PIKE FEOM BLENHEIM PALACE. 159 



was kind enough to show me a cast of a pike which had 

 attempted to swallow a salmon. In May, 1880, 1 received 

 a call duck from Lord Nelson, of Trafalgar House, Down- 

 ton, which had been attacked by a pike and was so 

 much lacerated that it died of its wounds. This must 

 have been a very big pike. He is not caught yet. Pike 

 will also eat young ducks, and I understand that in the 

 Stom-, which joins the Avon at Christchurch, the pike 

 make considerable inroads into Lord Normington's 

 young wild ducks. They will also take water rats. 



Li October, 1869, my friend Mr. George Eooper sent 

 me a very fine pike, which he caught when spinning in 

 a gale of wind (best time for pike-fishing) in Loch Awe. 

 This grand game fish gave splendid sport. When she 

 arrived at Albany Street purposely to have her likeness 

 taken in plaster, we found that she weighed 28lbs., and 

 measured 3 feet 7 inches in length. She contained 21oz. 

 of roe, the number of eggs being 292,320. 



On April 2, 1870, I received a pike which weighed 

 321bs., and measured 3 feet 8 inches ; it was caught 

 with rod and line in the Broads of Norfolk. Upon open- 

 ing the abdomen, the roe was seen almost filling the 

 whole of the cavity; it weighed 5lbs., and contained 

 no less than 595,200 eggs. This fish I cast, and after- 

 wards presented it to the Royal College of Surgeons, 

 where the skeleton is now placed in the museum. 



The lake at Blenheim Park was made in Queen 

 Anne's time, when the palace was built by Bamburgh. 

 This architect, or his landscape gardener, blocked up a 

 stream and made a splendid lake ; but although this 

 lake was left for many years without being touched, yet 

 when it was properly netted for the Duke of Marlborough 

 b}' a professional fisherman from Oxford, no very large 

 pike were found in it. The Duke kindly sent me on 



