BARBEL. 17 



Tlic food of tlie Barbel is ofieii vegetable, but it also feeds 

 freely on worms, insects, or any molluscous animal or substance; 

 in search of which it not only keeps near the bottom, as do 

 the larger part of fishes which possess barbs at the mouth, but 

 it will dig into the softer bottom of the stream. Anglers have 

 taken advantage of this propensity by throwing into the still 

 water some of their well-known soft and fat pastes, by way of 

 attracting these fishes to the spot a few hours before the time 

 they are prepared to fish for them. They may then be induced 

 to take a bait freely, but when hooked they are not so readily 

 brought to land. The Barbel is indeed, as the Book of St. 

 Albans remarks of the Carp, *'an evil fish to take; for he is so 

 strong enarmyd in the mouth that there may no weak harness 

 hold him." Izaac Walton relates an instance where for several 

 hours the fish refused to be landed, and at last made its escape; 

 which, according to this writer, it does by running its head 

 forcibly towards any covert or bank, and then striking the line 

 with its tail; which action has the ancient authority of Plutarch. 



We learn from the "Gentleman Angler," printed in 1726, 

 "The two famous places to angle for Barbel about London are 

 at Kingston Bridge and Shepperton Pool; at the latter of which 

 places there is great quantity of Barbel. No Barbel by the 

 rules of angling ought to be killed which does not measure 

 eighteen inches fairly. A Barbel taken in Byfleet or Weybridge 

 Rivers, of twenty inches in length, will down weigh another of 

 the same length taken in the Thames by a pound or upwards, 

 and is much firmer, fatter, and better relished." 



It spawns in the early part of summer not far from the bank 

 of the river; and the spawn, which is discharged in a string, 

 is entwined round some fixed object, as a stone or weed. 

 Jonston refers to Albertus as saying, that the parents keep 

 watch over the spawn after it is shed. 



There is reason to believe that this fish is an original native 

 of British lakes and the deeper rivers; but there are several 

 counties in England and Scotland in which it is not found. 

 In some others also it may have been introduced for the sake of 

 variety; and it is not mentioned by Mr. Thompson among the 

 fishes of Ireland, nor among those recorded in Scotland in the 

 Boyal Publication of the Natural History of Braemar and 

 Deeside. It is not known in the northern portions of the 

 VOL. IV. D 



