122 J. E. LITTLEBOr — THE BtTLBOENE AND GADE, 



to be met with in the lower reaches of the Gade. I am fortunate 

 in being able to exhibit two good specimens, which have been 

 recently taken. It will be observed that, in appearance, the bream 

 is by no means elegant, the Unes of both tlie back and the belly 

 being nnnsually convex. 



Tlie bream is supposed to find its most congenial habitat in 

 ponds and muddy rivers. It is possible that the few which are 

 occasionally taken in the clear waters of our gravelly Gade may 

 have found their way upwards from its junction with the Colne. 

 A remarkably fine bream, 5lbs. in weight, was successfully landed 

 not long since by Mr. Moon ; another, weighing 3lbs., by Mr. Fry. 



The Tench {Tinea vulgaris). — This coarse sleepy -looking fish 

 frequents, for the most part, pits, ponds, and dull sluggish streams 

 with muddy bottoms, and were it not that the Bulborne and the 

 Gade become, at different places, incorporated in the pounds of the 

 Grand Junction Canal, it is hardly probable that the tench would 

 have been counted among their fishes. I am informed that at 

 Boxmoor tench are tolerably abundant, and two were recently 

 taken at King's Langley. 



Most of my audience will have heard of a curious tradition 

 which for hundreds of years past has smTounded the tench with a 

 halo of mysterious interest. This fish was believed by the Romans 

 to possess curative properties of an extraordinary character; not 

 only was it supposed to act as a physician among its fellows, but 

 its healing qualities were believed to be applicable to mankind. 

 I find it recorded that the Jewish physicians, who formerly 

 practised at E-ome, were accustomed to apply a tench, cut open, to 

 the feet of patients sufi'ering from fever ; but whether the treat- 

 ment was found to be efficacious I know not. I believe it to be a 

 fact that for some unexplained reason the tench is invariably 

 allowed to pass unmolested by other fish ; but whether it enjoys 

 this immunity from a devout respect engendered by the exercise of 

 healing power, or, as is more probable, from a dislike to the slimy 

 mucus with which its body is enveloped, I cannot pretend to say. 

 I have seen it stated in a periodical that " a trimmer, baited with a 

 small tench, may remain night after night in the most favourable 

 locality without attracting the attention of either pike or eel." 

 The following rhymes are extracted from ' The Piscatory Dialogues 

 of Mr. Diaper ' : — 



" The Pike, fell tyrant of the liquid plain, 



With ravenous waste, devours his fellow train ; 

 Yet howsoe'er he be with famine pined, 



The Tench he spares, respectful to his kind. 



' ' For when by wounds distressed, or sore disease, 

 He courts the salutary fish for ease, 

 Close to his scales the kind physician glides. 

 And sweats a healing balsam from his sides." 



• The Common Trout [Salmo Fario). — Forty years ago trout 

 abounded both in the Bulborne and the Gade. In the upper 

 reaches of the Bulborne, between Berkhampstead and Bourne End, 



