76 ANGLING IN GREA T BRITAIN. 



mysterious way. Upon feeling the attack you of course 

 strike sharply. Anglers are earnestly impressed with the 

 duty in fishing for pike of striking hard, so as to plunge 

 the barbs into the bony palate ; and they are recom- 

 mended, if in doubt, to strike a second time. There is 

 little necessity for the advice. The rousing shake which 

 a hungry pike gives to a spinning bait acts upon the 

 angler as if he had received a violent blow in the face, 

 and he will assuredly strike back again ; in other words, 

 he involuntarily gives his line a quick twitch. The pike 

 then shakes his head angrily, as if he would worry the 

 bait into pieces, and the arm of the angler again involun- 

 tarily responds to this by another sharp strike. 



Our fish at present, however, seems to be indulging in 

 a relay of rotatory movements that are incomprehensible, 

 but they are partly explained when the captive is brought 

 to the side of the boat ; the line is wound six times round 

 the body of the fish so tightly that in one of the circles 

 it has cut into the belly. The boat is next slowly pulled 

 about in the deeper water, where in winter time the fish 

 lie ; but the wind has dropped again, and the day seems 

 to yield nothing heavier than seven or eight pounds, and 

 there are only some eight or ten fish lying at the bottom 

 of the half boat half punt. Allusion has been made to a 

 little promontory jutting out from the lawn, at the end of 

 which the food is thrown in for the swans ; and although 

 the water there is shallow, it is a reasonable supposition that 

 the clustering of small fry, picking up grains of barley and 

 what not, may have induced a cunning pike to sneak around 

 in the rear. Just half-an-hour before dark, putting this 

 theory to the proof, we get towards that quarter, and a 

 fresh dace, bright as silver, falls into the water about a 

 yard from the land. Apparently from the outer fringe 



