440 



THE UMBER, OR GRAYLING COMMON PIKE. 



THK UMBER, OB GRAYLING. 



The ancient writers strongly recommend these fish as food for ack 

 persons: they considered them 

 to be peculiarly wholesome, and 

 easy of digestion. To oil made 

 from the fat of the Graylings, 

 tiiey attributed the property of 

 t^bliterating the marks of small- 

 pox, freckles, and other spots 

 on the skin. The season of the 

 ▼ear during which these fish 

 are considered in greatest per- 

 fection, is from September to January. 



Graylings delight chiefiy in rapid streams, where they afford great 

 amusement to the angler. They are very voracious, and rise eagerly 

 to the Fly. They are bolder fish than Trout, and even if m.i88e<^ 

 ■everal times successively they will still pursue. So rapid are their 

 motions in the water, that their name oi Umber has been thence 

 derived. Ausooius says of them, 



" Tke FB»b«F swift, escapes the qnickeat ey*.'*^ 



They feed principally on worms, insects, and ^aier-snails; and the 

 liLilLs-of the latter are often found in great quantity in their stomaehsw 



OF THE PIKE TRIBE. 



It does not appear that more than three species of Pike were 

 knof»n to the ancients. The species at present known, are fifteen iis 

 number. They are all predatory fish, but few of them are so vora'cious 

 as tho Common Pike. They multiply fast, and increase nipidly iis 

 »ize. Their velocity in the water is very great, and their general 

 muac *lar powef» are beyond those of most other Qsk, 



THB C€>3fMQN PIKE. 



There is scarcely any fish of its size in the world, that an voracity 

 can equal the Pike. One of these 

 fish has been known to choke 

 itself in attempting to swallow 

 another of its own spectes, that 



E roved toe large a morsel: and it 

 as been well authenticated, thnt 

 in Lord Gower's canal at Trent.^ autnoa. bus. 



