78 HINTS ON ANGLING. 



standard delicacy. How it is made is another matter; 

 but as few tilings in England can escape adulteration, 

 most probably the char undergoes the profitable process. 

 Bleak and sprats as well as sardines have long since been 

 converted into anchovies; and as long as John Bull 

 will consent to pay for names instead of things, so long 

 will the concoctors of sauces continue to fleece him, 

 in common with all the other harpies who prey upon his 

 enormous gullibility. 



Hoacj) Ha Hocjje. 



The LOACH is a curious-looking fish, having all the 

 appearance of being a cross between the eel and the barbel. 

 He seems to avoid the more calm and tranquil water, and 

 to prefer the curling streams of small rivers which occa- 

 sionally rush over pebbly and gravelly bottoms. 



The loach is covered with a viscous matter, and really 

 has scales, although they are scarcely visible; he is re- 

 markable also for the barbillons or wattles which hang 

 from his upper lip. 



This fish can be transported alive to a very great dis- 

 tance, provided the water in the vessel in which he is con- 

 veyed be continually agitated, and a cool season, such as 

 the middle of autumn, be selected for the occasion. 



Linnaeus has left it on record that Frederick I., king 

 of Sweden, procured these fish from Germany, and 

 naturalised them in his own country. By a careful atten- 

 tion to the precautions just mentioned, they were enabled 

 to survive the long and difficult journey. 



The flesh of the loach is considered a great delicacy, 

 especially in autumn, and also in the spring when he is 

 full of spawn. At these two periods he is preferred by 

 the French gastronomes to all other fish ; and these most 



