122 FISH CULTURE. 



for all fish of prey. The fact is not generally known, 

 but gudgeon will thrive very well in ponds. In one 

 of the ponds in Eichmond Park the largest of the 

 Penn ponds it has been the custom of the anglers 

 fishing there, in order to save the trouble of carrying 

 home their bait-kettles full of water, to empty their 

 cans and turn the remainder of their live baits 

 into the pond. Many of these baits being at times 

 gudgeon, they have lived and thriven, arid have bred 

 so freely, the keeper has informed me, that on the 

 gravelly part of the pond it is easy to catch four, 

 five, or six dozen in an hour or two ; but the 

 gudgeon thrives equally well in a muddy pond and 

 in even stagnant water, for I once emptied my bait- 

 kettle into a horse-pond ; there were about a score 

 of large gudgeon in it, and they bred rapidly in the 

 pond, so that in a year or two there were abundance 

 of gudgeons of all sizes. I have, however, never 

 eaten gudgeon from a muddy pond, and therefore 

 cannot vouch that they would retain their delicate 

 flavour. 



After the fish above noted I should place the pike 

 or jack, the dace, tench, carp, bream, roach, and, 

 lastly, chub and barbel, and I would take occasion to 

 draw a strict line here. None of these fish would I 

 admit, if possible, into purely trout or salmon rivers, 



