472 



Fishes. 



THE PIKE. (Esox Indus.) 



THE body of this fish is a pale olive-grey, deepest on 

 the back, and marked on the sides by several yellowish 

 spots or patches ; the abdomen white, slightly spotted 

 with black ; its length is from one to eight feet, and its 

 Aveight from one or two to forty or fifty pounds. The 

 flesh is white and firm, and considered very wholesome ; 

 the larger and older it is, the more it is esteemed. 

 There is scarcely any fish of its size in the world that in 

 voracity can equal the Pike.* It lives in rivers, lakes, 

 and ponds ; and in a confined piece of water will soon 

 destroy all other fish, as it generally does not feed upon 

 anything else, and often swallows one nearly as big as 

 itself; for through its greediness in eating, it takes the 

 head foremost, and so draws it in by little and little at a 

 time, till it has swallowed the whole. A gudgeon of 

 good size has been found in the stomach of a large Pike, 

 the head of which had already received clear marks of 

 the power of digestion, whilst the rest of 'the fish was 

 still fresh and unimpaired. 



" I have been assured (says Walton) by my friend 

 Mr. Seagrave, who keeps tame otters, that he has known 

 a Pike, in extreme hunger, fight with one of his otters 

 for a carp that the otter had caught, and was then 

 bringing out of the water." 



* Mr. Boccius has, however, shown that the Trout is even more 

 voracious. 



