RIVER GARDENS ; 



prison, and could not be removed till the roots were 

 cut away. This singularly shaped creature was 

 perfectly healthy, and remained so after being re- 

 moved to an ordinary pond, where he continued to 

 nourish at the time that Daniel wrote his account 

 of the circumstance, which was some years after 

 the removal of the monster Tench to his new abode. 

 The Tench is a good table fish, but is sometimes 

 unpleasantly flavoured by the presence in the pond 

 of some rank weed. This kind of susceptibility is, 

 however, very capricious ; for occasionally Tench, 

 which were positively stained black by the mud 

 of the waters in which they have been bred, 

 have been found perfectly sweet, while those taken 

 in much more favourable situations have had a 

 muddy or earthy taste, which is a very common 

 objection to the flesh of the Tench. This forms no 

 obstacle, however, to the adoption of the Tench as 

 an inmate of the Aquarium, and only refers to his 

 eligibility for the fryingpan or gridiron. 



The Roach, Leuciscus rutilus (Plate IV., No. 3), 

 is a very pretty fish. His white scales glisten like 

 silver, against which the bright red fins are seen to 

 great advantage, giving him that bright, sparkling, 

 healthy appearance which perhaps led to the 

 saying, "as sound as a roach." This may have 



