THE CARP 105 
But further exhibition on the part of the inhabitants of the 
tarn convinced me of their real character. A few trout there 
were, and of goodly proportions ; but the salmon-like plunges 
which had strung my nerves so sharply were those of great 
carp. How came they there, so far from the haunts of men? 
It was a puzzle, till, in the course of enquiry, I encountered 
a tradition that they had been introduced by a certain Admiral 
long since dead, to serve his table withal. There they had 
lived and moved and had their being, within sound of the sea, 
no man troubling them, and there they may remain for aught 
I shall ever do to disturb them. 
Similarly, in Ireland, carp are found in various scattered 
localities. Gossip Buckland tells of a nameless lake in that 
country whereon the peasants informed him that fairies might 
be seen dancing by the light of the moon. He had the 
curiosity to visit it under the prescribed conditions ; he saw 
no fairies, but beheld the calm water ringed and dimpled by 
the antics of great carp “‘smacking their lips as they took in 
gulps of air.” * 
Carp dislike strong water, and although they thrive in the 
Thames and many other rivers, it is only the sluggish parts of 
them that they frequent, and they may be considered 
as sharing with the tench the attribute of being a dis- 
tinctively pond fish. In their diet they may be termed omni- 
vorous, browsing freely upon grass and water weeds, but far 
from disdaining worms, larvz, and small fish of other species. 
To say that the Germans excel the English in the skilful 
culture of fish is to pay them a very poor compliment, for it 
is only within recent years that pisciculture has taken rank 
among the industries of Great Britain. Even so, it is confined 
almost exclusively to the Sa/monide ; but in Germany the 
carp is carefully reared and fed as an article of food. Of the 
herbivorous character of this fish full advantage is taken ; 
the system being to run the carp ponds dry once every seven 
Habits. 
* Natural History of British Fishes. London, 1880, p. 41. 
