74 LINES IN PLEASANT PLACES 



leather mouth proper of the cheven, chavender, skelly, 

 or chub, scientifically known as Leuciscus ctpbalus, is, 

 as the angler knows, or should know, without teeth, 

 but if you will have the goodness to push your finger 

 down the throat of a freshly-caught three- or four- 

 pounder, you will be more than likely to discover that 

 nature has furnished this innocent-looking member of 

 the carp family with two rows of very decent lacerators. 

 The best result nevertheless of that day's fishing was 

 the receipt in a letter two days later of a specimen of 

 the showy yellow leopard's bane from my friend. We 

 had pointed out to each other solitary wildflowers left 

 alone to tell of a summer that was past, and he had 

 found this somewhat sparingly-located bloom two 

 months overdue for its grave. 



So many years have passed since I fished Loddon 

 and St. Patrick's stream that I will not be tempted 

 to lead anyone astray by pretending to prescribe, advise, 

 or dogmatise. It was not first-rate in the days of my 

 personal knowledge, but it yielded then as now toler- 

 able coarse fishing, pike and perch being the standing 

 dish ; and there are deep, slow-going lengths, natural 

 haunts of heavy roach. A brother angler who knows 

 the river thoroughly had a curious theory about the 

 Loddon perch. With minnow or worm, he truly said, 

 for I can corroborate him, " any quantity " of perch of 

 Ib. or Ib. might be caught ; but there was also an- 

 other set of fish of i Ib. and upwards not, of course, 

 of a distinct breed, but still distinct from the smaller 

 grade just mentioned. These rarely took a minnow, 

 but a gudgeon on the paternoster, and on the upper 

 hook thereof, frequently proved fatal to a two-pounder. 

 One July, within my own remembrance, a splendid 

 fellow of 3 Ib. 2 oz. was taken with a lob-worm from one 

 of the Loddon milltails. 



