PIKES. 217 



who have wandered on the banks of my favourite 

 Avon, as it flows through the borders of the New 

 Forest, and seen its clear and sparkling waters 

 passing over the long and yielding rushes, which 

 sometimes show themselves above the surface, and 

 then gently hide themselves as some dragon-fly 

 settles upon them, — those that have watched the 

 graceful bendings of the stream, sometimes open- 

 ing into shallow broads covered with epJiemerce^ 

 and then narrowing into deeper and more rapid 

 channels, will have experienced the quiet enjoy- 

 ment of the scenery of one of our most beautiful 

 rivers. . . . It is to the honest and patient 

 angler, that such scenes afford the greatest enjoy- 

 ment and admiration. Far removed from the 

 noise and turmoil of the world, he prepares his 

 rod, and while standing on the banks of the 

 stream, with the speckled trout rising freely 

 around him, he 'tastes the unrifled freshness of 

 the air,' and is thankful for the innocent enjoy- 

 ment he is partaking of."* 



Family II. Esocid.^. 



{Pilies.) 



Fishes differing much from each other in out- 

 ward appearance are associated in this Family; 

 and, therefore, the characters by which they can 

 be described are few. The single dorsal, placed 

 far behind, and corresponding, both in form and 

 position, to the anal, is the most obvious charac- 

 ter, though not wholly without exception, for in 

 Microstoma f the dorsal is rather before the anal. 

 * Jesse's Scenes of Country Life, p. 80. 



