Chaft. xiv. //. Ran at i - ' Times. 1S5 



■■ ■ i ili ' yon have been fishing all tin- morning, I see: but what 

 Jd make yon May out BO long, and get away so cunningly with 

 "the keeper?' 



" ' Why, to tell you the truth, Barnes (you know what a good 

 " 'creature lie is) told me of an immense pike that was lying among 

 " ' the weeds at the end of the lake : he must be the same thai swallowed 

 " " the cygnets, I never saw so enormous a monster in fresh water.' 



" - — ' Well, where is he. where is he? let OS look at him.' 



" Host, — ' John, tell the cook wc will have him for dinner to-day, 

 " ' Dutch sauce, remember.' 



" Piseator. — ' You need not be in such a hurry to send to the cook, 

 " ' for I am sorry to say I did not catch him.' 



" list. — • Not catch him, not catch him? Impossible! with all 

 " ' your skill, armed as yon are to the teeth with roach, bleak, minnow, 

 " " frogs, kill-devils, and the deuce knows what. Not catch him ! Come, 

 " ' you're joking.' " 



" 7' ' Serious, I assure you. I never was so beat before, and 



" 'yet I never fished better : but though I did not absolutely hook him, 

 " 'he ran at me several ti 



"An universal shout of laughter followed this assertion, which 

 " made my friend not a little suspicions : but he never again touched 

 '• upon the subject. Sometime afterwards, wandering near the scene 

 " of his operations, he saw an immense carving of a pike, placed upon 

 " a pole, near the margin of the water, and painted beautifully ; he 

 " guessed he had seen him before !" 



There are nine Ophiocephali, of which four attain to about 3ft. 

 long each, and one to 4 ft. These larger Ophiocephali are 

 commonly called Murrals. Of these five, then, I will quote abbre- 

 viated descriptions from Dr. Day's "Fishes of India," omitting the 

 others, except 0. Oaehua, mentioned above as a good bait. 



Order. Al LHTHOPTBBIGII. 

 Family. OfHIOCXFHAUDA. 



Gents. Ophiocephalis. 



Ophiocei milius. B. V. D. 45 55, P. 18, V. 6, A. 28-36, C. 



U, LI. 60-70, L. tr. -tfjft or VtMt Ceylon and India to China. 

 4 feet. 



0. leucoptmctatus. B. V. D. 47-53, P. 18, V. 6, A. 28-35, C. 14, 

 LI. 59-60, L. tr. ^4 or i-Jifj. Southern India. 3 feet. 



O.barm. B. V. D. 47-52, P. 16, V. 1/5, A 34-36, C. 10, LI. 

 60-65, L. tr. ff Bengal. X W. Provinces, Assam. 3 feet. 



