120 J. E. IIXTLEBOY — THE BULBOIINE AND GADE, 



If Dr. Lister, on ■whose authority this statement is made, had 

 been good enough to mention the size of the said hampers, a better 

 estimate of the total quantity consumed might certainly have been 

 formed. 



The Dace {Leuciscus vulgaris). — The dace is one of the most 

 abundant and universally distributed of English fishes. At 

 Hunton Bridge we have literally thousands of them. They appear 

 to be always on the move, and shoals of them may constantly be 

 seen parading our watercourses. Dace will frequently rise to an 

 artificial fly, and during the past summer I have seen many of 

 them taken in this manner. They spawn in the months of May 

 and June, and during the past six weeks mpiads of the small fry, 

 three-quarters of an inch to an inch in length, might be observed 

 in our stream. 



The Eoach {Leuciscus Rutilus). — Similar in general appearance 

 to the dace, and its almost constant companion, is the roach. Both 

 these fishes are gregarious, and, as far as I have been able to 

 observe, they fraternise with each other on the most amicable of 

 terms. A shoal of dace can rarely be found without having 

 amongst its number a considerable proportion of roach, and the 

 converse position of affairs is, I believe, equally general. 



The roach is, generally speaking, both larger and coarser than 

 the dace ; it is deeper in the belly, and its back is more decidedly 

 convex. It is stated that roach weighing as much as two or three 

 pounds have been occasionally caught in the Thames. Mr. Rooper 

 reports having landed one that weighed a pound. I believe that 

 in the Bulborne and Gade they but rarely exceed eight to ten 

 ounces. 



The Chub [Leuciscus Cejyhalus). — But few chub are to be met 

 with either in the Bulborne or the higher reaches of the Gade ; 

 they appear to become more numerous as the river increases in 

 volume, and below King's Langley they may be observed in large 

 numbers. Except when basking on a shallow, they prefer to 

 frequent the deeper portion of the stream, but they rise greedily to 

 a large fly or cockchafer, and though very inferior in pluck and 

 activity to the trout, will often aftbrd considerable sport to the 

 angler. 



Chub weighing from two to three pounds have frequently been 

 taken from the Gade at Hunton Bridge, and if we may believe the 

 newspapers, a six-pounder was recently captured at Lady Capel's 

 wharf. 



Dace, roach, and chub are often to be seen swimming about 

 together, but it is easy to distinguish the one from the other by 

 their colour. The tails and fins of the dace are of a light self- 

 colour, nearly matching the colour of the water ; those of the 

 roach are distinctly tinted with red, and those of the chub are 

 much darker than those of either of its companions. It may also 

 be noted that dace are generally observable near the surface of the 

 water. The roach occupies a middle position, and the chub, as I 

 have before said, aff'ects deeper water. 



