach, of an oblong shape ; 
 pylorus, supplied with four short coecums of difierent 
 lengths. Swim-bladder, large, simple, and firm. In- 
 testines a little longer than the whole fish. Head, 
 faint purple with aurora red; back, dull greyish green; 
 sides and belly, slightly flesh-red, on silvery ground. 
 Groove between the maxillary and inter-maxillary 
 bones, saff'ron yellow. Fins, reddish. 
 
 This bulky fish often exceeds 8J feet in length, 
 and fourteen inches in breadth. It is very voracious, 
 and feeds generally on crabs and cuttle-fish. (Sepia 
 and loligo.) As food it is much prized, and it is 
 also cured for exportation. I^Tot very common in 
 Table Bay, but caught abundantly in False Bay, and 
 on the shores of Hottentots' Holland. 
 
 13. Chrysophey's Cristiceps. Cuv. and Val. (?) 
 {Roman.) — Body, of a beautiful orange colour, shaded 
 by silver. Head and jaws, a deep orange hue. Be- 
 tween the eyes a falcated band of pure indigo blue, 
 and a narrow stripe of the same colour running along 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 319 
 
 each side of the dorsal ; a broad silvery line extends 
 from the dorsal nearly to the anal fin. All fins crim- 
 son, with a shade of silver ; iris, red. One of the 
 prettiest and most delicious fishes on our markets. 
 Its flesh is generally acknowledged to be a superior 
 dish. It is common in the waters east of Table Bay, 
 and especially near the Roman Rock; where it is 
 caught with the hook and drag-net in great numbers. 
 A strayed individual, caught in Table Bay, on the 
 14th of June, 1849, measured sixteen inches in 
 length, and seven in breadth. 
 
 14. Chetsoblephus Gibbiceps. Swains. {Baauche 
 RoodeStompneus ; Poeskop.) — Head, very large, broader 
 than the body. Front, obtuse, truncate; the profile 
 almost vertical. Eyes, near the crown, which is ele- 
 vated and gibbous ; lateral line terminating at the 
 lower side of the tail (Swainson). Mouth, middle- 
 sized ; teeth, strong. Back and sides, rose-red ; lower 
 parts, silvery. Length, one and a half to two feet. 
 A large snow-white spot in front of the forehead 
 enhances the beauty of this singular fish, which 
 ranks amongst the choicest in this colony. It is rare 
 in Table Bay, but frequently caught with the hook in 
 False Bay, Mostert Bay, Fishoek, and in similar lo- 
 calities. It is also exported. 
 
 Pagktjs Laniakiub. Cuv. and Val. {Baggerath.) 
 Front, higher than in Chrysophrys. Strong conical 
 
320 FISHES AND PISHING. 
 
 teeth in the upper jaw, which are directed forwards, 
 and projected from the mouth ; the two outer teeth 
 being longer and thicker than the rest, and those of the 
 lower jaw much smaller. The whole of the fish is of 
 a dark rose-colour, with a black spot at the insertion 
 of the pectorals, and with another on the extremity 
 of the dorsal fin. Lower jaw, white ; iris, silvery ; 
 length, twelve inches. Highly priaed for its delicious 
 flesh. Not found in Table Bay; but frequently 
 caught with the hook in the waters towards the east 
 and south of Cape Town. This handsome fish owns 
 its surname of Laniarius (butcher) both to its colour 
 and to its sharp teeth and voracity. 
 
 16. LiTHOGNATHus Capensis. SwaiHS. {BUauwe 
 Kaapsche Steenbrassem.) — Body, elongated, fusiform; 
 head, lengthened, projecting; mouth, small, terminal; 
 the maxillaries thick, enlarged, very hard ; tail, 
 slightly forked (Swainson). Back, dark marine-blue; 
 belly, white, tinged with purple. Length, two and a 
 half feet and upwards. 
 
 An excellent table fish, and very fit for pickling 
 and salting. Caught with baited hooks, during sum- 
 mer ; especially in Hout's Bay. 
 
 17. Pagellijs Afek. MiHi. N. SP. {Roode Kaapsche 
 Stompneus) Body, ovate, broad, somewhat com- 
 pressed. Lower jaw, a little shorter than the upper 
 one. Mouth, obtu?e ; front teeth, conical, stronger 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 321 
 
 and larger than those within, both jaws paved inter- 
 nally with two rows of round molars. Lateral line, 
 well marked. Head and back, aurora-red, mottled 
 with blue and gold, on a silvery ground. Sides of 
 the body crossed by j&ve or six sky-blue broken lon- 
 gitudinal stripes. Lower mandible and belly, white. 
 All fins faintly rose-red; apex of the tail,'orange. 
 Iris, purplish. Length, twelve to fourteen inches. 
 Dorsal,^. Anal,-|. Caudal, 11. Pectoral, 15. Ventral,i. 
 One of the best fishes in the market. Its flesh is 
 white and delicious. Superficially examined, it bears 
 some resemblance to the Cape silver-fish {dentex argy- 
 rozona), from which it is easily distinguished, not only 
 by its broajler form, and less vivid hue ; but also, by 
 the absence of the six rose-red longitudinal bands, 
 and by the formation of its teeth. Caught with the 
 hook during winter, and pretty common on the 
 market. 
 
 18. Dentex Rupesteis. Cuv. and Val. {Bastard 
 Siherfisk; seventy-four.) Eody, large, bulky; teeth 
 of the outer row, large, cylindrical, curved and 
 pointed; the four front ones of its jaws strongest. 
 Scales, large ; lateral line, broken. Back and sides, 
 above the lateral line, aurora-red, clouded by ultra- 
 marine, blue, green, and faint purple, with an orange 
 tint towards the tail. Lower parts of the body, 
 
 Y 
 
322 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 aurora-red tinged with orange, and shaded with ultra- 
 marine blue. (A. Smith.) Length, about three feet. 
 Rarely found in Table Bay ; but considered one of 
 the very finest fishes in the colony. It is chiefly 
 confined to the east of the Cape, where it is caught 
 with the hook, or net, in great abundance. It is 
 also cured for foreign markets. 
 
 19. Dentex Abgtkozona. Cuv. and Val. — {Silver- 
 fish.) — Body, oblong ; eyes, large ; mouth of a mode- 
 rate size ; teeth, like those of the preceding species. 
 Head, back, and sides, above the lateral line, aurora- 
 red on a silvery base ; hue, below that line, faint 
 flesh-red, striped with five or six narrow, longitudi- 
 nal pale, rose-red bands. Belly, white, silvery; fins, 
 purplish-red ; iris, scarlet. Length, from sixteen to 
 twenty inches. This very voracious fish feeds prin- 
 cipally on small fish and crabs. It is common on the 
 Cape market throughout the year, and forms also an 
 article of export. 
 
 20. Canthaeus Blochii. Cuv, and Val. (?) — 
 ( Windtoy.) — Body, broad, oval; head tapering towards 
 the muzzle, and forming a curvature above the eyes. 
 Jaws, free, somewhat protractile. Anterior teeth, 
 small, but sharp ; inner rows, velvetty. Spines of 
 dorsal fin, strong, spiny ; pectoral fins, round at base 
 and pointed at the apex ; scales, middle-sized. Tail, 
 unequal, upper side longest. Length, twelve inches ; 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 323^ 
 
 breadth, nearly fi^e inches. D.,y|; A.,yV' P., V., -|-; C. 
 1 7. Head and back, olive-green ; sides silvery, with a 
 faint rosy gloss ; fins pale rose-red. Pectoral fins 
 with a black spot at their insertion. Iris, silvery. 
 
 A delicious table-fish ; more commonly caught in 
 winter, and often put up in bundles along wit . sargus 
 capensis (Hottentot fish), from which it is easily dis- 
 tinguished by a very superficial examination. 
 
 21. Canthaexts EMAKGiifATUs. Cuv. and Yal. 
 (Dasje.) Body, lanzeolate ; front roundish, with a 
 curvature hardly perceptible ; muzzle pointed, and 
 partly concealed beneath the suberbital bone, which 
 has a deep emargination in front of the eyes ; front 
 teeth small, but crowded, pointed, and sharp ; scales, 
 minute ; lateral line, moderately bent and well 
 marked. D., ^ ; ^'> Toi ^-^ 5; P., 15; C, 17. 
 Head, back, and sides faint brown, on a silvery 
 ground ; a greenish blue metallic lustre above and in 
 front of the eyes ; body, striped with some narrow 
 yellowish, longitudinal bands; pectoral fins, with a 
 dark spot at their base ; abdomen, white, tinged with 
 light brown. Length, twelve to fourteen inches. 
 
 Rare in Table Bay, but more frequently caught in 
 the several bays to the east of the Cape. Its flesh is 
 highly esteemed as food. 
 
 22. Boops Salpa. Cuv. andVal. {Bamloesvisch, 
 Stinkvisch.) Body, subovate, attenuated at both 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 ends; month, small, obtuse, not protractile ; external 
 teeth, broad, trenchant ; scales, minute. Head, olive 
 green, with a flash of gold ; body, silvery, with eight 
 to ten longitudinal golden stripes ; iris, yellow ; a 
 black speek at the base of the pectoral fin. Length, 
 twelve inches or more. 
 
 The fish feeds only on alg(E, and is caught prin- 
 cipally in localities where there is an abundance of 
 sea-weed. Amongst the latter, the Ecklonia Buc- 
 cinalis {Leebamhoes}, and our large Sargassa {S. longi- 
 folium and S. integrifolium), are its usual haunts, and 
 hence the vernacular name of hamhoo-fish. On 
 account of its vegetable nourishment, it exhibits at 
 times a particular smell, when embowelled, and is for 
 that reason called siink-fish by some of the fishermen. 
 It is a rich and delicate fish, and though scarce on the 
 Cape Town market, is common in Saldanha Bay, 
 where it is salted and dried for home consumption. 
 
 SQUAMIPENNES. 
 
 23. Pjmeleptehtjs Fusctts. Cuv. and Yal. (Basta/rd 
 Jacob Evertson.) Body, oblong, bulky; head, small; 
 snout, obtuse ; teeth, strong, cutting, singularly 
 ranged in one row ; eyes, large, protruding ; fins, 
 thick, covered by scales, whence the scientific name 
 (fat-fin). Two dorsal fins, united at base. Length, 
 two feet. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 325 
 
 This fish is of an uniform dusky brown colour. 
 Its flesh is well flavoared, and very nice. Caught 
 chiefly in Simon's Bay, and along the east coast 
 Feeds on shell-fish. 
 
 24. DiPTERODON Capensis. Cuv. andYal. {Gal- 
 joen-vischy Galleon-fish.) Body, oval ; outer teeth, 
 strong, large, trenchant, resembling those of Sargus ; 
 lips, fleshy ; mouth, proportionally small. Two dorsal 
 fins, the second, as well as the anal, and part of the 
 caudal, thick, covered by very minute scales. Head, 
 back, and fins, ash-coloured grey, or faint brown ; 
 sides, with six silvery vertical bands reaching the 
 middle of the belly, which is silvery white, and 
 tinged with purplish red. Length, from fifteen to 
 twenty inches. 
 
 This fish, more plentiful in the western division of 
 the colony, is highly esteemed as food, and always 
 fetches a good price. It is, however, disliked by 
 some, on account of the many black veins traversing 
 its flesh, and is at times rather unwholesome, from 
 being too rich, and requiring good digestive organs. 
 It is caught with the drag-net during summer. 
 
 SC0MBER1D.E, 
 
 25. ScoMBEB Capensis. Cuv. andVal. {Salfeord.) 
 Body, oblong, adipose ; muzzle, obtuse ; lower jaw, 
 somewhat projecting; teeth, numerous, small, veU 
 
326 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 vety. First dorsal fin, spiny, connected by a mem- 
 brane ; second dorsal, longer than the anal ; pectoral 
 and ventral fins equally long ; caudal, forked. The 
 lateral line is bent at the upper part of the body, but 
 becomes straight towards its end. Head, back, and 
 sides dark marine blue, with a broad greenish yellow 
 streak, running from eye to tail, which latter is 
 crested; abdomen, white, silvery; fins, yellowish 
 green ; iris, white. 
 
 A large fish, measuring from two to three feet. It 
 is rather uncommon in Table Bay, but taken with 
 the hook occasionally. Its flesh being very rich, and 
 deemed unwholesome, it is not in much request, and 
 is therefore chiefly used as pickle fish. 
 
 26. Scomber Guex. Mitchill, {Mackerel.) Body, 
 oblong, rounded, fat, smooth, covered with minute 
 scales ; teeth, small ; dorsal fins, two ; caudal fin, 
 deeply forked; tail, bearing finlets; its sides not 
 carinated at base. Form and colour much like that 
 of the common mackerel. Body and sides, light green, 
 with darker stripes of the same hue. Length, about 
 eigliteen inches and upwards. 
 
 This species, which is caught with the line, is little 
 liked, on account of its greasiness. It is common in 
 Table Bay during winter, and is chiefly pickled. 
 
 27. Thyrsites Atuk. Cuv. and Val. {Snook, Snoek.) 
 Body, cylindrical, elongated ; jaws, protracted, the- 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 327 
 
 lower one longest ; mouth, wide ; teeth, large, coni- 
 cal, trenchant, sharp, the palate set with smaller ones. 
 First dorsal fin very long, tail without a lateral keel ; 
 skin, rather naked. Back, blackish blue, with me- 
 tallic lustre ; sides and belly, silvery. Length, often 
 exceeding three feet. 
 
 This voracious fish is caught with the hook in im- 
 mense numbers almost all the year round, but more 
 frequently during summer. It is very strong and 
 ferocious, and is despatched, after being pulled on 
 board, by blows on the head, with a kind of knob- 
 kierie. Its flesh is highly prized by the majority of 
 the colonists, who also salt and dry it for home con- 
 sumption, and as an article of trade. 
 
 28. LicHiA Amia. Cuv. and Val. (Leervisch.) 
 Body, compressed, oval, nearly rhomboid: broadest 
 in the middle, and attenuated at both ends; mouth, 
 moderately large; jaws, of equal length; front teeth 
 in a number of rows, small, but sharply pointed, and 
 closely set; a line of large teeth on each side of the 
 palate. Dorsal fins, two, first one with eight de- 
 tached prickles, the foremost of which is turned for- 
 ward ; anal fin shorter than the dorsal ; tail without 
 lateral keels. Head, back, and upper parts of the 
 sides, steel blue, lower parts silvery, shaded with 
 faint brown ; fins, yellowish ; belly, pure white, 
 Length, from two to three feet. 
 
328 FI8HE8 AND FISHING. 
 
 Taken occasionally in Table Bay, but not in great 
 repute, its flesh being deemed dry and rather insipid. 
 
 29. Tkmnodon Saltatoe. Cuv. (Jilftvisch.) Body, 
 oblong, slightly compressed ; mouth, large ; lower 
 jaw longest ; both mandibles armed in front with 
 detached trenchant, pointed, sharp teeth, and within 
 and behind with smaller ones. Dorsal fins, two? 
 first smaller and lower than the second, its rays 
 jointed by a delicate membrane; tail, destitute of a 
 lateral keel and spurious fins. Length, about two 
 feet. 
 
 This fish is uniformly lead-coloured, shaded with 
 dark green on its back. From leaping now and then 
 out of the^water, it has obtained its name of Saltator 
 (jumper). It is held in great esteem as a table fish, 
 and the younger individuals are truly deemed a 
 dainty. It is often caught in Table Bay, particularly 
 in summer. 
 
 30. Cakanx Tkachurtjs Lacep. {MaashanJcer ; Bas- 
 tard Mackerel.) Body, spindle-shaped, broad, com- 
 pressed; each jaw with a row of straight minute 
 teeth; lateral line armed with scaly, carinated, 
 prickly bands ; dorsal fins, two ; first, low and small ; 
 pectoral fins, long, falcated; two detached spines 
 before the anal fin ; scales, minute. Upper part of the 
 body of a bluish lead -coloured hue; lower parts, silvery 
 white ; iris, gilt. Length, twelve to eighteen inches. 
 
FISHES AUB nSHLNQ. 329 
 
 Caught in winter at both ends of the colony ; its 
 flesh is well flavoured and wholesome. 
 
 31. Stromateus Capensis. Mihi. N. Sp. {Katun- 
 kar.) Body, compressed, oblong rhomboid; head, 
 obtuse; mouth, small, not projectile; teeth, velvety. 
 One dorsal only, covered with epidermis ; no ventral 
 fin ; caudal nearly as long as the dorsal ; tail, forked 
 scales, small; longitudinal line almost straight. 
 Head, olive green; upper part of the body light blue, 
 with some faint yellow longitudinal stripes ; belly, 
 silvery, with a red tint ; iris, white. The specimen 
 from which this description is drawn, measured thir- 
 teen inches long, and five and a-half inches broad. 
 
 A good table fish, but not common. It is caught 
 with the hook and net, chiefly east of Table Bay. 
 
 32. Lepidopus Aegyretjs. Cuv. and Vat. — {Kalk- 
 visch, Scabhard-fish.) — Body, compressed, lengthened, 
 narrow, riband-like ; skin smooth. Head pointed, 
 bearing a great resemblance to that of the snook. 
 Mouth, gaping, large, armed with ^rows of strong 
 trenchant teeth, and four larger ones in front ; under- 
 jaw projecting beyond the upper. Dorsal fin, low 
 and equal, nearly as long as the back ; pectoral fins, 
 small, hooked ; two round scales as rudiments of a 
 ventral fin. Anal fin, short ; caudal, small, forked. 
 Lateral line, straight. Colour of back faint steel blue 
 on a silvery ground ; the whole surface of the body 
 
 t2 
 
330 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 clothed with a silvery dust. Length, five feet ; 
 breadth, from three to four inches. 
 
 This curious fish swims in undulating motions and 
 with astounding velocity. It is but very rarely 
 caught in the net. In the course of six years, not 
 more than three individuals, to my knowledge, were 
 taken in Table Bay. I found its flesh fine and 
 delicious. 
 
 MUGILLIDiE. 
 
 33. MuGiL Capensis. Cuv. and Val. — {Ha/rder ; 
 Mullet.) Body, oblong, nearly cjdindrical, robust. 
 Head, small, broad, flat ; muzzle, short, blunt: lower 
 jaw with a depression, corresponding to a promi- 
 nence in the upper one. Superior mandible provided 
 with a row of fine diminutive teeth. Scales rather 
 large. Dorsal fins, two, remote from each other ; first 
 with four spiny rays ; pectoral fins pointed ; caudal, 
 forked. Surface of head and back, dark steel blue, 
 mingled with oil green ; sides, beneath the lateral 
 line, greyish white, on silvery ground ; cheeks, 
 lower jaw, belly, and ventral fin, white. Fins, grey- 
 ish green. Body, crossed by nine narrow longitudinal 
 lines. Interior of the mouth, pure white ; iris, silvery. 
 Length, fourteen inches; breadth, nearly four inches. 
 
 This species, as well as the following, enters the 
 mouths of several rivers. Nursed in ponds, it grows 
 
FISHES AND FISHOfG. 331 
 
 extremely fat, and attains an uncommon size. A 
 specimen so fed measured nineteen inches. 
 
 34. MuGiL MuTiLiNEATUS. A. Smith. (?) {Springer; 
 Leaping Mullet.) Grreatly resembling the former, but 
 easily distinguishable ; its head being neither so 
 broad nor flat, but rather a little convex on its top. 
 Lower jaw more rounded ; and body traversed by 
 thirteen longitudinal narrow stripes. Colour of 
 back and upper side, greenish brown ; crown of head 
 faint purple with oil green. Gill covers, tinted with 
 gold ; ventral fin, purplish. Lower part of belly, 
 greyish white on a silvery base. Length, twelve 
 inches. It is in the habit of leaping constantly, and 
 with considerable velocity, when it finds itself en- 
 tangled in a net ; and hence its name. 
 
 Besides the two kinds of mullet here described, 
 there are three or four more species recorded as inhabit- 
 ants of the bays and rivers of the colony. All of 
 them are caught with the net. They make good 
 table fish, but are more frequently salted or smoke- 
 dried (Bokkours) like the herring; and thus pre- 
 served, form a very considerable article of home 
 consumption as well as of export. 
 
 BLENNID^. 
 
 35. Blennius Versicolob. Mihi. N". Sp. — {Rlip' 
 visch.) — Body, elongated, smooth, slimy, • spindle- 
 
332 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 shaped ; head, thick, obtuse ; forehead, tapering to- 
 wards the snout. Muzzle, short, truncate; mouth 
 small ; lips, fleshy ; teeth in several rows ; those of 
 the first, strong- pointed, conic, hooked ; inner ones, 
 small payed. Dorsal fin nearly as long as the body, 
 commencing right over the crown of the head ; its 
 first three rays longest, spiny, separated from the 
 soft ones by a deep emargination. Yentral, placed 
 before the pectoral fins, and consist of only two rays. 
 A small tentaculary, three-fid appendage above each 
 eye-brow; and a tubercular excrescence near the 
 anus, in both sexes. It is ovo viviparous. No fish 
 perhaps displays a greater diversity of hues than 
 this ; and to make out any specific difference amongst 
 its many varieties, is next to impossible. I am thus 
 inclined to unite them under one common denomina- 
 tion, expressive at once of the changeable character 
 of their colours. The following are the chief varieties 
 observed by rae in fresh specimens. 
 
 1. Prevailing colour, blood red, mottled with grey- 
 ish white irregular blots ; abdomen, purplish on a 
 white ground; fins, deep red, tinged with greyish 
 green. Iris, purple. Length, twelve inches. Caught 
 principally amongst the rocks of Eobben Island. 
 
 2. Head, back, and sides, dark purple, marbled 
 with reddish brown, flesh-red, orange, and pale yel- 
 low marks. Belly, white, shaded with purple. 
 
FISHKS AND FISHING. 333 
 
 Pectoral rays striped with purplish brown bands j 
 dorsal, caudal, and anal fins, dull brown, spotted with 
 yellowish green dots. Iris, purple. Length, ten to 
 twelve inches. Blennius Rubescens. Lichtenst. (?) 
 Extremely pretty ; caught along with the former. 
 
 3. Upper part of the body, pale yellowish brown ; 
 head, olive green ; sides and belly, gamboge yellow, 
 sprinkled with irregular greenish white marks ; pec- 
 toral and caudal fins, without bands; dorsal and 
 anal, with faint green spots. Iris, yellow. Length, 
 eight to ten inches. 
 
 4. The whole of back, sides, and fins, olive green ; 
 belly, of a deeper yellow tint, with some white blots 
 along the lateral line. Iris, yellow. Length, six to 
 eight inches. 
 
 The klipfish is greatly reputed for its flesh, which 
 is nice, well-flavoured, and wholesome, 
 
 SILURINiE. 
 
 36. Bagrus Capensis. A. Smith. {Bagger.) — Body 
 oblong, thick, smooth, slimy; head, large, broad, 
 nearly flat above ; muzzle, round, blunt ; upper lip 
 fleshy, with a barbel on both sides ; teeth, crowded, 
 velvetty ; chin, supplied with four barbels, which are 
 shorter than those of the upper jaw. Dorsal fins 
 two ; second flat, fleshy, smaller than the first : pec- 
 toral fins, moderate ; anal large ; caudal, deeply 
 
334 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 forked. Upper part of head, back, and sides, dark 
 greenish brown ; lower parts, shaded irregularly with 
 blue, yellow, and silver, and flashed with a bronzy 
 lustre. Belly, dull greyish -white, speckled with 
 small brqwn dots, and clouded with purple. Base of 
 tail, red ; fins, faintly flesh-coloured. Iris, yellow. 
 Length, twelve to sixteen inches. 
 
 Owing to its ugliness, this curious fish, which 
 hides itself amongst stones in muddy water, the 
 better to entrap its unsuspecting prey, is, from popu- 
 lar prejudice, less prized than it deserves. Its flesh 
 is extremely delicate and bears a greater resemblance 
 to that of the eel than that of any other sea-fish 
 caught in the colony. 
 
 CLUPEID^. 
 
 37 Cltjpea Ocellata. Mihi. N. Sp. ( Shad; Sardyn. ) 
 — ^Body, compressed, elongated; head, flattened at top ; 
 muzzle, obtuse; upper jaw, with a central notch, 
 and a little projecting. No teeth in eitlier mandible ; 
 eyes and scales, large. One dorsal only ; tail, deeply 
 forked. Length, six to seven inches. Head and 
 back, blue, changeable to green, and shaded with 
 purple, yellow, and gold. Lower jaw and gill 
 covers, silvery, with a reflecting golden lustre ; 
 sides, above the lateral line, crossed by a sky-blue 
 longitudinal stripe. A line of eight to fifteen round. 
 
FISHES AND FI3HING. 335 
 
 black, eye-like spots, extends from the upper edge f 
 the operculum, along the whole body. Belly, silvery ; 
 iris, gilt. 
 
 It would appear that this species stands interme- 
 diate between the common shad {clupea alosa) and 
 the Twaite shad {clupea finta), possessing the tooth- 
 less mouth of the former, but the size and colouring 
 of the latter. Its natural length never exceeds six 
 to seven inches. It is caught with a net, and used 
 occasionally as pickle-fish. 
 
 38. Engkaulus Encbasiolus. Flem. {Ansjovis : 
 Anchovy.) — Body, slender ; head and snout, pointed ; 
 upper jaw projecting considerably. Mouth, deeply 
 and^horizontally cleft far behind the eyes. Maxilla- 
 ries and palate, armed with small, but sharp numer- 
 ous teeth. Scales, large and deciduous ; tail, deeply 
 forked. Top of head and back, blue, with a tinge of 
 green; flanks and belly, silvery. Fins, greenish 
 white. Length, four to five inches. ' 
 
 Caught sometimes abundantly, with the net, in 
 summer, but little used in the colony ; the Cape salt 
 being found unfit for its preservation as a condiment. 
 
 GADIDiE. 
 
 39. Gadus Merluccius. Linn. {Stokvisch : Hake.) 
 — Body, elongated, slender ; head, broad, depressed. 
 Lower mandible protruding beyond the upper one ; 
 
336 FI8HE8 AND FISHING. 
 
 mouth, very wide ; teeth, long, sharp, in a single row 
 in each jaw. Two dorsal fins, first three angular ; 
 caudal fin, lunate; ventral, ovate, with five rays. 
 No barbel under the chin. Scales, large. Upper part 
 of the body, dusky brown, with a bluish, steel- 
 coloured gloss ; belly, dirty white. Iris, yellow. 
 Inside of mouth, black. Length, from two to three 
 feet. • 
 
 It is remarkable that this fish, a notorious deni- 
 zen of the European seas, was utterly unknown at 
 the Cape of Good Hope before the earthquake of 
 1809 (4th December). At first it was scarce, and 
 sold at exorbitant prices, 4«. 6c?. Since that period, 
 it has yearly increased in numbers, and is now a 
 standard fish on the market, being caught in great 
 abundance. 
 
 English writers on Ichthyology comment very un- 
 favourably on its merits, and call it a coarse fish, 
 scarcely fit for the dinner table. At the Cape, its 
 qualities are generally and fully appreciated ; in fact, 
 its flesh is highly delicate, and but little inferior to 
 that of the Hadok {Gadus ^glejinus). At times, it 
 makes its appearance in large shoals; it is then 
 abundantly caught, salted, and dried for exportation. 
 The cured, or dried Cape Stock- visch, is an excel- 
 lent dish, far superior to that insipid stuff introduced 
 from Holland or other countries. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. ^S^T 
 
 XIPHIURIDiE. 
 
 40. XiPHiTTRUS Capensis. A. Smith. {KoningUip- 
 visch: King' s Rock Fish) Body almost cylindrical, 
 moderately robust. Head, large ; two rows of larger 
 teeth in the upper, one of smaller ones in the lower, 
 jaw ; vomer, armed with teeth of the same description. 
 Two barbels pending from the under surface of the 
 lower mandible. Pectoral fins of an oval form ; dor- 
 sal, caudal, and anal fins, united. Tail, narrow, 
 tapering, compressed, sword- shaped. Ventral fins, 
 none. Scales, very small (A. Smith). Has a large, 
 and very firm air bladder, flesh coloured, and clouded 
 by a variety and intermixture of hues, difficult to de- 
 scribe. Lower surface, belly, and point of tail, tinted, 
 with pale purple. 
 
 This fish, in some respects, seems closely allied to 
 the family of the Gadidae, while on the other hand 
 it somewhat resembles the Muraenidae. Although its 
 habitat is deep water, and not (as its name implies) 
 amongst cliff's and rocks, yet it justly deserves the title 
 of King's Fish, being, without exception, the most 
 desirable fish obtainable in our bays. It is rather 
 scarce, is an expert swimmer, appears on the coast as 
 a harbinger of rough, stormy weather during winter ; 
 and commonly sells at very remunerating prices. 
 
 Dr. Andrew Smith, the intelligent South African 
 traveller, gave the first description of this fish in his 
 
 z 
 
338 FISHES AI^D FISHING. 
 
 admirable "Illustrations of the Zoology of South 
 Africa." It was, however, known previously to Bar- 
 row, 1797, who, in his Travels (page 30), mentions it 
 in the following terms ; " Another Blennius, called 
 King's Eock Fish, is sometimes caught in Table Bay, 
 to which, from its resemblance to the Mursense of the 
 ancients, naturalists have given the specific name of 
 Muraenoides.'* 
 
 I quote this passage for the purpose of contra- 
 dicting Dr. Smith, who says, that during one of the 
 several earthquakes which occurred many years ago, 
 at the Cape, one or more sand banks were formed near 
 the entrance of Table Bay, and that not long after, 
 the first specimens of this fish were obtained." It is 
 evident that by some mistake or other, he attributed 
 to the Xiphiurus what applies to the Stock-visch. 
 jPLEURONECTIDiE. 
 
 41. SoLEA VuLGAKTJS. Cuv. {Tofig ; SoU.) Body 
 oblong, flat, pointing towards the tail ; snout, arcu- 
 ated, projecting beyond the mouth, which is fringed 
 below with small ciliated scales. Jaws unequal, armed, 
 on the under or white side only, with very minute, 
 crowded teeth; eyes, small, spherical, placed near 
 each other, on the upper or coloured side. Dorsal 
 and anal fins extending as far as the tail ; ventral 
 fins nrar the head ; tail slightly rounded ; lateral line 
 straight. Length, ten or fifteen inches. Upper 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 339 
 
 surface, olivaceous brown, obscurely spotted with 
 patches of a deeper hue. Scales, small, roundish, 
 ciliated, rough to the touch; the upper side, appa- 
 rently reticulated. Fins, tipped with purplish brown 
 stripes. Lower side, dull white, mixed with faint 
 purple. Iris, yellow. 
 
 It is hardly required to say much of this almost 
 cosmopolitical fish, which is, for its delicacy, prized 
 as well at the Cape as elsewhere. It is not common, 
 however, in the colony, and it rarely surpasses the 
 length of twelve inches, although there are instances 
 known of individuals measuring a foot and a half. 
 EAIDiE. 
 
 42. Ehinobattjs Annalatijs. A. Smith. {Zaud- 
 hruiper.) Body convex above, level below, tapering 
 from head to tail. Head, flat, nearly three-sided ; 
 eyes small; teeth, crowded, paved, blunt; clusters 
 of small thorns between the eyes, and minute spines 
 along the dorsal line. Dorsal fins, two close to the 
 caudal, which is oval; ventral fins, small; skin, rough, 
 like shagreen. Length, two feet and upwards. Up- 
 per side, yellowish grey, with a greenish shade, 
 sprinkled all over with white eye-like spots ; under- 
 surface, faint flesh-red, bordered with white. This 
 fish, which always dwells in localities where the 
 bottom of the sea is level and sandy, is rather scarce 
 in Table Bay. Its flesh is tender and delicate. 
 
 z 2 
 
340 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 43. Raia Maculata. Montag. {Rog ; Scale ; Spot- 
 ted Ray.) Body, rhomboid, horizontally flat on both 
 sides;" snout narrow, pointed, blunt ; mouth, nostrils, 
 and gills on the under surface of the body. Teeth, 
 in many rows in both jaws, sharp, pointed, conical, 
 and curved in the male ; paved, broad, and flat in the 
 female. Tail long, thin, three-sided, furnished all 
 along its edges with three lines of strong, hooked, 
 but irregular spines, and with two small dorsal fins 
 towards its end. Both surfaces more or less smooth, 
 but snout and upper margin of the large pectoral fins 
 armed with clusters of hooked spines in the male, 
 and with curved, tubercular denticles in the female. 
 Male, provided with cylindrical, cartilaginous appen- 
 dages (claspers) to its ventural fin. Female larger 
 than the male. Length, two and a half feet and 
 more. Colour above, pale yellowish brown, sprinkled 
 with numerous irregular, faint, bluish grey spots. 
 Under-surface, somewhat rough, greyish white, tinged 
 with purple. 
 
 A good table fish, and a forerunner of bad weather. 
 It is caught with the net. 
 
 To the number of edible fishes enumerated here, I 
 feel bound to add one which I never saw, but which 
 I introduce on the incontestable authority of Dr. A. 
 Smith, who has given the following description of it 
 in the first volume of the " South African Quarterly 
 
FISHES AND FISHIXG. 341 
 
 Journal," (1830); a publication full of interesting 
 and useful information respecting the Cape Colony. 
 
 44. Serantjs Cuvierii. A. Smith. {Roch Cod.) 
 Colour of the back and sides, brownish yellow with 
 blotches, streaks of irregular bands of dusky, greenish 
 black ; lower part of sides and belly, reddish yellow, 
 with slight mixture of brown. Dorsal fins, deep, 
 dusky brown, with the extremities of the spinous rays 
 reddish ; ventral fins towards apices, brown ; towards 
 bases, yellow ; bases of pectoral fins bluish white, 
 finely spotted with orange; rest, reddish brown. 
 Tail even, or only very slightly rounded, with the 
 hinder edge narrowly marginated with white. Eyes, 
 orange. 
 
 A full-grown specimen of this fish measures about 
 two and a half feet. It inhabits the ocean along the 
 east coast of Africa, particularly about Algoa Bay, 
 where it is frequently caught, and highly esteemed 
 as an article of food. 
 
 This synopsis appeared at different days in the 
 Cape Monitor. The fish here described, are no doubt 
 very beautiful ; and coloured plates of them would, 
 if equally well performed, serve as a companion to 
 the " Pishes of Ceylon," by the late John "Whitchurch 
 Bennett, Esq. 
 
 EisHES OF Algekia. — The coast of Algeria pro- 
 
342 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 duces an abundance of fishes, viz., the fljdng-fish, the 
 hammer-headed shark, and phoca, or sea wolf, similar 
 to those on the other side of the Mediterranean. Bar- 
 bel and eels are the most common river-fish. In the 
 warm spirings of Capsa, are beautiful small perch, with 
 chequered fins, and turn-up nose. Large shoals of cir- 
 cular flat polypi, with a semicircular ridge obliquely 
 across the back, frequent the coast. Lamping relates, 
 that many soldiers were lost in bathing at Dschidgeli, 
 through being sucked under by these monsters. 
 They are quite surrounded by small suckers, and 
 are eagerly pursued by tunnies and porpoises, — 
 " Algeria," by John Eeynel. Morell, 1854, p. 485. 
 
 The lakes and rivers of North America yield an 
 abundant supply of excellent fish, as well as aquatic 
 wild fowl. The only lake, in the great chain of lakes, 
 in which fish are found that migrate to the sea, such 
 as salmon, is Lake Ontario ; the Falls of Niagara 
 proving an insurmountable obstacle to these fish 
 visiting the other lakes. The fish of these lakes are 
 of numerous species ; amongst them, particularly in 
 the Detroit River, there is the grey or salmon-trout, 
 black and rock bass, a few white and striped bass, 
 pickerel, pike, and fresh-water herrings ; some of the 
 outlets of the lake have many sturgeon, but in general 
 the flesh of it is but little esteemed. 
 
 There is also a species of pike, called the muskan- 
 UDger, which grows to a large size, and is considered 
 
FlSaES AND FISHING. 343 
 
 by many an excellent fish. In the very small lakes, 
 the grey or salmon-trout does not exceed four or five 
 pounds ; but in the large lakes it is sometimes found 
 of the weight of thirty, or even forty pounds. 
 
 I have, within this day or two, purchased *' Adven- 
 tures of an Angler in Canada, Nova Scotia, and the 
 United States,'* by Charles |Lanman. I have not 
 time to make extracts from this work ; but it tells of 
 taking one hundred and sixty trout in an afternoon, 
 single-handed, and of himself and two others taking 
 seven hundred of the same kind of fish in one day ; 
 such great sport in salmon fishing, spearing pike, and 
 other sporting adventures, that it is enough to induce 
 a sportsman to take the voyage, in the hope of enjoy- 
 ing the same kind of exciting, healthful amusement. 
 
 I did not set out with the intention or promise of 
 giving minute instructions as to the manner of angling 
 generally, because there are so many excellent works 
 already upon the subject ; all I proposed to perform 
 in that way is, to communicate the observations I 
 have made during the course of a long, and healthy 
 life, with which a beneficent Providence has blessed 
 me. And I trust the brief anatomical, and physiolo- 
 gical observations I have made, and referred to, may 
 stimulate others to follow up the very interesting 
 subject, and further enlighten the world as to the 
 wonderful arrangement of the organisation, habits, 
 and probable reasoning powers of aqueous animals. 
 
344 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 It is useless to catch fish, unless they can be cooked 
 properly, so as to make them palatable and wholesome 
 food ; therefore, as cookery is only domestic chemistry, 
 I shall not feel it derogatory, to give a few directions 
 for the proper preparation of several kinds of fish for 
 the table, probably some of them different from 
 methods before known. 
 
 All fish should be killed the moment they are taken 
 out of the water, not only on account of the inhu- 
 manity of allowing them to linger in an element un- 
 congenial to their nature, but also allowing them to 
 die by slow degrees, renders them less valuable, nou- 
 rishing, and conducive to health as food. E. Jesse, 
 Esq., in his work, ** Anglers* Eambles," says he 
 always has a large knife, with a hammer at the end to 
 kill fish as soon as they are taken. He was so polite, at 
 my request, as to refer me to the cutler who made it . 
 but the knife was large, consequently heavy, and the 
 price high. I have had one made very neat, and 
 lighter, at less than a quarter the price, and the blow 
 of the hammer on the skull of the fish kills it in- 
 stantly. Eels, I am informed, can be instantly killed 
 by a longitudinal division of the spine, at the back of 
 the head ; my knife will perform that, yet I think a 
 blow of the hammer on the middle of the head, as 
 with other fish, would accelerate the object. 
 
 Pike are said to be best flavoured when from eight 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 345 
 
 to twelve pounds weight, but I once partook of one, 
 which a friend of mine had caught, weighing twenty 
 pounds ; it was roasted, with rich gravy for sauce, 
 and was excellent. 
 
 Pike are called jack until they attain the weight of 
 four pounds. They are said to increase in weight 
 four pounds a year, till they attain about eight pounds, 
 when they gradually decrease in growth to two pounds 
 a-year ; when five years old, they will eat their own 
 weight in gudgeons. One was taken in 1497, near 
 Mainheim, which was proved to be two hundred and 
 thirty-five years old, by a plate attached to him ; he 
 weighed three hundred and fifty pounds, and mea- 
 sured nineteen feet. His skeleton was long preserved. 
 
 To Boil a Pike. — Open and cleanse him, rub the 
 inside with a little salt, dissolved in port or claret 
 wine, save the blood if you can, cut him across into 
 two or three pieces ; place in the fish kettle as much 
 cold water as you require, over a very goodfirey and, 
 say for a twelve-pound fish, a large handful of salt, a 
 good quantity of sweet marjoram, savory, and thyme ; 
 let these boil, and whilst in a state of extreme ebul- 
 lition, put in the smallest piece of the fish, and make 
 the water boil up again before you put in the next 
 smallest piece, and so progressively of the rest ; boil 
 half an hour. Sauce, fresh butter melted in the usual 
 way, anchovies, claret, or port wine, a little of the 
 
346 FISHES AJSD FISHING. 
 
 blood, if any saved, eschalot, and lemon juioe, beaten 
 well together ; serve all hot ; garnish with scraped 
 horse-radish. 
 
 To Boil a Salmon. — Let it be crimped as soon after 
 all sensation is destroyed as possible, by a blow on the 
 head ; or if cut into slices, and cooked the same way 
 as the pike, it is excellent. In every case of boiling 
 fish there should be plenty of salt in the water, as it 
 enables the liquid to attain a higher degree of heat, 
 and the albuminous particles are instantly solidified. 
 
 To Roast a Pike, — Let the fish soak, so that the 
 scales will come off easily, wash and wipe the inside 
 quite dry ; take beef suet, shred and chopped fine, 
 grated bread, of each a pound, if it be a good- sized 
 fish, or in proportion accordingly ; season with pepper, 
 salt, grated nutmeg, fresh lemon peel, thyme, winter 
 savory, the flesh of three or four anchovies, all 
 chopped very fine, and mixed with the bread and 
 suet, and made into a pudding with the yolks of three 
 or four eggs ; fill the belly of the fish, sew it up, 
 roast in a cradle spit before a clear fire, not too near, 
 keep it well basted with fresh butter ; when the skin 
 cracks it is done. 
 
 Scmce. — Kich gravy, one pint ; stewed oysters, cut 
 small, one pint ; picked shrimps, and small pickled 
 mushrooms cut small, of each half a pint ; quarter of 
 a pound of fresh butter, melted ; half a pint of white 
 
FISHES ASB FISHUTG. " 347 
 
 wine ; mix all well, place the pike in a dish, pour 
 tibe flsuee oyer, serve it up hot, gamiahed with small 
 pickled mushrooius. 
 
 A barbel may be cooked the same ¥ray ; or eithar 
 fish may be baked. 
 
 Another method to cooh a Pike {caUed Bnxismg). — 
 Take a lai^ pike, scale and cle^inse it thoroughly, 
 raise the skin on one side without spoiling the flesh, 
 lard it with equal quantities of anchovies, pickled 
 gherkins, carrots, and truffles, stuff it with the same 
 ingredients, or the stuffing for fowls or veal ; put it 
 into a braising stew-pan, with a pint of rich gravy ; 
 baste it often whilst over a very slow fire, and when 
 more than half done, put on the cover, and fire on it ; 
 serve witii this sauoe — mince some ham wiUi the 
 same quantity of truffles, put them into a stew-pan 
 with a piece of butter, over a slow fire, let them sim- 
 mer a quarter of an hour, add quarter of a pint of 
 white wine and a pint of calves* foot jelly, the whites 
 of two eggs boiled hard and minced small, and the 
 yolks of four eggs boiled hard and rubbed down 
 smooth with the wine as above, and a quantity of 
 small pickled mushrooms equal to the ham and truf- 
 fles, and one lobster's tail, all minced small, with the 
 spawn ; take up the fish, pour the sauce hot ovar it, 
 garnish with scraped horse-radish. 
 
 A barbel or lai^ eel may be cooked in the 
 
348 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 way ; but be very particular to eradicate from the 
 inside of the former fish every particle of the roe, or 
 it will produce alarming illness. I never have the 
 roe of pike cooked. 
 
 To Collar large Mis. — Skin and bone two large 
 ones, put inside of them powdered mace, grated nut- 
 meg, eschalots chopped fine, parsley, thyme, sweet 
 marjoram, salt, and pepper, roll all up together so as 
 to make a round ball, flat at the ends or collars, sew 
 each eel in a separate cloth, put them into a stew- 
 pan with a pint of veal stock, half a pint of white 
 wine, and quarter of a pint of vinegar ; let them sim- 
 mer three-quarters of an hour, place them in a dish 
 till perfectly cold. Next take the liquor they were 
 simmered in, strain it through a fine cloth, put by till 
 cold, then take off all the fat, simmer it with the 
 whites of two eggs to clarify it, strain again, and 
 boil until it is a thick jelly ; remove the cloth from 
 the eels, place them in a deep dish, and when the 
 jelly is nearly cold pour it over them. 
 'f. All eels are more wholesome, if skinned before being 
 cooked. 
 
 The three methods of cooking pike were commu- 
 nicated to me when I resided in France, by a French 
 lady, who had cod and other fish cooked in the same 
 way, as the first and third, and mackerel the same as 
 the second. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 349 
 
 Mr. Frederick Accura, the well-known scientific 
 chemist, gave the following recipe for potting lob- 
 ster. — Let the lobster be properly boiled, pick out 
 the meat and eggs from the shell, season with pow- 
 dered mace, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, and salt, he says 
 anchovy liquor, I say, three picked anchovies to each 
 lobster J pound all together in a marble mortar, add 
 one quarter of a pound oi fresh butter, mix all very 
 well, press it into pots, cover with, he says, melted 
 butter, I say, with clarified melted mutton suet, cover 
 with paper when the suet is cold, and keep in a dry 
 place, or put it into pots with a cover ; keep out the 
 air by placing a stripof gummed paper round the joint." 
 
 Crayfish, crabs, prawns, shrimps, and bloater her- 
 rings, may all be prepared in the same way ; and I 
 am told cold boiled salmon is also excellent, when 
 prepared in this manner. 
 
 The Jews eat much fish ; but we are very little 
 acquainted with their methods of cookery. The fol- 
 lowing recipe for cooking large plaice, was given to 
 me by a very superior female of that creed. 
 
 Boil three or four large onions until they are done, 
 but not so much as to be too soft ; strain off the water 
 and slice the onions. Cut the fish into pieces, being 
 first well cleansed; put at the bottom of a stew pan a 
 little ginger in powder, pepper, salt, and hay-saffron, 
 dried and powdered ; place the fish on these, pour in 
 
350 FISHES AND PISHING. • 
 
 fresh water enough barely to cover the fish ; place the 
 sliced onions over the fish, put on the lid and let it 
 simmer very gently till the fish is done ; meantime 
 take the yolks of four eggs, beat up, a good quantity of 
 parsley chopped very fine, add to these a little of the 
 liquor the fish was simmered in, beat all well toge- 
 ther ; and as the mixing goes on, add the juice of two 
 lemons, previously squeezed out and strained very 
 gradually, or it will cause the egg to curdle. Take 
 up the fish with the onions upon it, in a deep dish, 
 and pour the mixture of e^g, lemon-juice, &c., over 
 it; this they eat cold for breakfast — it will keep 
 good a week. The quantities here are for two mo- 
 derate-sized diamond plaice. 
 
 To dress a hrace of Carp. — Kill the carp, scale and 
 cleanse them immediately ; save the blood, and if 
 they are tolerably large, take a quart of claret or 
 port wine, a pint of veal or beef stock, six cloves, one 
 nutmeg sliced, a piece of cinnamon broken-up, a 
 small quantity of pepper and salt, a good-sized sprig 
 of thyme, and sweet marjoram, one onion, two or 
 three pieces of fresh lemon -peel ; put these, with the 
 blood, all into a stew-pan, without the fish; cover close, 
 and as soon as it simmers put in the carp and cover 
 again ; place the stew-pan on a very clear slow fire, so 
 as only to simmer ; when the skin of the carp begins 
 to crack, take out the fish, and keep it hot. Then 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 351 
 
 strain the liquor, and have ready half a pint of stewed 
 oysters, half a pint of picked shrimps, half a pint of 
 very small white pickled mushrooms, strained from 
 the vinegar ; add these to the wine, &c., in which the 
 fish was boiled ; let them stew a little while, serve 
 the whole quite hot in a proper dish. A little Chili 
 vinegar may be added by those who like it. 
 
 Tench are cooked advantageously by the same 
 process. 
 
 Eels may be stewed in the same way ; only that 
 you require less liquid, and the oysters and shrimps 
 may be left out, and two, three, or four anchovies 
 added instead. 
 
 Large eels are excellent prepared as follows : cut 
 in pieces, the bones taken out, take grated bread 
 crumbs, nutmeg in powder, pepper, salt, thyme, 
 parsley, and lemon-peel shred fine, roll in egg beaten 
 up, and then in the bread, &c. ; have a deep pan with 
 the lard, or what is better, clarified beef fat, boiling y 
 as you should for all fish, which is to be thus cooked, 
 and from the great heat, is done very rapidly, of a 
 fine brown colour.* 
 
 Flounders should be killed by dividing the spine, 
 just where the tail begins ; they will bleed consider- 
 
 « The bone and pieces of flesh adhering may assist in mak- 
 ing the stock for stewing eels. 
 
352 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 ably, and if cooked in this manner, are very good and 
 nutritious food. Gudgeons, small trout, roach, and 
 dace, may also be cooked with, or without the bread 
 crumbs, &c., provided the fat be boiling, being then 
 600 degreesof heat, which solidifies the albumen of the 
 fish instantly ; with the same intention although you 
 can only get 212 degrees of heat in w^ater, without 
 salt, fish should always be put into it when boiling, 
 as in the first recipe for boiling pike. 
 
 Barbel, which is considered by some not worth 
 cooking, may be found very good food thus : — Scale 
 and cleanse one or two large barbel, take a very sharp 
 knife, cut the flesh off in collops, dip these in egg, 
 then in bread crumbs, herbs, &c., as before directed, 
 and cook same as eels ; the remainder of the fish 
 boiled, will feed fowls advantageously. 
 
 The packing fish in ice to bring it from distant 
 parts is a great advantage ; and you will be told by 
 fishmongers that salmon is all the better for keeping : 
 — do not believe a word of it — no one who ever tasted 
 a fresh-caught salmon or trout, will be of that opinion. 
 If, indeed, you could get it as soon as it arrived in 
 the ice, it would be all very well for a London table, 
 but would not be eaten by any one living on the bank 
 of a salmon stream. Some of the second-rate fish- 
 mongers replace in ice, what they do not sell the first 
 
PISHES AND PISHING. 353 
 
 day, it becomes, therefore, deteriorated in its sanative 
 qualities. The fat of the salmon between the flakes 
 is mixed with much albumen and gelatine, which 
 very speedily decomposes, and no mode of cooking 
 will prevent its injurious effects on a delicate human 
 constitution. I am confirmed in this opinion by every 
 scientific man with whom I have conversed, or who 
 has ever written on the subject. 
 
 The quantity of fish of different species taken away 
 and destroyed from Billingsgate in a year, as unfit for 
 food, is enormous ; it is to be regretted that the same 
 supervision does not extend throughout the metropo- 
 litan district, and be extended to meat and vegetables ; 
 to the sale of which in an improper state for the nou- 
 rishment of man, is to be attributed as much as to the 
 want of cleanliness, and to foul air, the ravages of 
 the periodical epidemic, the cholera ! 
 
 Eoach of not more than half a pound each, small 
 trout, dace, smelts, gudgeons, and bleak, are excellent 
 at the breakfast-table, when marionated according to 
 the Italian method. Thus, scale and cleanse the fish, 
 flour and cook in boiling oil till crisp, place them on 
 sticks to drain ; when cold, put them into stone jars, 
 they not being glazed with lead, which would be 
 injurious; between each layer of fish put leaves of 
 sage, a little rosemary, ginger, cloves, mace, and pep- 
 per in fine powder, and some salt, when the pot or jar 
 
354 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 is filled if to eat presently, one part white wine and 
 three parts vinegar, sufficient to cover the fish. If to 
 keep, take vinegar, a little garlic, or eschalots, cloves, 
 mace, whole pepper, rosemary, sage, and salt ; let 
 these boil quarter of an hour, pour it boiling on the 
 fish ; when cold, cover them close from the air with 
 bladders; in removing any for use, let it be with an 
 ivory or wooden fork or spoon; they will keep all the 
 year. 
 
 Many other species of fish from the sea, or rivers, 
 may be prepared in the same way. Or a more cheap 
 mode to prepare any small fish, is to scale and cleanse, 
 place them in a deep stone jar with spice, &c., and 
 herbs as above ; cover the fish with two-thirds vinegar 
 and one-third water, tie stout white paper over the 
 jar, and send them to the bakehouse. 
 
 Under the head *' Crimping of rish[" are to be 
 found in the observations of the late Sir Anthony 
 Carlisle, as communicated by Mr. Accum, some very 
 useful information. He says, *' Both sea and river 
 fish cannot be eaten too fresh. The gills should be of 
 a fine red colour, the eyes glistening, the scales bril- 
 liant, and the whole fish should feel stiff" and firm ; if 
 soft or flabby, the fish is old.*' I presume he means 
 stale, 
 
 " To improve the quality of fish, they are some- 
 times subject to tlie process called crimping.*' Sir 
 
FISHES AND FISHING, 
 
 355 
 
 Anthony says, '* Whenever the rigid contractions of 
 death have not taken place, this process may be 
 practised with success. The sea-fish destined for 
 crimping are usually struck on the head when caught, 
 which, it is said, protracts the term of the contracti- 
 bility, and the muscles which retain the property' 
 longest are those about the head. Many transverse 
 sections of the muscles being made, and the fish being 
 immersed in cold spring water, the contractions called 
 crimping take place in about five minutes ; but if the 
 mass be large, it often requires thirty minutes to 
 complete the process, by which means the flesh both 
 acquires the desired firmness, and keeps longer." 
 
 Salmon caught by a net are not so fine in flavour 
 as those caught by angling ; and the latter are con- 
 sidered best for crimping. ** Wild Sports of the 
 West." 
 
 By this it appears to be supposed that the blow on 
 the head renders the fish insensible to pain ; and that 
 the transverse divisions of the muscular fibre must 
 take place to be of any utility, whilst they have the 
 contractile power of remaining life. 
 
 Take a fiounder, and kill it by the method I have 
 before mentioned ; it dies instantly, and you will see 
 the whole muscular fibre of its body swell, and be- 
 come firm. Cook one thus killed, and one left to die 
 the lingering death occasioned by removal from the 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 water, and "you would not believe them to be tbe 
 same species of fish. 
 
 Look at our fishmongers' shops ; crimped cod and 
 salmon are frequently seen, whose muscular contrac- 
 tile power had been lost for twenty-four hours, or 
 much longer before that then useless process was 
 practised upon them. 
 
 Mr. Accura gave a very excellent recipe for pick- 
 ling salmon; and those who have once tasted it, would 
 never condescend to eat any of the common pickled 
 salmon of the shops, consistently with health, deli- 
 cacy of preparation, and flavour. 
 
 ** Split the fish down the middle, divide each half 
 into six pieces ; make a brine of salt sufficient to cover 
 the fish when placed in a fish kettle. Season with 
 bruised pepper, mace, allspice, and simmer the whole 
 till the fish is done, taking care not to boil the fish 
 more than is barely sufficient. Then take out the 
 pieces to cool, and put into a jar of stone ware. 
 Strain off the spice from the liquor in which the fish 
 has been boiled, and add to it a like quantity, by 
 measure, of vinegar, and pour it over the fish ; when 
 cold,^'* tie it over with paper, and keep the fish sub- 
 merged in the liquor by placing a weight on it." 
 
 * Suppose the quantity of the liquor in which the fish has 
 been boiled be a quart, it will require the same quantity of good 
 vinegar, and a pint of good port wine may be added with great 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 357 
 
 On trial, it is found that the brine to boil the fish 
 in, should be about fifteen parts salt, and eighty- 
 five parts of water ; and when the fish is put into the 
 jar, it should be ascertained how much liquid will 
 cover the fish sufficiently, and then that the vinegar, 
 &c., should not be less than the half of the whole 
 quantity of liquid ; also, that the spice should be 
 tolerably large ; some add a little powdered coriander 
 
 Mackerel, by taking off their heads, and part of the 
 skin of the belly, make an excellent dish prepared in 
 the same way, but you must be careful not to over- 
 boil them. 
 
 To cure Salmon dry. — Take three to four pounds 
 of fresh salmon ; divide it longitudinally, and take 
 out the bone. Mix intimately together, one table- 
 spoonful of salt,, one dessert spoonful of moist sugar, 
 and a piece of saltpetre, the size of a nutmeg, finely 
 powdered; let a man or boy, with very clean hands 
 and nails, rub this well over the fish ; turn the fish, 
 and rub it once a day during seven days ; then wipe 
 dry with a clean cloth, and hang it up, so as not to 
 touch anything, in a warm place. When required 
 
 advantage. When the fish is all used, this liquor, with the 
 addition of a little more vinegar, will be excellent to pour boil- 
 ing over smelts or gudgeons in marianating them. 
 
358 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 for use, broil a piece over a slow fire ; rub fresh butter 
 upon it, and serve. 
 
 Many other species of fish from fresh and salt water 
 may be prepared, and dried in this way, apportioning 
 the period of salting to the size, and thickness of the 
 fish, always cutting off the heads ; but the back-bone 
 may be left in. If you have the convenience of a 
 wood fire, they can be smoked. They should be 
 hung up by a string, passed through part of the flap 
 which covered the belly, so as, like the salmon, to have 
 a current of air around them. 
 
 Dr. Mc Culloch, of Edinburgh, states that the anti- 
 septic property of sugar will preserve salmon, whiting, 
 and cod, fresh for several days ; or if kept dry, there 
 is no limit to their preservation. Open a salmon, say 
 of seven or eight pounds, put in a large table- spoonful 
 of brown sugar, let it remain in a horizontal position 
 for three days, wipe, and hang it up, wiping and 
 ventilating it occasionally ; if flavour be desired, add 
 to the sugar a jteaspoonful of salt ; if wished to be 
 very firm, add the same quantity of saltpetre. 
 
 Water Souchy. — Place a dozen perch or flounders, 
 or as many as are required, well scaled and cleaned, 
 in a stewpan with two quarts, or a proportionate 
 quantity of water, parsley roots, bruised, and leaves 
 chopped coarsely, an eschalot or two, and a little 
 lemon peel ; boil till the whole flesh of the fish can 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 359 
 
 be pulped through a coarse sieve, with the liquor they 
 were boiled in ; place an equal quantity of cleansed 
 fish in a stewpan, with finely chopped parslej', a very 
 small quantity of powdered cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, 
 pepper and salt, a few small bearded oysters, minced, 
 a few pickled mushrooms without the vinegar, quarter 
 of a pint of white wine, and the pulp and gravy of the 
 first quantity of fish ; simmer very gently, till the fish 
 are done, and serve. 
 
 Eels may be prepared the same way. 
 
 Having now given a few recipes for cooking fish of 
 various kinds, it is proper to add directions for a sauce 
 which, mixed with melted butter, will be found ex- 
 cellent as an adjunct to fried, or boiled fish, or to 
 flavour the gravy of a hash, or stew. 
 
 Take claret or port wine, and mushroom catsup, 
 of each one pint ; walnut pickle half a pint, ancho- 
 vies four ounces, fresh thin pared lemon peel, escha- 
 lots peeled, scraped horse-radish, of each one ounce 
 celery seed, one drachm ; let these be all well pounded 
 separately, and then intimately mixed, having first 
 added allspice, and black pepper in fine powder, of each 
 half an ounce, cayenne pepper and curry powder, of 
 each two drachms ; place altogether with the above 
 liquids in a wide-mouthed, well-stopped bottle, for 
 fourteen days, shaking it frequently ; strain and press 
 out the liquid, and add to the clear portion, quarter 
 of a pint of real good soy : keep it well stopped. 
 
360 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 Some persons add cinnamon to the spices pre- 
 viously mentioned, others dislike it. 
 
 This sauce will he found superior to that of the 
 famed Hervey, who, more than fifty years ago, kept 
 an inn at ^edfont, commanding a view of the church- 
 yard, where, it is said, the Rev. James Hervey, who 
 wrote '^Meditations on the Tomhs,''^ was buried. 
 
 Colman, in his " Random Readings," has the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 " Hervey, whose Inn commands a view 
 Of Bedfont's church and churchyard too, 
 Where yew trees into peacocks shorn. 
 In vegetable torture mourn, — 
 Is hable no doubt to glooms. 
 From ' Meditations on the Tombs : ' 
 But while he meditates, he cooks ; 
 Thus both to quick and dead he looks ; 
 Turning his mind to nothing, save 
 Thoughts on man's gravy, and his grave. 
 Long may he keep from churchyard holes 
 Our bodies with his sauce for soles ! 
 liOng may he hinder Death from beckoning 
 His guests to settle their last reckoning." 
 
 Another, from an unknown hand, appeared more 
 recently in a periodical. 
 
 " Two Herveys had a mutual wish 
 To shine in different stations ; 
 The one invented sauce for fish, 
 The other Meditations ! 
 
FISHES AND FISHING, 361 
 
 Each had his pungent power applied 
 
 To save the dead and dying ; 
 This relishes a sole that's fried, 
 
 That saves a soul from frying." 
 
 A curious opinion was entertained as to the nature 
 of fish, by Phillip of Spain, the consort of our Queen 
 Mary, who did not eat them, giving as his reason for 
 not doing so, 'Uhat they were only element con- 
 gealed, or a jelly of water." 
 
 In contrast to this, may be cited the conduct of 
 Aterbates, Queen of Scythia, who interdicted her 
 subjects from eating fish, "because there would not 
 be enough to regale their sovereign." 
 
 In the "iN'orthuraberland Family Book," the break- 
 fast for the earl and countess during four days of the 
 week in Lent, was a loaf of bread in trenches, two 
 manchets, i. e. two loaves of the finest flour, weigh- 
 ing six ounces each, a quart of beer, a quart of wine, 
 two pieces of salt fish, six baconed herrings, four 
 white herrings, or a dish of sproits (sprats). A 
 tolerable commencement of a day of mortification in 
 Lent, 
 
 The Keoeo's tkansformation of flesh into fish, 
 
 A missionary of the Catholic Church induced a sly 
 old negro, whom he found in India, to embrace his 
 creed, and believing him to be a sincere convert, admit- 
 
362 TISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 ted him to the sacrament of baptism, and gave him the 
 name of James instead of Washee, which he had borne 
 above forty years ; this the negro thought was a most 
 extraordinary proceeding. The priest insisted on 
 James keeping the regular fast days, under the 
 penalty of eternal misery ; but the prohibition did 
 not suit Washee's gastronomic propensity, and he 
 adopted his own peculiar method of indulging his 
 appetite, and yet avoiding the threatened punish- 
 ment. The priest went into Washee' s house on a 
 Piiday, and to his horror, found Washee regaling 
 himself with a dish of beef steaks. The missionary 
 in strong terms reprobated Washee' s conduct ; but the 
 negro stoutly declared he was eating fish only, and 
 thus endeavoured to prove it. *' You took my hand, 
 you put water on my face, and speakee fine words. 
 I no understand, and den you say my name no more 
 Washee, but now be James ; well, dis morning, I 
 takee de beef steak, and putting water over dem, 
 make talkee, and say, ' No more beef steah, but now be 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 363 
 
 STJSPEN'DED AmMATION. 
 
 It may be useful to give the rules published by the 
 Royal Humane Society for restoring those apparently 
 drowned, to which I have made some explanatory, 
 and I hope useful additions. First send for a medical 
 man immediately. 
 
 Cautions. — Lose no time ; avoid all rough usage ; 
 never hold the body up by the feet ; nor roll the body 
 on a cask ; nor rub the body with salt or spirits ; nor 
 inject tobacco smoke, or infusion of tobacco. 
 
 Convey the body carefully (and quickly) with the 
 head and shoulders supported in a raised position, 
 to the nearest house, where the following methods of 
 treatment can be adopted. Strip the body as soon 
 as possible, and rub it dry with hot cloths, then wrap 
 it in hot blankets, and place it in a warm bed, in a 
 warm chamber, free from smoke. 
 
 In order to restore the natural warmth of the body» 
 move a moderately-heated, covered (with flannel) 
 warming-pan over the back and spine. 
 
 Put bladders or bottles of hot water, or heated 
 bricks, all covered with flannel, to the pit of the 
 stomach, the arm pits, between the thighs, to the soles 
 of the feet, and each side of the neck. Foment the 
 body with hot flannels. 
 
364 PISHES AND PISHIKG. 
 
 Bub the body briskly with the hand ; do not, how- 
 ever, suspend the use of the other means at the same 
 time ; but if possible immerse the body in a warm 
 bath at blood heat, 98° or lOQo of the thermometer, 
 as this is preferable to the other means for restoring 
 warmth. 
 
 Volatile salts or hartshorn, or liquor ammonia, to 
 be passed occasionally to and fro under the nostrils. 
 
 No more persons to be admitted into the room 
 than are absolutely necessary, as they will consume 
 the oxygen of the atmosphere. 
 
 Electricity was formerly found of great use in these 
 cases when it could be applied ; but, except at the 
 Eoyal Humane Society's establishment, in Hyde Park, 
 it was seldom available. Now the application of 
 electro-magnetism is, or ought to be, in the power of 
 every general practitioner, and no one ought to be 
 without such an useful apparatus, which can be 
 transported without the least delay or difficulty, to 
 the spot where the body is lying, and by the adoption 
 of the improvements which I have made in the ap- 
 paratus, and modes of applying it, whereby it is ren- 
 dered more effective, useful, and always ready for 
 immediate service by following these directions. 
 
 First, have two pieces of German silver or copper 
 wire, gauge No. 14, form them, into this shape — 
 These are to be placed in the orifices 
 
PISHES AND FISHING. 365 
 
 of the standards of the two poles, and fixed by the 
 screws in the standards. Next have two pieces of 
 brass spring wire, a little less than a yard and a half 
 each, and two lengths of stout narrow black ribbon, 
 each a yard and a-half ; let the edges be sewn to- 
 gether, pass the spring wire through them, press the 
 ribbon tube back from the ends, draw three or four 
 coils of the spring wire out, and anneal them in a 
 spirit lamp, straighten these ends, then have ready 
 four hooks made of the same size and kind of wire as 
 tlie above, of this shape C^^^^ Pass the an- 
 nealed part of the spring wire two or three times 
 through the ring of the hook, and return the end into 
 the hollow of the spring wire, then draw down the 
 ribbon close to the hook, pass two or three stitches 
 of stout black silk througli the loop, from one side of 
 the ribbon case to the other, bind the end of the rib- 
 bon case with silk, and finish all neatly, so as to leave 
 no end of wire or silk protruding. Obtain two tubes 
 of glass, each six inches long, a full half an inch 
 diameter, with a bore of a quarter of an inch ; let these 
 be ground and polished round at each end ; then have 
 tw^o wires seven inches long, of German silver, guage 
 No. 13, these to have a ring at one end, and a male 
 screw at the other, whereon can be screwed a well- 
 polished ball of German silver, half an inch diameter. 
 The wires are to be passed through the glass tube, 
 
366 FISHES AND FISHING. 
 
 the ball screwed on, and if the ball be placed on the 
 flesh, and a person holding the tube move it about, 
 the ball will roll wherever it is directed, Now to 
 apply the electric current : [hook one end of the 
 covered spring wire to the ring of wire at one pole, 
 and the other end to the ring of one wire in the glass 
 tube, as the same with the other spring wire and con- 
 tents of the other glass tube; it will be obvious tbat 
 a person holding the gUiss tubes, one in each hand, he 
 being thus insulated, will be able to pass the electric 
 current in any direction, as whatever intervened be- 
 tween those two balls would receive it, and by the 
 balls having a rotary motion, this agent can be applied 
 more extensively and with less of pain. The part 
 being moistened with a little compound soap liniment 
 will render the application more powerful. 
 
 The liquid I use is in the proportion of one ounce 
 of strong sulphuric acid to thirty ounces of distilled 
 water, and the necessary quantity can be kept always 
 ready for use in a well-stoppered bottle. The metals, 
 as soon as used, should be washed in clean, tolerably 
 warm water, the reason of which is, because they dry 
 sooner, particularly if placed before the fire, and 
 when dry they should be protected from the air. 
 
 In cases of suspended animation the current of 
 electricity can be applied by this mode up and down 
 the spine, and in every direction. 
 
FISHES AND FISHING. 367 
 
 This apparatus is far superior to any I have ever 
 seen, and can be adapted to most machines for apply- 
 ing electro-magnetism, or indeed for frictional elec- 
 tricity in some of its modifications. 
 
 There are machines of a powerful character which 
 give an interrupted current, used at some of our hos- 
 pitals to overcome the effect of narcotics. 
 
 All general practitioners should have a proper 
 machine and apparatus for applyingelectro-magnetism, 
 particularly those residing near rivers, lakes, or on 
 the sea coast. The expense is trifling, and the utility 
 very great. 
 
 I will with pleasure show any professional gentle- 
 man, or manufacturer of these machines my improve- 
 ments. 
 
/ 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 'No. 1. — {See Frontispiece,) 
 
 Callorhynchus Antartica. — Southern Chimaera. 
 (Elephant Fish.) 
 
 This fish is a native of the Southern Ocean, where 
 it generally inhabits the deepest recesses, and seldom 
 approaches the shore, except during the breeding 
 s'eason. It is said to swim chiefly by night, and to 
 prey upon the young of herrings, cod, and other 
 smaller fishes ; also on various sorts of mollusca and 
 testacea. 
 
 Its general length is from two and a half to four 
 feet. 
 
 Each jaw is furnished with a pair of broad, bony, 
 laminae, notched at the margin into a resemblance of 
 numerous teeth, while in front, both above and be- 
 low, stand two large semicircular, flattisb, cutting 
 teeth. The upper lip is extended into a lengthened 
 cartilaginous flap, or appendage, bending downwards 
 
 B B 
 
370 APPENDIX. 
 
 in a reversed direction ; hence its name of ^' Elephant 
 fish." 
 
 An indented line runs across the forehead, and is 
 continued in a serpentine course into the lateral line ; 
 this hollow is filled with numerous distinct pores. 
 
 The ej'cs are ver}^ large, and in the living fish, at 
 night, shine with phosphorescent splendour. 
 
 The dorsal fin is very large, of triangular shape, 
 furnished with a strong sharp spine, projecting beyond 
 the finny part. This spine has a saw in front, like 
 that part in a carp. 
 
 The pectoral fins are very large, and of a triangular 
 sliape; they are situate beneath the first dorsal. 
 The ventral are of a similar shape, but much smaller, 
 and placed at middle distance from the head to the 
 middle of the tail, which is curved, the longest ex- 
 tremity on the upper side. At the base of each fin 
 in the males, is a lengthened sub-cylindrical process, 
 roughened by numerous sharp prominences in a re- 
 versed direction. 
 
 The female fish could not be thought to be of the 
 same genera, were it not for the elongation of the 
 upper lip. 
 
 Many naturalists, both English and foreign, have 
 written on these fish. This account I partly con- 
 densed from " Shaw's Zoology," and partly from 
 specimens in the British Museum, where a very ta- 
 
APPENDIX. 371 
 
 lented young artist was allowed, at ray solicitation, 
 to make the drawing for me of this curious fish, lately 
 added to that valuable collection. 
 
 No. II.— (See p. 110.) 
 The Blind Fish of the Mammoth Caves of Kentucky. 
 
 A gentleman, a patient of mine, informed me, a 
 few days ago, that there were also blind fish in the 
 waters of the Speedwell Mine, near the Peak, Derby- 
 shire. I therefore wrote to the proprietor of the 
 mine, and have been favoured with his reply, which 
 is to the effect, that he has heard blind fish have been 
 caught in those waters, and also the same report from 
 the Guide of the Peake Cavern, through which the 
 waters of the Speedwell Mine subsequently pass. 
 
 Should this gentleman obtain further information, 
 in answer to enquiries he is so obliging as to promise 
 he will make, and he learn anything authentic, he 
 will communicate it to me. 
 
 At the British Museum, I have been fiivoured with 
 an inspection of the blind fish, and cray fish, from 
 the rivers of the caves of Kentucky. 
 
 No. III.— (See p. 252, and plate.) 
 The portable Gudgeon Hake. 
 The rake itself, A or B, being placed on the small 
 
372 APPENDIX. 
 
 end of the pole, is to be fixed there by the screw (c) 
 passed through the hole {b). 
 
 The pole I have, is put together by bayonet 
 Joints. A patent cord with a loop at the end is at- 
 tached to the eye of the screw (c) ; the other end of 
 the cord, properly stopped, is passed through the 
 hole (a) ; the staples on each joint, and is made fast 
 through the hole in the butt of the pole, so that no 
 part can be lost. 
 
 I am of the opinion, that the parasol joint invented 
 by Mr. Anderson, 71, Long Acre, for folding fly rods, 
 made proportionably stouter, and to slide on brass 
 ferules, is more simple, and the rake may be fixed to 
 the pole by a stout spring pin, which is more conve- 
 nient for carriage than having the pin attached to 
 the rake. 
 
 The whole may be made lighter than mine,, the 
 dimensions of which I have here given. 
 
373 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Angling, infantile, 25 
 
 for Carp, first time, 26 
 second time, 31 
 
 to do successfully, 32, 33 
 
 for a dinner, &c., 181 
 
 antiquity of, 279 
 
 opponents of, 301, 302 
 
 for Barbel, 33 
 
 directions for, 36, 37 
 
 for Gudgeons. 92, 102, 239 to 263 
 
 for Roach, 263 
 
 for Flounders, 9 
 
 at Leatherliead,Case on, 283 to 287 
 
 on Sundays, 271 to 279 
 
 at Whitchurch, Hants, 288 
 
 Wey Navigation to be seen to, 288, 289 
 Anglers, celebrated, 279 
 
 erroneous weight offish, 216 
 Angler of first class, his visit, and results, 30 
 Artificial breeding of fish, 63 to 67 
 
 in ponds, 290 
 
 flies, multiplicity unnecessary, 224 
 Authors on the sense of hearing in fish, 80, 81 
 Aural Surgeons, two new aspirants, 87 
 
 books and practice, 87 
 Air undulates by sound, 85 
 
 bladder of Fish, 126 to 131 
 
 uses of, 121 to 129 
 
 gases therein, 126 
 Africa, fishes of Cape of Good Hope, 309 to 341 
 Algeria, fishes of, 341, 342 
 America (North), fishes of, 342, 343 
 
 Bargemen, how to make honest, 23 
 
374 INDEX. 
 
 Bull, attack by, 27 
 
 taught civility, 28 
 Barbel, angling for, 33, 36, 37 
 ^ number and weight taken, 35 
 
 baits for, 256, 257, 258 
 
 ground bait for, 257 
 
 size of in the Lea, 34 
 in the Volga, ib. 
 
 diflference between one from the Wey and one from the 
 Thames, 35 
 
 price at Astrachan, ib. 
 
 air bladder, use of, 347 
 
 to roast, 347 
 
 to braise, 347 
 
 coUops of, 352 
 
 roe not to be eaten, 347 
 Beljuga Sturgeon, how caught, 51, 52 
 how sold, 34 
 
 Stone, 52 
 Books on artificial breeding of fish, 5& 
 Breeding, general physiology of, 74, 75 
 Brain requires education. 91 
 
 of man and fish, 119, 120, 123 
 Bishop of Ely, his gifts to the monks, 145 
 
 his arrogant impertinence, ib. 
 Bonaparte visits the French coasts, 180 
 
 detects peculation, and punishes it, ib» 
 
 his Mamelukes and guard, ib. 
 
 he visits Fort Rouge, 189 
 
 English attempt to destroy it, 190 
 
 this orthography of his name correct, 191 
 BouEpart, at Maiden Newton, Dorset, 192 
 Beds of live and dead feathers, 203, 204 
 Beddington, Surrey, account of estate, 239 to 241 
 
 starved Trout there, ib, 
 
 church -yard ghost, 249 
 Bleak, mad through Tape Worm, 105 
 Blind Fish of Mammoth Caves, Kentucky, 110 
 Battie, Dr., account of, 253, 254 
 Blood worms, vulgar error respecting, 260 
 
 Change of locality, from comfort to the reverse, 21 
 
 Coxheath Camp, 11 
 
 Custom House Officer outwitted, 13 
 
INDEX. 375 
 
 Carp, bad speculation in, 22 
 
 Chub, formerly plentiful in the Thames, 37 
 
 Celibacy of fish, what would be the result, 46 to 48 
 
 Caviar, how made, and price, 51, 52 
 
 Crucian Carp, a hybrid, 74 
 
 Catching Trout with a silver hook, 119 
 
 Carp, fattened by the Monks, 134, 135, 136 
 
 when introduced to England, 136 
 Conger Eel, 153, 154, 155, 156 
 Catching Crabs, 174 
 Cock caught with a May fly, 231 
 Carshalton, Surrey, Upper Pool, large Trout, 241 
 Cheese, useful in fly-fishing for Chub, 256 
 Ceylon, fishes of, 341 
 Cooking of fish, 344 
 Carp to stew, 350 
 Climbing Fish of the Ganges, 302, 303 
 
 Ancient Greeks, 303, 304, 305 
 Crimping fish, 307, 354, 355, 356 
 Cotton trees, 103, 104, and Note 
 
 Dartford, Kent, ancient posting town, 1 
 
 Water Lane there, ib. 
 
 Creek, 2 
 
 Paper Mill there, 3 
 
 River, flies for, 215, 216 
 Deaf and dumb, difficulty of teaching after the sense of hearing 
 
 has been given, 91 
 Dublin British Association, paper read, 164 
 Detenues in France, treatment of, 177 
 Death by Omnibus of Mr. H., a most worthy fly angler, 
 
 206, 207 
 Dagenhain Breach or Gulf, 221 
 
 accident to an Angler there, 222 
 
 price of angling, 223 
 
 Rudd there, ib. 
 Ducks, caught with Gudgeon on spinning tackle, 132 
 Dibbing with blow line, 250 
 Disappointed angler, 277, 278 
 Dinner, directions for Saturdays, temp. Hen. VIII., 290, 291. 
 
 Existence, no knowledge of commencement, 6 
 Eels, night lines for, 9 
 
 destructive of the spawn of other fish, 54 
 
 pots and grig pots, to place, 143 
 
376 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Eels will escape through small orifices, 144 
 given by Bishop of Ely to the monks, ib, 
 bobbing for, how performed, 148 
 sniggling: for, 149, 150 
 large, 157 
 bitten by one, ib. 
 tongs or forceps for holding, 152 
 how to kill, ib. 
 generation of, ib. and 153 
 will pass over land, iu. 
 Electric, 158 to 167 
 variously estimated as food, 167 
 trickery respecting, 168 
 varieties of the Anguillidae, ib. 
 adventure of a countess with, 169 
 to braise, 347 
 to collar, 348 
 to stew, 351 
 coll ops of, 35 
 Elvers, in the Avon, Parrot, Mersey, and Severn, 146, 147 148 
 specimens in the Museum of Koyal College "of Surgeons 
 England, 148. & » 
 
 how to cook, 147 
 Excise Commissioners seize all the scenery in theatres and 
 panoramic paintings, 15 ' 
 
 tyrannical conduct, 16 
 completely defeated by the Author, 17 
 falsehood of the public statement made afterwards in their 
 favour, 19 
 Englishmen entrapped in France, 177 
 Escape of Author, planned, 183 
 
 completion of, 184, 185 
 Electricity, wonders of, the effect upon an infantile mind 21 
 Echo, described, 89 ' ** 
 
 Examples of intellect in Fish, 121 to 126 
 Ely Cathedral and Abbey, foundress of, 146 
 
 Flounders, fishing for, 9 
 
 improved by killing, 351 and 355 
 Footpad shot, 20 
 Fecundity of fish generally, 50, 51, 54 
 
 of Oysters, 55 
 French Government, judicious encouragement of artificial 
 breeding of fish, 69, 70. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 377 
 
 French Government, atrocious conduct of, in 1803, 183 
 "^ "'ice, after Peace of Amiens, 173 
 Fly-fishing amongst the ancient Greeks, 57 
 Flies necessary for the health of Trout, 101 
 Fly dressing. Author learns to perform, 203 
 
 live and dead hackles, ib. 
 Flies, Mr. Eennie on unnecessary multiplicity of, 207 
 confirmed by Martingale, 214, 215 
 imposition as to, 217 
 for the Wandle, 215 
 
 the Darent, (Dartford), 215, 216 
 the Thames, 216 
 
 Salmon, strange-looking things, ib. 
 Fish, anatomy and physiology of their senses, 80 to 92 
 coming to be fed on ringing a bell, fabulous, 94 
 Blumenbach, his error as to their swallowing their prey, 
 
 97 
 their sense of sight, 99, 103 
 Mr. Rennie in error as to their sense of sight, 102 
 age of, ascertained by their scales, 107 
 scales, how formed, 108 
 brain of, 119, 120 
 intellect of, 93, 119 to 126, 305 
 gratitude of, 123 
 jealousy of, 125 
 anger of, 68, 125 
 
 enormous quantity seized annually at Billingsgate, as 
 unfit for food, 353 
 Fishes, grief of, 65, 126 
 arrogant pride of, ib. 
 friendship of, 124, 125, 126 
 loves of, 40, 41, 121, 123 
 pugnacity of, 67, 68 
 Fish, large quantity caught, expensive, 200 
 Fly-fishing, stimulus to learn, 202, 201 
 
 further by acquaintance with Mr. L. and Mr. H., ^202, 
 
 203, 204 
 for a dog, fine sport, 227, 228 
 on the Ganges, 208 to 300 
 Fly.fisher, Williams the Solitary, 205, 206 
 
 hints to, by Jesse, 300 
 Fly-fishing match, 225. 226 
 
 rod in disguise, 208, 209, 210, 213 
 
378 INDEX. 
 
 Fly-fishing Tod, proper formation and protection of, 208 
 
 Fishing pouch, or bag, 208 
 
 Freemasonry, advantage of, 182, 183 
 
 ?'ishermen and Fisheries on the Thames, 265, 266 
 
 Fish, some unwholesome, 291 
 
 some poisonous, 222 
 
 all should have entrails extracted as soon as caught, 293 
 
 healthy and nutritious food, 293, 294 
 
 nearly the only food in some parts, 294, 295, 296 
 
 at the Cape of Good Hope, 309 to 341 
 
 of Algeria, 341, 342 
 
 of ]N"orth America, &c., 342, 343 
 
 of Ceylon, 341 
 
 of Ganges, 303 to 309 
 Fascination of angling or seeing fish caught, 273, 274, 275 
 Fish, to marionate, Italian method, 353 
 
 Phillip of Spain, dislike of, 361 
 
 a Queen interdicts her subjects from eating, ib. 
 
 breakfast. Earl and Countess of Northumberland, ib. 
 
 a negro's method of transmuting flesh into, 362 
 
 Garden, how to make out of a waste, 22, 23 
 Ground bait by ancient Greeks (note), 31 
 
 attracts fish, 92 
 
 for Barbel, 257 
 
 Roach and Dace, 258 
 
 Chub, 259 
 Generation of fish, 45 
 
 plants, 47 
 
 fruits, ib. 
 Gurney, Esq., bred trout artificially, 66 
 Gudgeons, fishing for, see Angling. 
 Gudgeon rake, portable, 262 
 Gold, its ductility, 218 
 
 Gee, Mr. Wm., and Mr. Attorney General, 239 
 Guiniad, the, 245 
 
 H-— shoots a footpad, 20 
 
 his courage subsequently, ib. 
 
 Hermaphrodite fish, 16 
 
 Hybrids in Serpentine, 50, 78, 79 
 how to destroy, 50 
 
INDEX. 
 
 379 
 
 Hybrids of trout and salmon, to restock the river Thames, 76, 77 
 
 the Crucian Carp, 74 
 
 the Rufif, or Pope, 77 
 
 of birds which breed, 78, 70 
 
 of fish, see "VVilloughby's plates, ib. 
 
 „ see Apodal fish in the British Museum, ib. 
 Hearing, sense of in man and terrestrial animals, is, in point 
 
 of fact, feeling, 85 
 Hampton Ait, 264 
 Health benefited by angling, 281 
 
 India, homeward bound ships, visits to, 12 
 
 the horrible scenes there attributable to the unwise attempts 
 to alter the religion of the natives, 282 
 Inclosures got up by country attorneys, 24 
 Injurious treatment of deafness, 86, 87 
 Isinglass, how made, 130 
 
 Journey to London after escape from France, 185, 186 
 
 Kentucky, mammoth caves of, and blind fish, 109 
 Killing fish, 304 
 
 Lime trees, the first in England, 3 
 
 Lea River could be re-stocked with salmon and trout, 61 
 
 salmon caught there by J". B., Esq., ib. 
 „ another, by a young man, 62 
 „ a third by the author, 63 
 Laving a deep hole, 132, 133, 134 
 
 and disappointment of those employed, ib. 
 Lamprey, 170 
 Lampern, 171 
 
 Lepedosiren (or Mud Fish), ib. 
 Landing net. 208 
 Lakes, Virginia Water, 226, 227 
 
 Pemble Moor, 245 
 
 Brecknockshire, 246 
 Laws, relating to angling, and size of fish, 267 to 270 
 
 made by Lord Mayor against angling on Sundays, 271, 2, 3 
 
 ancient, as to eating fish, 289, 290 
 Lunatics, lucid intervals of, 274 to 277 
 Lobster, to pot, 349 
 
 Mansion House and grounds, 1 
 Mill-pond and Mill, 3 
 
880 INDEX. 
 
 Mutations in this life, 14 
 
 Munro on the organ of hearing in the "Whale and some other 
 
 fish, 81 
 Music not heard by fish, 95 
 Music improved to human ears if over water, 95 
 Medical quackery, worms in the Bleak, 106 
 Mountain Sommering, fish from, 115 
 Monks of Chertsey, luxurious as to fish, 134 
 
 their stews, ib. 
 
 fattening their t;arp, ib. 
 
 their pond at Wotton, Surrey, 235 
 Malapterurus (electric fish), 167 
 Mud Fish (Lepidosiren), 171 
 Mengaud (Commissary of Police, Calais), 176 
 Mussel caught with a worm, 432 
 Mussels, quantity at Boiogne, 174 
 
 why injurious as food, 233, 292 
 
 Nacre, a silk spinning mussel, 232, 233 
 Nosts of fish, and note, 43 
 Nottingham, errors of, 82 
 Neophyte anglers, 118 
 Nutriment of confined fish, 129 
 Netting for fish, excitement of, 132 
 Nets, flue or flow, what, 136, 137 
 Netting old stews of Chertsey Abbey, 134 
 
 in kid gloves, 251 
 Nona Rolls, Inquisitiones Nonarum, 191, 192 
 
 shew the origin of many surnames, ib, 
 
 of great importance to the clergy, 193 
 Neglect of water bailiff, 296 
 
 Oppian on the Cramp-fish, the Torpedo, 166 
 
 Paper mills, the first, 3 and 4 
 
 Panoramas (see Theatres). 
 
 Poor injured by iiiclosures, 24 
 
 Popery, riots about, '27 
 
 Pulled' into the river by a fish, 29 
 
 Pike, large, from the Serpentine, 49 
 
 two taken at once, 114 
 
 encounter with, 114 to 117 
 
 biting a man's leg, 132 
 
 curious plan for taking, 137, 138, 
 
INDT-X. 381 
 
 Pike, destructive of other fish, 138 
 
 large number in Walton meadow, 139 
 
 when so called, 345 
 
 growth of, ib. 
 
 to boil, ib. 
 
 to roast, ih. 
 
 to braise, 347 
 
 Pope (see Rufit). 
 Physiology of the sense of hearing in man, 85, 86 
 
 of that sense in fish, 88 
 Perilous adventure taking up trimmers, 141 
 Price of provisions in France, 175, 176 
 Publication of narrative of escape, 186 
 Position, fearful in trunk, and effects, 186, 187, 188 
 Press, its observations the cause of war, 188, 189 
 Perch, voracity of, 192 
 
 fishing for, ib. 
 
 anecdote arising, 193, 194 
 
 another, 194, 195, 196 
 Ponds, Godston, expensive sport, 224 
 
 at the Hyde, 229 
 
 Rockholts, disappointment, 229, 230 
 Puritans should never again have the ascendancy in England, 282 
 Poaching for Trout in Eiver Mole, 287 
 
 general in the Thames, 296 
 Plaice, to cook, Jews' fashion, 349 
 
 Quab, what, 156, 157 
 
 boots made af its skin, 158 
 
 Relationship very distant, a pretence for intrusion, 13 
 Removal, discomfort of, 21 
 Roe of Salmon improperly used as a bait, 55 
 Rivers, Oxley or Abbey Mill, 98 
 
 Serpentine, 219 
 good angling fifty years ago, not now, 48, 50 
 
 "Wear, 214 
 
 Test, ib. 
 
 Brent, 234 * 
 
 Mole, 235 
 
 Dee, 244 
 
 Wandle, 238 
 
 New River, 266 
 
 Rib, ih. 
 
382 INDEX. 
 
 Kivers of Hampshire, 224 
 
 Herefordshire, 225 
 
 Hertfordshire, 243 
 
 Kent, 243 
 
 Somersetshire, 224 
 
 Surrey, ib. 
 
 Yorkshire, ih. 
 
 Carmartlienshire, 246 
 Richardson, Sir J., 166 
 Rupture of peace of Amiens, 176 
 Rascality of a skipper, 178 
 Residence in Henhault forest, 196 
 Rudd, where found, 223 
 Roach, angh'ng for, 263 
 Religion, attempt at coercion useless, 283 
 Rain fish, 305 
 
 Spielman, Sir John, his tomb, 3 
 Salmon leaping into the mill, 8 
 
 taken, trying to get into fresh water, 8, 39 
 
 classification of, 38 
 
 manner of breeding, 39 
 
 female seeks fresh male if the first or others taken, 40 
 
 time for vivification of ova, 41 
 
 loves of the, ih. 
 
 why obliged to migrate alternately, from salt to fresh- water, 
 and vice versa, 'i5 
 
 formerly plentiful in the Thames, 65, 66, 57 
 
 Soyer's error as to, 57 
 
 season for, in Scotland, 50 
 
 the grey, 42, 43 
 
 ditto, in the Severn, 58 
 
 flies, nondescripts, 216 
 
 to boil, 346 
 
 deteriorates by keeping, 352, 353 
 
 to pickle, 356, 357 
 
 to cure dry, 357 
 
 Dr. M'Cuilock's mode to preserve, 3-58 
 Salmon fisheries, Committee of House of Commons on, 38 
 Stickleback devours spaAvn of fish, 54 
 
 pugnucity of, 67, 68 
 Skegger of the Thames, and skegger of the Mersey, 70, 71, 72, 
 
 73,74 
 Silver hook never fails to obtain fish, 119 
 
INDEX. 383 
 
 Sbad, small, in Thames ; large in Volga, 130 
 Sion Abbey Islands, given by Henry V., 144 
 
 iu collector's account temp. Henry VII.; Henry VIII. 
 cheated out of them when he dissolved the Abbey, 145 
 
 Fisheries of, 144 
 
 breed of hogs of, ib. 
 Sand Eel, 153 
 Sea-fish in fresh water, 221 
 Sea Trout, 247, 248 
 Sunday angling in Thames, 271 to 279 
 Sporting, love of, inherent, 280 
 Sea snakes, 309 
 Sauces, 346 
 
 superior to Harvey's, 359, 360 
 
 lines on, 360 
 
 Trout river, 2 
 
 assorting of, 6 
 
 netting for, 7 
 
 quantity taken, 8 
 
 method of taking, 98 
 
 their sense of taste, ib. 
 
 one blind, 101 
 
 probable cause, 102 
 
 when hooked, surrounded by others, 113 
 
 reasons for, 114 
 
 by Oppian, note, ib. 
 
 voracity of, 117 
 
 fishing at bottom, 211 
 
 anew way, 211, 212, 213 
 
 taken to please a gentleman, to his mortification, 213, 214 
 
 seasons for, 242, 243 
 
 aTid swallow, catching each other, 231 
 
 barren, 243 
 
 near Cricklade, 265 
 Theatres. pant>riimiis, &c., painted canvas, the scenery seized, 
 first time, 1 5 
 
 second seizure, 16 
 
 defeat of the excise, 17 
 Thames improved navigation, the deterioration in its supply of 
 
 fish, 37 
 Thames can be re-stocked with salmon, 59 
 mportance of, 60 
 
 anij-er's guide> ^65 
 
384 INDEX. 
 
 Tench, the physician of fish, 122, 123 
 
 proved to be a fact, 199, 200 
 I large quantity caught, 197 
 
 angling for, 198 
 
 to stew, 351 
 Trimmers, how to make and place, 139 to 141 
 Torpedo, 159, 165, 166 
 Towage on Thames, by men, 252, 253 
 
 by horses, 254 
 
 by steam, 255 
 
 improved plan proposed, ib 
 Trial as to angling, Leatherhead, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287 
 
 at Whitchurch, 287 
 Telescope to see under water, 296, 297 
 
 Unsportsmanlike to take fish with spawn in them, 54 
 Uses of air-bladder of fish, 129 to 131 
 Uxbridge, angling there, 234 
 
 Vestry squabble and fight, 1 1 
 
 Vineyard in the Isle of Ely, a.d. 1133, 145 
 
 Virginia water, 226, 227 
 
 "Workmen, to cure of drunkenness, 23, 24 
 
 Water, the undulations of, convey sensations to fish, 80, 90 
 
 Worms in bleak, and quack- worm doctors, 106 
 
 White-bait, to cook, 147 
 
 Winch, advice as to (note), 201, 202 
 
 Weight offish, correction of angler's estimate, 216 
 
 Water company, filthy supply, 220 
 
 Weirs of the Thames, the extinction of salmon, 251 , 252 
 
 illegal as well as badly constructed, 255 
 Whitchurch (Hants), trials relative to angling, 288 
 Wey navigation (Surrev), usurpation as to angling, 288, 289 
 Water Bailiff, neglect of, 296 
 Water Souchy, a superior kind, to make, 358 
 
 Yewsley, 234 
 
 J. Billing, Printer and Stereotyper, Guildford, Surrey. ^ 
 
14 DAY VSF 
 
 ™KNTOn.SK^OMwicHBOKKOW.O 
 —M^T __J^^J^crto immediate recall. 
 
 General Library 
 

 
 
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