368 CYPRINID.E. 



are held in little estimation, except as affording sport to the 

 angler. During summer this fish in shoals frequents the 

 weedy parts of the river, but as soon as the weeds begin to 

 decay in autumn, it seeks the deeper water, and shelters 

 itself near piles, locks, and bridges, which it frequents till 

 the following spring. The Lea, in Essex, also produces this 

 fish. 



The Barbel feeds on slugs, worms, and small fish : when 

 boring and turning up the loose soil at the bottom, in expec- 

 tation of finding food for itself, small fish are seen to attend 

 it to pick up the minute animalcules in the removed earth. 

 The Barbel spawns in May or June : the ova, amounting to 

 seven or eight thousand in a full-sized female, are deposited 

 on the gravel, and covered by the parent fishes. These are 

 vivified in a warm season between the ninth and fifteenth 

 day. 



Mr. Jesse, when describing the habits of the different 

 sorts of fishes kept in a vivarium, says, " the Barbel were 

 the shyest, and seemed most impatient of observation ; al- 

 though in the spring, when they could not perceive any one 

 watching them, they would roll about- and rub themselves 

 against the brick work, and show considerable playfulness. 

 There were some large stones, round which they would wind 

 their spawn in considerable quantities."" 



So numerous are the Barbel about Shcpperton and Wal- 

 ton, that one hundred and fifty pounds' 1 weight have been 

 taken in five hours ; and on one occasion it is said that two 

 hundred and eighty pounds' 1 weight of large-sized Barbel 

 were taken in one day. The largest fish I can find re- 

 corded weighed fifteen and a half pounds. Mr. Jesse, and 

 other anglers, have occasionally caught Barbel when trolling 

 or spinning with Bleak, Gudgeon, or Minnow, for large 

 Thames Trout. 



" Barbel appear to be in a torpid state in very cold wea- 



