146 FACT AGAINST FICTION. 



^^ Nor will you," I exclaimccl, ^Hill you let off 

 the water ; yon may occasionally catch a starved, 

 l^nll-headed, scaley ghost, that is not worth 'the 

 worm at one end of the line,' that the creature, 

 rudely called a fool, at the butt-end of the rod can- 

 not eat ; but as the carp stick their heads into the 

 mud to let the lead line of the net draw over them, 

 nothing can ever be made out regarding the contents 

 of tlie pond till you drain off the water, and ruin 

 every other fish there may be in it." 



The best French cook in the history of kitchens, 

 though he may cover a carj) in a dish with sauce 

 of the most exquisite descrijition, cannot make 

 the flesh on the fish firm, nor can the bones in it 

 be reduced or removed sufficiently to avoid the 

 proximity of a suffocating death. 



In the corrcsj)ondcnce I have previously noticed, 

 and wherein my friend, Mr. Vere Fane Benett, 

 alludes to great quantities of this horrible fish,* 

 I must observe that there is one use to which 

 these fish can be put, that thus regarding it, may 

 be made useful to the community, or to the poor 



■^' He has since discovered much better carp, and sokl them well 

 in London to Jews who, being " unbelievers," disbelieved in bones, 

 and passed them . over as in duty bound. 



