MONKS AND CAKP. 37 



the Creator, that each fish is perfectly adapted (it does 

 not adapt itself, mind) to the conditions of life under 

 which it has to live ; an excellent illustration of this is 

 the comparison of the salmon with the carp. 



A salmon is built to live in very rapid waters, the 

 carp to live in stagnant waters. The shape of the 

 salmon may be said to be like that of a racing yacht, 

 while that of a carp may be likened to a Dutch eel- 

 scoot. Carp may be said to be water- sheep — herbivo- 

 rous — gregarious — of a contented mind. 



The carp is, most probably, the most widely distributed 

 fish of all the British species. In former times he was 

 of great value as food, and hardly the ruins of a monas- 

 tery in existence remain where the remains of the old 

 carp pond, or stews, cannot be easily made out. In the 

 days of the monks there were no railways, deep-sea 

 trawling was not invented, and I doubt much whether 

 mackerel drift-nets had come into use; even if they had, 

 the transport of fish from the sea-coast would not have 

 done for the monks, as fish could not arrive in an 

 edible condition by means of pack-horses. That the 

 monks w^ere in the habit of eating the salted herring 

 was very probable. Necessltas ingenii inventor » The 

 monks, therefore, established carp ponds, where they 

 could get a fislj at any moment, either for a feast or a 

 fast day. No doubt the monks had some excellent 

 receipts for cooking carp. They should never be cooked 

 when first taken out of a pond, but be placed in a box in 

 running water, if possible ; they will then get rid some- 

 what of their muddy flavour. The muddy flavoiu* is 

 13robably produced from the food of the carp, which 

 consists of young shoots of water-plants, insects, and 

 worms which live in the pond. 



There are generally carp of some size or kind in most 



