FLOUNDER AND SMELT FISHING. 147 



live sixty years, and may be trained so as to become 

 .quite tame : the Roman ladies used them as pets, and 

 suspended jewels and ear-rings to their gills. Hor- 

 tensius, the orator, also kept a tame one, and wept 

 at its death. 



Naturalists reckon eight species of Lampreys, but 

 three only are noticed in general by Anglers, viz. the 

 Lamprey or Seven Eyes, the Blind Lamprey, and 

 the Lamprey Eel. The Blind Lamprey is very small, 

 not larger than a lob-worm j the body is divided into 

 •rings, like worms ; . its mouth is round and open, but 

 it has neither teeth nor tongue : it has a hole on the 

 head, and seven on each side. This Lamprey is only 

 valuable as a bait for Eels, laid as night lines. Lam- 

 preys may be bought of the Thames Fishermen, at 

 the Spotted Dog public-house. Strand-lane, in the 

 Strand ^ and are certainly the best bait for Eels laid 

 with lines at night, in some parts of the Lea, say 

 within ten miles of London. 



CHAP. XVII. 



The Fluke, or Flounder, and Smelt. 



The Flounder is only found in rivers where the tide 

 flows, or those which have connection with the sea. 



