GAME. 225 



all the streams in this country is alike destructive of the 

 delicacy of the fish, and of the pursuit of the fisherman. 



' The pike is the most common fish to be found here, 

 and grows to a very large size in the extensive lakes 

 which abound in the country. The chief revenue, in fact, 

 of some properties, arises from their fisheries, and from 

 the number of their wild fowl. Some of the lakes are 

 four or five miles in circumference, and surrounded in 

 some instances with hundreds of acres, upon which 

 neither man nor beast ever ventures to set foot. The 

 proprietor has to pay as large a tax for this area of marsh 

 and water as for his arable and pasture land, and not 

 without reason ; for the great demand for fish, in a 

 country peopled for the most part by Roman Catholics, 

 must make this kind of property very valuable. 



*' The carp is also found in these lakes, frequently of 

 large size. I saw one brought to table, which weighed 

 upwards of eighteen pounds ; and, being stewed with 

 Hungarian wine-sauce, was very palatable. 



' The tench is of a more delicate and agreeable flavour 

 than any fish in this country. I have frequently seen 

 them weighing from two to four pounds: and one even 

 reached the weight of eight pounds. 



1 It is no unusual thing to meet with pike ranging from 

 twenty to twenty-five pounds' weight, and sometimes 

 more. The largest are generally captured in nets ; but 

 the quantity of weeds, with which the lakes and streams 

 are covered in summer, makes net-fishing very difficult, if 

 not impracticable. The fish are caught therefore in the 

 greatest numbers as soon as the weeds die away, and are 

 preserved in stews or in ice-houses. 



' For my own part, net-fishing did not hold out much 

 attraction. I therefore persuaded my friend, the ingenious 

 carpenter at Wereiki, to fashion a dozen trimmers for me ; 

 and, having prepared some twine and hooks which I had 

 bought at Konigsberg, I frequently made successful use of 

 them. I caught also, in a large lake which I visited 

 at Massalani, by trolling, many pike, which varied 



Q 



