chap, xvii.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 217 



will keep them all very safe, there shall not one of 

 them be lost. 



Pise. Well, Scholar, that I will : and I will hide 

 nothing from you that I can remember, and can 

 think may help you forward towards a perfection 

 in this art. And because we have so much time, 

 and I have said so little of Roach and Dace, I will, 

 give you some directions concerning them. 



Some say the Roach is so called, from rutilus, 

 which, they say, signifies red fins. He is a fish of 

 no great reputation for his dainty taste ; and his 

 spawn is accounted much better than any other 

 part of him. And you may take notice, that as the 

 Carp is accounted the water-fox, for his cunning ; 

 so the Roach is accounted the water- sheep for his 

 simplicity or foolishness. It is noted that the Roach 

 and Dace recover strength, and grow in season in 

 a fortnight after spawning ; the Barbel and Chub 

 in a month ; the Trout in four months ; and the Sal- 

 mon in the like time, if he gets into the sea, and 

 after into fresh-water. 



Roaches be accounted much better in the river 

 than in a pond, though ponds usually breed the 

 biggest. But there is a kind of bastard small Roach 

 that breeds in ponds, with a very forked tail, and 

 of a very small size, which some say is bred by the 

 Bream and right Roach, and some ponds are stored 

 with these beyond belief; and knowing men that 

 know their difference, call them Ruds : they differ 

 from the true Roach as much as a Herring from a 

 Pilchard. And these bastard-breed of Roach are now 



