BRITISH SPORTING FISH. 95 



Great Park, which, with the adjacent preserves, 

 have been for centuries famous for their Carp. I was 

 informed by Mr. Frank Buckland, to whose kind- 

 ness I was indebted for the opportunity of giving 

 a representation of this fish, that on the occasion 

 of its being captured, a series of five ponds near 

 Cumberland Lodge were allowed to be run dry 

 for the purpose of getting rid of the Jack. When 

 the lowest pond — the Obelisk — -was nearly empty 

 the nets were put in, and from a conversation with 

 Mr. Buckland on his return from Windsor I learnt 

 some interesting particulars demonstrated by the 

 result of the netting as to the growth-rate, &c., of 

 the Carp in this and the other waters in Windsor 

 Park. It was remarked as a singular circumstance 

 that nearly all the Carp taken from the Obelisk 

 pond were of a very similar weight, viz., from 4 lbs. 

 to 6 lbs., none of them being of an unusual size, as 

 was anticipated. Wheeler, Her Majesty's head 

 fisherman, informed Mr. Buckland that he knew 

 these Obelisk Carp to be fifty years old at least. 

 They had been twice removed within his memory 

 from the different ponds, the last time about thirty- 

 five years before from a pond near Cumberland 

 Lodge, when they weighed about 3 lbs. each. 

 Their subsequent growth-rate therefore could not 

 have averaged more than about an ounce a year. 



It appears that some of the Windsor ponds are 

 very much better suited to the growth, that is to 

 the feeding, of Carp than others ; thus, for in- 



