ther; A doubtful kind, that may be none, or either, In fact, the colours of the trout, and its fpots, vary greatly in different waters, and in different feafons; yet each may be reduced to one fpecies. In Llyndivi, a lake in South Wales, are trouts called cochy dail, marked with red and black spots as big as fix-pences; others unfpotted, and of a reddish hue, that fometimes weigh near ten pounds, but are bad tafted. In Lough Neagh, in Ireland, are trouts called there buddaghs, which I was told fometimes weighed thirty pounds; but it was not my fortune to fee any during my ftay in the neighbourhood of that vaft wa ter. Trouts (probably of the fame fpecies) are alfo taken in Hulfe-water, a lake in Cumberland, of a much fuperior fize to thofe of Lough Neagh. These are fupposed to be the fame with the trout of the lake of Geneva, a fish I have eaten more than once, and think but a very indifferent one. In the river Eynion, not far from Machyntleth, in Merionethshire, and in one of the Snowdon lakes, are found a variety of trout, which are naturally deformed, having a strange crookedness near the tail, refembling that of the perch before defcribed. We dwell the lefs on these monftrous productions, as our friend the Hon. Daines Barrington, has already given an account of them in an ingenious differtation on some of the Cambrian fifh, publifhed in the Philofophical Tranfactions of the year 1767. The stomachs of the common trouts are uncommonly thick and mufcular. They feed on the fhell-fifh of lakes and rivers, as well as on small fish. They likewife take into their ftomachs gravel, or small stones, to affift in comminuting the teftaceous parts of their food. The trouts of certain lakes in Ireland, fuch as thofe of the province of Galway, and some others, are remarkable for the great thickness of their ftomachs, which, from fome flight refemblance to the organs of digeftion in birds, have been called gizzards: the Irish name the fpecies that has them, Gillaroe trouts. Thefe ftomachs are fometimes ferved up to table, under the former appellation. It does not appear to me, that the extraordi nary ftrength of ftomach in the Irish fish, fhould give any fufpicion that it is a diftinct species: the nature of the waters might increase the thickness; or the superior quantity of shell-fish, which may more frequently call for the ufe of its comminuting powers than thofe of our trouts, might occafion this difference. I had opportunity of comparing the ftomach of a great Gillaroo trout, with a large one from the Uxbridge river. The laft, if I recollect, was fmaller, and out of feafon; and its stomach (notwithstanding it was very thick) was much inferior in ftrength to that of the former: but on the whole, there was not the leaft fpecific difference between the two fubjects. Trouts are most voracious fish, and afford excellent diverfion to the angler: the palion for the fport of angling is fo great in the neighbourhood of London, that the liberty of fishing in fome of the ftreams in the adjacent counties, is purchafed at the rate of ten pounds per annum. Thefe fifh fhift their quarters to spawn, and, like falmon, make up towards the heads of rivers to depofit their roes. The under jaw of the trout is fubject, at certain times, to the fame curvature as that of the falmon. A trout taken in Llynallet, in Denbighfhire, which is famous for an excellent kind, measured feventeen inches, its depth three and three quarters, its weight one pound ten ounces: the head thick; the nose rather fharp: the upper jaw a little longer than the lower; both jaws, as well as the head, were of a pale brown, blotched with black: the teeth fharp and ftrong, difpofed in the jaws, roof of the mouth and tongue, as is the cafe with the whole genus, except the gwyniad, which is toothless, and the grayling, which has none on its tongue. The back was dufky; the fides tinged with a purplish bloom, marked with deep purple ipots, mixed with black, above and below the fide line which was ftrait: the belly white. The first dorsal fin was spotted; the fpurious fin brown, tipped with red; the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins, of a pale brown; the edges of the anal fin white: the tail very little forked when extended. $25. The PIKE or JACK. The pike is common in most of the lakes of Europe, but the largest are thofe taken in Lapland, which, according to Schaffer, are foinetimes eight feet long. They are taken there in great abundance, dried, and exported for fale. The largest fifh of this kind which we ever heard of in England, weighed thirty-five pounds. According to the common faying, these fish were introduced into England in the reign of Henry VIII. in 1537. They were fo rare, that a pike was fold for double the price of a houfe-lamb in February, and a pickerel for more than a fat capon. All writers who treat of this fpecies bring inftances of its vaft voracioufnefs. We have known one that was choaked by attempting to swallow one of its own fpecies that proved too large a morfel. Yet its jaws are very loosely connected; and have on each fide an additional bone like the jaw of a viper, which renders them capable of greater diftenfion when it fwallows its prey. It does not confine itself to feed on fith and frogs; it will devour the water rat, and draw down the young ducks as they are fwimming about. In a manuscript note which we found, p. 244, of our copy of Plott's Hiftory of Staffordshire, is the following extraordinary fact: "At Lord Gower's "canal at Trentham, a pike feized the "head of a swan as flie was feeding under "water, and gorged fo much of it as kill«ed them both. The fervants perceiving "the fwan with its head under water for "a longer time than ufual, took the boat, and found both fwan and pike dead*." But there are inftances of its fiercenefs fill more furprising, and which indeed border a little on the marvellous. Gefner + relates, that a famished pike in the Rhone feized on the lips of a mule that was brought to water, and that the beast drew the fish out before it could difengage itself. That people have been bit by these voracious creatures while they were washing their legs, and that they will even contend with the otter for its prey, and endeavour to force it out of its mouth. Small fifh fhew the fame uneafinefs and deteftation at the prefence of this tyrant, as the little birds do at the fight of the hawk or owl. When the pike lies dormant near *This note we afterwards difcovered was wrote by Mr. Plott, of Oxford, who ailured me he inferted it on good authority. + Gefner pifc. 503. the furface (as is frequently the cafe) the leffer fifh are often obferved to swim around it in vaft numbers, and in great anxiety. Pike are often haltered in a noose, and taken while they lie thus asleep, as they are often found in the ditches near the Thames, in the month of May. fens they are frequently taken in a manner peculiar, we believe, to that county, and the ile of Ceylon. The fishermen make ufe In the fhallow water of the Lincolnshire of what is called a crown-net, which is no more than a hemispherical basket, open at top and bottom. He ftands at the end of one of the little fenboats, and frequently puts his basket down to the bottom of the water, then poking a stick into it, discovers whether he has any booty by the striking of the fish; and vaft numbers of pike are taken in this manner. The longevity of this fish is very remarkable, if we may credit the accounts given of it. Rzaczynski tells us of one that was ninety years old; but Gefner relates, that in the year 1497, a pike was taken near Hailbrun, in Suabia, with a brazen ring affixed to it, on which were these words in Greek characters: I am the fish which was first of all put into this lake by the bands of the governor of the univerfe, Frederick the fecond, the 5th of October, 1230: fo that the former must have been an infant to this Methufalem of a fish. Pikes fpawn in March or April, according to the coldness or warmth of the weather. When they are in high season their colours are very fine, being green, spotted with bright yellow; and the gills are of a most vivid and full red. When out of feafon, the green changes to grey, and the yellow spots turn pale. broad, and is fhorter than the lower: the The head is very flat; the upper jaw under jaw turns up a little at the end, and is marked with minute punctures. in the front of the upper jaw, but in both The teeth are very fharp, difpofed only and often the tongue. The flit of the mouth, fides of the lower, in the roof of the mouth, or the gape, is very wide; the eyes fmall. back, and confifts of twenty-one rays; the The dorfal fin is placed very low on the pectoral of fifteen; the ventral of eleven ; the anal of eighteen. The tail is bifurcated. $26. The CARP.' This is one of the naturalized fish of our country, having been introduced here by Leonard 1 Leonard Mafchal, about the year 1514*, to whom we were alfo indebted for that excellent apple the pepin. The many good things that our ifland wanted before that period, are enumerated in this old diftich: Turkies, carps, hops, pickerel, and beer, As to the two laft articles we have fome doubts, the others we believe to be true. Ruffia wants thefe fish at this day; Sweden has them only in the ponds of the people of fashion; Polish Pruffia is the chief feat of the carp; they abound in the rivers and lakes of that country, particularly in the Frisch and Curifch-haff, where they are taken of a vast size. They are there a great article of commerce, and fent in well-boats to Sweden and Ruffia. The merchants purchase them out of the waters of the nobleffe of the country, who draw a good revenue from this article. Neither are there wanting among our gentry, inftances of fome who make good profit of their ponds. The ancients do not feparate the carp from the fea fish. We are credibly informed that they are fometimes found in the harbour of Dantzick, between the town and a fmall place called Hela. Carp are very long lived. Gefner brings an inftance of one that was an hundred years old. They alfo grow to a very great fize. On our own knowledge we can fpeak of none that exceeded twenty pounds in weight; but Jovius fays, that they were fometimes taken in the Lacus Larius (the Lago di Como) of two hundred pounds weight; and Rzaczynski mentions others taken in the Dniester that were five feet in length. They are alfo extremely tenacious of life, and will live for a moft remarkable time out of water. An experiment has been made by placing a carp in a net, well wrapped up in wet mofs, the mouth only remaining out, and then hung up in a cellar, or fome cool place: the fish is frequently fed with white bread and milk, and is befides often plunged into water. Carp thus managed have been known, not only to have lived above a fortnight, but to grow exceedingly fat, and far fuperior in tafte to those that are immediately killed from the pond +. *Fuller's British Worthies, Suffex. 113. This was told me by a gentleman of the utmoft veracity, who had twice made the experiThe fame fact is related by that pious phi lofopher Doctor Derham, in his Phyfico-Theology, edit. 9th. 1737. ch. 1. p. 7. n. 4. ment. The carp is a prodigious breeder: its quantity of roe has been fometimes found fo great, that when taken out and weighed against the fish itself, the former has been found to preponderate. From the spawn of this fish caviare is made for the Jews, who hold this fturgeon in abhorrence. Thefe fith are extremely cunning, and on that account are by fome ftyled the river fox. They will fometimes leap over the nets, and efcape that way; at others, will immerfe themfelves fo deep in the mud, as to let the net pafs over them. They are alfo very fhy of taking a bait; yet at the fpawning time they are fo fimple, as to fuffer themfelves to be tickled, handled, and caught by any body that will attempt it. This fish is apt to mix its milt with the roe of other fish, from which is produced a fpurious breed: we have feen the offspring of the carp and tench, which bore the greatest refemblance to the first: have also heard of the fame mixture between the carp and bream. The carp is of a thick fhape: the fcales very large, and when in best season of a fine gilded hue. The jaws are of equal length; there are two teeth in the jaws, or on the tongue; but at the entrance of the gullet, above and below, are certain bones that act on each other, and comminute the food before it paffes down. On each fide of the mouth is a fingle beard; above those on each fide another, but fhorter: the dorfal fin extends far towards the tail, which is a little bifurcated; the third ray of the dorsal fin is very strong, and armed with fharp teeth, pointing downwards; the third ray of the anal fin is conftructed in the fame manner. $27. The BARBEL. be overlooked by the ancients till the time This fifh was fo extremely coarse, as to of Aufonius, and what he fays is no panegyric on it; for he lets us know it loves and that when it grows old it deep waters, was not abfolutely bad. Laxos exerces BARBE natatus, It frequents the fill and deep parts of rivers, and lives in fociety, rooting like fwine with their noses in the foft banks. It is fo tame as to fuffer itself to be taken with the hand; and people have been known to 3S2 take take numbers by diving for them. In fummer they move about during night in fearch of food, but towards autumn, and during winter, confine themselves to the deepest holes. They are the worst and coarsest of fresh water fish, and feldom eat but by the poorer fort of people, who fometimes boil them with a bit of bacon to give them a relifh. The roe is very noxious, affecting thofe who unwarily eat of it with a nausea, vomiting, purging, and a flight fwelling. It is fometimes found of the length of three feet, and eighteen pounds in weight: it is of a long and rounded form: the scales not large. Its head is fmooth: the noftrils placed near the eyes: the mouth is placed below: on each corner is a fingle beard, and another on each fide the nofe. The dorsal fin is armed with a remarkable ftrong spine, fharply ferrated, with which it can inflict a very fevere wound on the incautious handler, and even do much damage to the nets. The pectoral fins are of a pale brown colour; the ventral and anal tipped with yellow the tail a little bifurcated, and of a deep purple: the fide line is ftrait. The fcales are of a pale gold colour, edged with black: the belly is white. § 28. The TENCH. The tench underwent the fame fate with the barbel, in respect to the notice taken of it by the early writers: and even Aufonius, who firit mentions it, treats it with fuch difrespect, as evinces the great capricioufnefs of tafte; for that fish, which at prefent is held in fuch good repute, was in his days the repast only of the canaille. Quis non et virides vulgi folatia Tincas It has been by fome called the Phyfician of the fish, and that the flime is so healing, that the wounded apply it as a flyptic. The ingenious Mr. Diaper, in his pifcatory eclogues, fays, that even the voracious pike will spare the tench on account of its healing powers: The Tench he fpares a medicinal kind: Whatever virtue its flime may have to the inhabitants of the water, we will not vouch for, but its flesh is a wholesome and delicious food to thofe of the earth. The Germans are of a different opinion. By way of contempt, they call it Shoemaker. Gefner even fays, that it is infipid and unwholefome. It does not commonly exceed four or five pounds in weight, but we have heard of one that weighed ten pounds; Salvianus fpeaks of fome that arrived at twenty pounds. They love ftill waters, and are rarely found in rivers: they are very foolish, and easily caught. The tench is thick and short in proportion to its length: the fcales are very small, and covered with flime. The irides are red: there is fometimes, but not always, a small beard at each corner of the mouth. The colour of the back is dufky; the dorsal and ventral fins of the fame colour : the head, fides, and belly, of a greenish cast, most beautifully mixed with gold, which is in its greateft fplendor when the fish is in the highest season. The tail is quite even at the end, and very broad. $29. The GUDGEON. Aristotle mentions the gudgeon in two places; once as a river fish, and again as a fpecies that was gregarious: in a third place he defcribes it as a fea fish; we must therefore confider the Keios he mentions, lib. ix. c. 2. and lib. viii. c. 19. as the fame with our fpecies. This fish is generally found in gentle ftreams, and is of a small fize: thofe few, however, that are caught in the Kennet, and Cole, are three times the weight of thofe taken elsewhere. The largest we and weighed half a pound. ever heard of was taken near Uxbridge, raking the bed of the river; to this fpot They bite eagerly, and are affembled by they immediately crowd in thoals, expecting food from this disturbance. The fhape of the body is thick and round: the irides tinged with red: the gl covers with green and filver: the lower jaw is fhorter than the upper: at each cor. ner of the mouth is a fingle beard: the back olive, spotted with black: the fide line ftrait; the fides beneath that filvery: the belly white. The tail is forked; that, as well as the dorfal fin, is fpotted with black. L L $30. The BREAM. The bream is an inhabitant of lakes, or the deep parts of ftill rivers. It is a fifh that is very little esteemed, being extremely infipid. It is extremely deep, and thin in proportion to its length. The back rifes very much, and is very sharp at the top. The head and mouth are fmall: on fome we examined in the fpring, were abundance of minute whitish tubercles; an accident which Pliny feems to have observed befals the fish of the Lago Maggiore, and Lago di Como. The fcales are very large: the fides flat and thin. The tail is very large, and of the form of a crefcent. $ 31. The CRUCIAN. This fpecies is common in many of the fifh-ponds about London, and other parts of the fouth of England; but I believe is not a native fish. It is very deep and thick: the back is much arched: the dorsal fin confifts of nineteen rays; the two firft ftrong and ferrated. The pectoral fins have (each) thirteen rays; the ventral nine; the anal feven or eight: the lateral line parallel with the belly: the tail almoft even at the end. The colour of the fish in general is a deep yellow: the meat is coarse, and little efteemed. $ 32. The ROACH. • Sound as a roach,' is a proverb that appears to be but indifferently founded, that fith being not more diftinguished for its vivacity than many others; yet it is ufed by the French as well as us, who compare people of ftrong health to their gardon, Our roach. It is a common fish, found in many of our deep ftill rivers, affecting, like the others of this genus, quiet waters. It is gregarious, keeping in large fhoals. We have never seen them very large. Old Walton fpeaks of fome that weighed two pounds. In a lift of fish fold in the London markets, with the greatest weight of each, communicated to us by an intelligent fishmonger, is mention of one whose weight was five pounds. The roach is deep but thin, and the back is much elevated, and fharply ridged: the fcales large, and fall off very easily. Side line bends much in the middle towards the belly. $33. The DACE. This, like the roach, is gregarious, haunts the fame places, is a great breeder, very lively, and during fummer is very fond of frolicing near the furface of the water. This fifh and the roach are coarse and infipid meat. Its head is fmall: the irides of a pale yellow: the body long and flender: its length feldom above ten inches, though in the above-mentioned lift is an account of one that weighed a pound and an half: the fcales finaller than thofe of the roach. The back is varied with dufky, with a caft of a yellowish green: the fides and belly filvery: the dorsal fin dusky: the ventral, anal, and caudal fins red, but lefs fo than thofe of the former: the tail is very much forked. $34. The CHUB. Salvianus imagines this fish to have been the fqualus of the ancients, and grounds his opinion on a supposed error in a certain paffage in Columella and Varro, where he would fubftitute the word Squalus instead of fearus: Columella fays no more than that the old Romans paid much attention to their stews, and kept even the fea-fish in fresh water, paying as much refpect to the mullet and fearus, as thofe of his days did to the muræna and bass. That the fcarus was not our chub, is very evident; not only because the chub is entirely an inhabitant of fresh waters, but likewife it feems improbable that the Romans would give themselves any trouble about the worst of river fish, when they neglected the most delicious kinds; all their attention was directed towards those of the fea: the difficulty of procuring them feems to have been the criterion of their value, as is ever the cafe with effete luxury. The chub is a very coarfe fifh, and full of bones: it frequents the deep holes of rivers, and during fummer commonly lies on the furface, beneath the fhade of fome tree or bush. It is a very timid fish, finking to the bottom on the least alarm, even at the paffing of a fhadow, but they will foon refume their fituation. It feeds on worms, caterpillars, grafshoppers, beetles, and other coleopterous infects that happen to fall into the water; and it will even feed on cray-fifh. This fifh will rife to a fly. 3S3 This |