NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 29 



domain, had not been dragged for upwards of fifty years, Mr. 

 Keene put in the nets, in order to report to the Prince what 

 stock of fish he had there. The net brought out a number of 

 carp, tench, &c. Keene thought from the commotion in the 

 net, that he had caught an unusually large fish. "When the net 

 shoaled he was delighted to find a monster pike in it ; the fish 

 rushed between his legs and nearly upset him. He took his prize 

 at once to Cumberland Lodge to the Prince, who was good 

 enough to send it on to me immediately. This magnificent fish 

 weighed no less than thirty-five pounds ; length, three feet ten 

 and a half inches ; girth, two feet. I never saw a fish in such 

 perfect condition before : the eye was exceedingly beautiful, the 

 head shone like smoked mother-o'-pearl, every scale was perfect, 

 the fins as red as those of a perch ; four black bars extended 

 some distance from the tail upwards, giving the fish a zebra-like 

 appearance. Mr. Keene asked me what I thought was the age 

 of the fish. I guessed ofiliand from twelve to fifteen years, and 

 it really appears that I was not far wrong, for about twelve years 

 ago Sir James Clark's butler put six or eight jack, weighing 

 about a pound and a half each, into Eapley Lake. This great 

 fellow was probably the last of them, who had very likely eaten 

 up all the rest. The fish was a female ; the roe weighed three- 

 and-a-half pounds, and contained over forty-three thousand eggs. 

 The only regret I have is that this freshwater shark was not 

 kept alive and sent to Brighton Aquarium. She should have 

 been tethered by the gills till I came with a carrier for her. 

 That this part of the royal domain is well adapted for growing 

 big pike is evident, inasmuch as not many years ago a lad who 

 had gone into luglemere Pond (near Ascot Heath) to bathe 

 was attacked and severely worried by a pike. This pike is 

 undoubtedly the largest in my collection ; the two next 

 approaching in size are one from the Norfolk Broads, thirty- 

 two pounds, and Mr. Hooper's celebrated pike, which he was 

 fortunate enough to catch with rod and line in Loch Awe, in 

 18G9. I need hardly say that I and the public in general 

 are much obliged to his Pioyal Highness Prince Christian for 

 preserving this fish, and enabling me in the interest of science 

 to perpetuate its magnificent proportions and unusual weight. 

 One of the casts of this magnificent fish has been painted to 

 life by Mr. llolfe and presented by him to the Piscatorial 

 Society, who have had it handsomely mounted. The fish is 

 represented as lying on grass and weeds. The duplicate cast 

 is in my Fish Museum at South Kensington. I am told that 

 the best bait for a large pike of this kind is the so-called 

 calves'-tail bait. The angler should take about four inches of 



