154 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Salmon, 



eye or Rudd (L. erythropinalmus); the Azurine (L. 

 csnileus, Yarrell) ; the Bleak (L. alburnus) ; and the 

 Minnow (L. phoxinus). 



All the»e Hsh afford more or less sport lo the honest 

 anirler, who " loves the sweet air of the sweet savour 

 of flowers," and the "melodious harmony of fowls," 

 and we may add tho»e sylvnn scenes, those quiet 

 nooks, where the water now flows smoothly and 

 slowly alonp, and now with quicker current " makes 

 sweet music to the enamell'd meads," such scenes 

 as our own rivers, winding their way " to the wide 

 bosom of the ocean," present at every step — such as 

 we see along the banks of the Avon (Fig. 2426), 

 where the poet of nature once wandered, who in 

 three lines describes the " contemplative man's re- 

 creation :'' 



** llie plraainteat angling It to are the ftih 

 Oit wiUi hrr golden o«n the dlTer •tream 

 And grredily deTour the treacheroua bait.** 



Nor must he forget the injunction of Dame Juliana 

 Bemera: "Ye shall use this foresaid crafty sport for 

 no covetyseness to the encreasing and sparing of 

 your money only, but principally for your solace, 

 and to the cause of the health of your body and spe- 

 cially of your soul." 



FiK- 2427 represents a more animated scene, the 

 Otter-hunt, the destruction of a beast noted for the 

 ruthless havoc it makes among the finny tribes of 

 our rivers and lakes, and accordingly hated by the 

 angler. "The otter," says Izaak Walton, "devours 

 much fish, and kills and spoils much more than he 

 eats;'' and well does he describe the bustle of the 

 spirit-stirring hunt, " men and dogs, dogs and men, 

 all busy ! "' to the catastrophe, when " the dogs have 

 her, some above and some under the water," and 

 she is " tired and past losing." 



Family ESOCIDiE (THE PIKES, GARFISH, &c.). 

 2428.— The Pikk 



{Esoz Lucius). Jack, Luce, Pickerel ; in Scotland, 

 Gedd. 



This voracious fish is common in the lakes and 

 rivere of the greater portion of Europe ; and though, 

 as its rarity at one time proves, it is not an abori- 

 ginal of the waters of our island, there are few 

 lakes, meres, or rivers in England, Scotland, and 

 Ireland in which it is not abundant. In the reign 

 of Edward the First the value of the pike, as esta- 

 blished by royal ordinance, exceeded that of fresh 

 salmon, and was ten times greater than that of the 

 I)e»t turbot or cod. In the time of Henry the 

 Eighth so scarce was this fish, that a large one sold 

 for double the price of a house-lamb in February, 

 and a small one, or pickerel, for more than a fat 

 capon. The 'pike is still in repute' for the table, i 

 and in the north of Europe large quantities are 

 taken and dried for winter consumption. Horsea 

 Mere, and Heighara Sounds, two large sheets of 

 water in Norfolk, covering a surface of six hundred 

 acres, are celebrated for the quantity and excellent 

 quality of the pike ; and those of the Medway, as 

 Mr. Varrell observes, when feeding on the smelt, 

 acquire excellent condition, with peculiarly fine 

 flavour. 



The pike grows rapidly, and in favourable locali- 

 ties attains lo very large dimensions. In Horsea 

 Merc pike have been caught weighing from twenty- 

 eight to thirty-four pounds each; and Mr. Yarrell 

 states that the result of lour days' pike-fishing at 

 the above mere and Heigham Sounds, according to 

 information which he received from a gentleman of 

 celebrity in field-sports, was two hundred and filty- 

 six pike, weighing altogether one thousand one 

 hundred and thirty-five pounds. Yet, as Izasik 

 Walton correctly observes, " old or very great pike 

 have in them more of state than goodness, the smaller 

 or middle-sized pikes being by the most and choicest 

 palates observed to be the best meat.'' 



The pike is certainly a very long-lived fish: 

 Walton says Sir Francis Bacon " computes it to be 

 not usually above forty years, and others think it to 

 he not above ten years." But this is erroneous. 

 Pennant refers to one ascertained to be ninety years 

 of age, and Gesner, as Walton remarks, mentions a 

 pike taken in Suabia, in the year 1497, at Hailbrun, 

 on which was a brazen ring with these words in 

 Greek — "I am the fish which was first of all put 

 into this lake, by the hands of the Governor of the 

 Universe, Frederick the Second, the 5th of October, 

 1230." The fish, therefore, was two hundred and 

 sixty-seven years old. Mr. Yarrell states in addi- 

 tion that the skeleton, nineteen feet in length, was 

 long preserved at Manheim as a great curiosity in 

 natural history. 



The voracity of the pike and the destruction 

 which it makes among other fish are notorious. 

 " Eight pike," says Mr. Jesse, " of about five pounds 

 weight each, consumed nearly eight hundred gud- 

 geons in three weeks; and the appetite of one of 

 these pike was almost insatiable. One morning I | 

 threw to him five roach, each about lour inches in j 

 length ; ht swallowed four of them, and kept the [ 



fifth in his mouth for about a quarter of an hour, 

 when it also disappeared." 



It is not only among fish that the pike makes 

 havoc : frogs, water-rats, field-mice, also young 

 ducks, dabchicks, moorhens, and other aquatic birds 

 are seized and devoured, and instances are on record 

 of other animals, and even man, being attacked. 

 Gesner, says Izaak Walton, relates that a man 

 ** going to a pond, where it seems a pike had de- 

 voured all the fish, to water his mule, had a pike 

 bite his mule by the lips, to which the pike hung so 

 fast that the mule drew him out of the water ; and 

 by that accident the owner of the mule angled out 

 the pike. And the same Gesner observes that a maid 

 in Poland had a pike bile her by the foot, as she 

 was washing clothes in a pond. And I have heard 

 the like of a woman in Killingworlh pond, not far 

 from Coventry. But I have been assured by my 

 friend Mr. Seagrave, that keeps tame ottere, that he 

 hath known a pike, in extreme hunger, fight with 

 one of his oflere for a carp that the otter had caught, 

 and was bringing it out of the water." 



Mr. Yarrell says, " The present head keeper of 

 Richmond Park was once washing his hand over 

 the side of a boat, in the great pond in that park, 

 when a pike made a dart at it, and he had but just 

 time to withdrawn. Dr. Plot narrates, that at Lord 

 Gower's canal at Trentham, Stafi'ordsliire, a pike 

 seized the head of a swan, as the bird was feeding, 

 with the head and neck immersed in the water, and 

 gorged so much of it as killed them both. The 

 servants, perceiving the swan with its head under 

 water for a longer time than usual, took the boat 

 and found both swan and pike dead." 



At the breeding season, which occurs in March 

 or early in April, the pike leaves the deep water, and 

 seeks the weedy shallows and creeks, where its 

 spawn is deposited. In the fens in the neighbour- 



I hood of Ely this fish is bred in great numbers ; and 



I in spring, shoals, as has been noticed by the Reve- 

 rend Revett Sheppard, migrate thence into the river 



i Cam. 



I We may here allude to one of the modes of catch. 



I ing pike, as practised on the meres of Norfolk, 

 where the species abounds. It is by what is called 

 a ligger or trimmer, which, says Mr. Yarrell, " is a 

 long cylindrical float, made of wood or cork, or 

 rushes tied together at each end ; to the middle of 

 this float a string is fixed, in length from eight to 

 fifteen feet ; this string is wound round the float ex- 

 cept two or three feet, when the tiinimer is to be 

 put into the water, and slightly fixed by a notch in 

 the wood or cork, or by putting it between the ends 

 of the rushes. "The bait is fixed on the hook, and 

 the hook fa-stened to the end of the pendent string, 

 and the whole then dropped into the water. When 

 the bait is seized by a pike, the jerk looses the 

 fastening, and the whole string unwinds, the wood, 

 cork, or rushes, floating at the top, indicating what 

 has occurred." The common modes of trolling 

 need not be described. 



The pike is admirably formed for velocity in the 

 water; the body, the tail muscular, with the dorsal 

 fin opposite the last under-fin ; the head is long 

 and depressed, with considerable breadth ; the gape 

 is extensive ; the vomer is furnished with small 

 sharp teeth, and there are numerous large teeth on 

 the palatal bones, the largest being seated on the 

 line of the inner edges. The superior maxillary 

 bones have no teeth. The lower jaw exceeds the 

 upper, and is armed anteriorly with numerous small 

 teeth, while along the sides are five or six teeth, 

 apart from each other, very long and sharp. On 

 the top of the head are several mucous orifices 

 placed in pairs. 



In the lakes of North America a pike of huge 

 size, called the Muskanungee, is abundant, and 

 afi'ords excellent sport. 



2429.— The Garfish 



(Belone vulgaris). Sea-pike, l\Iackerel-guide. 



In the genus Belone the head and body are 

 greatly elongated ; the latter is covered by minute 

 scales; the jaws are extremely long and slender, 

 and, taper to a point ; they are armed with numerous 

 small teeth ; the dorsal fin is situated as in the 

 Esocidee generally. 



The Garfish is abundant in the seas of Europe, 

 and is found along the coasts of Norway and Swe- 

 den. In April or May shoals of this fish visit the 

 shores of Kent and Sussex, for the purpose of de- 

 positing their spawn ; and from their appearing a 

 short time before the mackerel, has arisen one of 

 the names appropriated to the species, viz. Macke- 

 rel-guide. During their stay, which is not of long 

 continuance, numbers are taken for the London 

 market ; their flesh has some resemblance in flavour 

 to that of the mackerel, but is more insipid, and 

 their bones are green. Various parts of the Iri>.h 

 coast are visited by this fish ; and, according to Mr. 

 Couch, it is permanent on the Cornish coast, though 

 most abundant in summer. 



Great numbers are taken off the coast of Holland, 



but the garfish is there only used as a bait for more 

 valued kinds. 



As its form would lead us to predict, the garfish 

 is quick and active in the water, swimming with 

 considerable rapidity near the surface, and leaping 

 and gambolling as if in the exuberance of vivacity. 



The length of the upper jaw of this fish results 

 from the elongation of the intermaxillary bones. 

 The mouth is wide, and when opened both jaws 

 simultaneously separate ; the eye is large ; the 

 general colour above dark greenish blue, becoming 

 lighter on the sides, and passing on the gill-covers 

 and under parts to silvery white. Length about 

 two feet. 



2430.— Thk Flyi.ng-fish 

 (Exocetus volitans). This genus is at once distin- 

 guished among the Ksocidae by the exiraordinar}' 

 length of its pectoral fins. 



Ihe Flying-fish must be distinguished from the 

 Flying Gurnard, which we have previously noticed, 

 and which belong:s to an entirely ditt'erenl section. 



The flying-fish is met with in shoals in the warmer 

 latitudes of the ocean, and has been seen also oif 

 diflerent parts of our coast, although the exact spe- 

 cies has not been determined. 



Pursued by dorados and other fishes of prey, the 

 flying-fishes endeavour to escape by rising out cf 

 the water, and skimming through the air, an action 

 ' which they repeat, successively rising an^l descend- 

 ing, till out of sight in the distance. In the mean 

 time their pursuers below keep up the chase, while 

 gulls and albatrosses pounce upon them from above. 

 "The greatest length of time," says Mr. G. Bennett 

 ('Wanderings,' &c.), " that 1 have seen these volatile 

 fish on they?«, has been thirty seconds by the watch, 

 and their longest flight, mentioned by Captain Hall, 

 has been two hundred yards, but he thinks that sub- 

 sequent observation has extended the space, 'ihe 

 most usual height of flight, as seen above the sur- 

 face of the water, is from two to three feet, but I 

 have known them come on board at a height of 

 fourteen feet and upwards, and they have been well 

 ascertained to come into the channels of a line-of- 

 battle ship, which is considered as high as twenty 

 feet and upwards. But it must not be supposed they 

 have the power of elevating themselves into the air 

 after having left their native element, for on watch- 

 ing them I have often seen them fall much below 

 the elevation fit which they first rose from the water, 

 but never in any instance could I observe them raise 

 themselves from the height to which they first 

 sprang ; for I regard the elevation they take to de- 

 pend on the power of the first spring or leap they 

 make on leaving their native element." 



The food of these fishes appears to consist of 

 mollusks and small fish; their fiesh is accounted uf 

 excellent flavour, and is often eaten by mariners ai 

 sea. 



Fig. 2431 shows a Group of the Finny Race, 

 amongst which the Flying-fish is conspicuous. 



Family SALMON ID^ (SALMON, CHAR, 

 TROUT, &c.). 



The Salmonidae are characterized by their mus- 

 cular contour, by the body being covered with 

 scale.s, by the first dorsal fin consisting of soft rays, 

 followed by a little fleshy fin formed simply by a 

 fold of the skin filled with fat, and unsupported by 

 rays. 



2432, 2433.— Ths Salmon 

 {Salmo Salar). In the genus Salmo the head is 

 smooth ; there are two dorsal fins, the second ot 

 which is fleshy without rays. There are teeth on 

 the maxillary bones, the vomer and palatal bones, 

 and a row of hooked teeth runs along each side of 

 the tongue ; branchiostegous rays ten or twelve. 



The unrivalled excellence, among fishes, of the 

 salmon, as an article of diet, its abundance, and its 

 commercial importance, require no comments. A 

 salmon fishery is valuable property ; the rights and 

 privileges connected with it, and the regulations to 

 be observed in conducting it, have been settled by 

 legislative enactments. 



The salmon is a migratory fish, existing during 

 one part of the year in fresh water, the other in 

 the sea. It is a native of the former, and shoals 

 of salmon annually work their way up the rivers of 

 our island, of Ireland, and of the northern portions 

 of the continent, for the sake of depositing their 

 spawn ; in their progress they surmount rapids and 

 cataracts, still with unwearied perseverance pursu- 

 ing their course, till they arrive at the suitable lo- 

 cality. In America the sahnon ascends the river St. 

 Lawrence, and enters the tributary streams of Lake 

 Ontario: but its progress within the United States is 

 arrested by the falls of the Niagara. Gesner, a 

 naturalist of the early part of the sixteenth century, 

 observed that "there was no better salmon than m 

 England ;" and Izaak Walton states, that, " though 

 some of our northern counties have as large and as 

 fat as the river Thames, yet none of so exceli^iit » 



