CARP AND TENCH. 2/5 



become historical. The oldest of them have now quite 

 lost their normal colour from their great age, and are 

 very nearly white. There is, moreover, evidence that 

 many of these fish introduced into the ponds at Ver- 

 sailles, &c., during the reign of Louis the Fourteenth 

 (say 1690), are either still living or were so but a short 

 time before the Revolution of 1830. Dr. Smith; in his 

 ^* Tour to the Continent," mentions them, and observes 

 that they had grown white through age. Valenciennes 

 refers to others in the Tuileries, which would also come 

 when called by their names ; and Buffon assures us that 

 he had seen in the fosses of the Ponchartrain, Carp 

 which were known to be upwards of a century and a 

 half old. 



A year or two ago a series of ponds near Cumberland 

 Lodge, Windsor Park, were run off for the purpose of 

 getting rid of the Jack ; and the result of the netting 

 illustrated in a remarkable way the slow growth-rate of 

 the Carp. Thus, nearly all the Carp taken from the 

 Obelisk pond were of a very similar weight, viz. : from 

 4 lbs. to 6 lbs. These fish, within the positive knowledge 

 of the Head Fisherman, were fifty years old at least. 

 They had been twice removed during his memory from 

 the different ponds, the last time some thirty-five years 

 previous, when they weighed about 3 lbs. each. Their 

 subsequent growth-rate could not have averaged there- 

 fore more than about an ounce a year. Old Carp are 

 very bad breeders, and frequently retam their eggs for 



