f*^ 



BRITISH SPORTING FISH. 123 



afford better sport with the rod and line than 

 the Carp Bream, as they are exceedingly strong 

 and vigorous, sometimes weighing as much as 

 7 and 8 Ibs. according to the author of the 

 "Angler's Instructor" even 17 Ibs. and are by 

 no means shy biters. Bream form also a useful 

 stock for ponds, or to feed Pike, being hardy and of 

 quick growth. The ova in one female have been 

 counted, and found to be 130,000. 



There are two species of Breams commonly 

 found in this country the Carp- Bream and the 

 White Bream or Bream-Flat. The Carp-Bream is 

 in its distribution an inhabitant of all the central 

 districts of Europe, as well as those northward to 

 St. Petersburg, Finland, and Scandinavia. Some 

 of the lakes of Ireland also produce it in large 

 quantities. In England it is found in many coun- 

 ties, appearing to thrive best in large open sheets 

 of water and in slow rivers where the stream occa- 

 sionally widens out into broads or deeps as in Nor- 

 folk. Of the rivers near the metropolis which 

 breed this fish perhaps the Mole and the Medway 

 are the most noted. Bream are also very nume- 

 rous in the Thames at Weybridge just below its 

 junction with the Wey, and in the latter river 

 higher up towards Wisley are occasionally caught 

 of very large size. I once examined a specimen 

 weighing upwards of 5 Ibs. taken thence ; the scales 

 of this fish were rough and almost file-like, from a 

 small whitish tubercle which is a periodical produc- 



