CH. III.] CARP WITH MINNOW EEL WITH FLY. 53 



latter case being a German-silver kill-devil, and 

 the Dace not above six or seven inches in length. 

 But a friend of mine, a good fisherman, and whose 

 word cannot be doubted, assures me that he did 

 a much more extraordinary thing, having, whilst 

 fishing in the Canal near Waverley Abbey, Hants, 

 actually caught with a live minnow a Carp weigh- 

 ing about three quarters of a pound. 



The Dace were probably allured by the glitter 

 of the bait, and may have taken it for sport, or 

 to ascertain what it was, for I apprehend that 

 they never really feed upon small fry; but the 

 Carp must have taken the minnow deliberately, 

 and, from that circumstance, I should conclude 

 that they do occasionally, either when pressed 

 by hunger, or from a morbid appetite, take a 

 minnow or so by way of a change. 



I once caught an Eel with a fly. This how- 

 ever sounds so very extraordinary, that, in order 

 to save my character for veracity, I must mention 

 the circumstances under which it occurred. I had 

 been fishing in a pond for Roach with the natural 

 fly, when, inhospitably wishing to " shirk" a party 

 of visitors whom I saw driving up to the house 

 by an approach which commanded my position, 

 I put down my rod, leaving the fly in the water. 



