THE PIKE. 245 



gether his tackle, and was awaiting the return of a person he had 

 dispatched to procure him some baits, when, for want of something 

 better to do, he put on a small fragment of dirty rag that chanced 

 to be lying near, and swam it down the rapid of a mill tail close 

 by, never of course for a moment suspecting a fish would touch so 

 unsavoury a morsel, when, to his utter amazement, a pike laid 

 hold of it. Not being prepared for such an occurrence, the fish 

 carried off his hookas well as some portion of his tackle, by rush- 

 ing violently down stream before he had time to veer away line. 

 But the loss proved only a temporary one, for the person shortly 

 after arriving with some live minnows, the voracious fish, by no 

 means satisfied with his previous fare, soon seized hold of the min- 

 now, and being this time more scientifically dealt with, was even- 

 tually secured ; when the rag was still found adhering to the hook 

 that had taken a firm hold in his jaws. 



Daniel also mentions an instance of a pike being by no means 

 scrupulous as to the nutritious quality of his food : one being taken 

 in the river Ouse. that weighed upwards of 28 Ibs, which, when 

 opened, was found to contain in his stomach a watch with two seals 

 annexed to it by a black ribbon. These, it was afterwards discov- 

 ered, belonged to a gentleman's servant, who had been drowned 

 about six months before, between Little Pool and South Ferry. 



But this insatiable voracity of the pike only occurs at stated 

 intervals : like many other cold blood animals he gorges to reple- 

 tion, and does not again require food for a considerable time, re- 

 maining for a period in a state of torpid inactivity from which the 

 most tempting bait is insufficient to arouse him. When in this 

 state he is frequently seen floating motionless near the surface, 

 where he is often caught by slipping a wire loose over his head; 

 and many instances have occurred of their being so stupified by 

 the effects of their gluttony, as even to allow themselves to be 

 taken by the hand. I myself indeed once saw a pike that weighed 

 nearly thirty pounds, that was taken in that way from the lower 

 pond at Shirley Mills, near Southampton^, when in almost in- 

 sensible from repletion ; an immense carp he had swallowed, being 

 found partially digested in his stomach. But it seems that the 

 stupifying effects of gluttony are not confined merely to fishes and 

 reptiles : hogs and vultures when a favourable opportunity has 

 occurred have so overloaded their stomachs as to become almost 

 insensible ; and according to the accounts of travellers who have 



