376' CYPRINID.E. 



that this fish is found, and in such situations it does 

 not appear to be so prolific as in ponds. In deep pits, from 

 which clay for bricks has been dug out, Tench are often 

 abundant ; broad shallow waters on muddy bottoms frequent- 

 ly produce great quantities; some very extensive tracts of 

 water a few miles north of Yarmouth in Norfolk, not far in- 

 land from a point called Wintcrton Ness, abound with 

 Tench, which, when removed to stews, feed and thrive on a 

 mixture of greaves and meal till fit for table : their flesh is 

 nutritious and of good flavour. 



The Tench appears to decline in numbers in proportion 

 as we proceed northward. In a communication from Carlisle 

 on the subject of fish, obligingly supplied to me by T. C. 

 Heysham, Esq. that gentleman states that the Tench is only 

 now and then taken in the Eden ; and occasionally he has 

 known of one being caught in the Solway Firth. A few 

 Tench exist in preserved waters in the neighbourhood of 

 Edinburgh, but they are not very prolific. In a paper by 

 Mr. Whytc, land-surveyor at Mintlaw, which obtained one 

 of the Highland Society"^ prizes, it is stated, that in some 

 ponds belonging to Mr. Fcrgusson of Pitfour, in Aberdeen- 

 shire, the Tench thrives well ; and the Carp, although not 

 very prolific, breeds. This is owing, it is said, to a particular 

 softness in the quality of the water where these fish exist ; in 

 fact, it is allowed by Mr. Whyte, in allusion to the Carp- 

 ponds, that they are wholly kept up by rain-water, a very 

 different fluid from that produced by the hard springs of the 

 country.* 



Dr. George Johnston, in his list of the Fishes of Berwick- 

 shire, includes the Tench as an inhabitant of Hirsel Lough. 



In Ireland the Tench is noticed as existing in ponds in 

 the counties of Cork, Dublin, and Kilkenny. 



Tench arc exceedingly tenacious of life ; and experiments 



* The Art of Angling as practised in Scotland, p. 99. 



