DKSCKIl'TloN (»K TIIK CAICI'. :.'Ul 



Siiui', however, tlic'ir wistloni lias prououuccd tliat lit'iiccfortli 

 the Carp is tu he a game tish of America, I shall proceed to 

 descrihe this "scaly foreijjtuT," thus naturalised with a live 

 yeairs' exemption from liability to capture, in the waters of 

 1 lud^ou's ri\i'r. 



The lluropeau ("arp is oru* of tlu> lish wliich has hccii the 

 lon«;cst known and esteemed, heintr mentioned hy Ari>totle and 

 Pliny, althou^di they do not at that period ap|)ear to have 

 attained their present celebrity. They are found in most of 

 the lakes anil rivers of l]iu"ope. but thrive best in the more 

 ti'mpcrate southern districts, degenerating; when thev are 

 carrieil fartlicr north. It is said that in Russia they arc even 

 now unkiu)wn. " Their growth," says .^^r. Varrel, " is, however, 

 particularly cultivated in Austria and Prussia, and consid.'rable 

 tratVic in ('ar{) prevails in various parts of the European 

 continent, where an acre of water will let for as much vearlv 

 rent as an acre of land, and where fresh-water fishes, as articles 

 of food, are lield in higher estimation th.in in this country" — 

 Mr. \ arrel means Kngland, l)ut the observation is even more 

 applicable to tin- I nited States than to (ireat Britain. 

 "Carp," he continues, "are said to live to a great age, even 

 to one hundred and titty or two hundred years ; l)nt they 

 lose their rich colour — their scales, like the productions of 

 the cuticle in some other animals, becoming grey and white 

 with age." 



The exact period of the introduction of the Carp to England 

 is unknown, but it is mcntioucd in the " Hoke of St. Albans." ])y 

 liady Juliana IJcnjers, printed in I UMi, and the great pro- 

 l)ability is that it was naturalised from the continent, probably 



