216 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. PART I. 



But if these relations be disbelieved, it is too evi- 

 dent to be doubted. That a Pike will devour a fisb, 



all the fish, except one large Carp, that weighed between nine 



and ten pounds, and that was bitten in several places. The Pike was 



then put into the canal again, together with abundance of fish 



with him to feed upon, all which he devoured in less than a year's time ; 



and was observed by the gardener and workmen there, to take 



' the ducks, and other water-fowl, under water. Whereupon they 



" shot magpies and crows, and threw them into the canal, which 



** the Pike took before their eyes : of this they acquainted their 



'* lord ; who, thereupon, ordered the slaughterman to fling in calves- 



" bellies, chickens-guts, and such like garbage, to him, to prey upon : 



' but being soon after neglected, he died, as supposed, for want of 



' food." 



The following relation was inserted as an article of news in one of 

 the London Papers, 2d Jan. 1765 : 



Extract of a Letter from Littlefort, Dec. 17. 



" About ten days ago, a large Pike was caught in the river Ouse ; 

 * which weighed upwards of 28 pounds, and was sold to a gentleman 

 ' in the neighbourhood for a guinea. As the cook-maid was gutting 

 ' the fish, she found, to her great astonishment, a watch with a black 

 ' ribbon, and two steel seals annexed, in the body of the Pike ; the 

 " gentleman's butler, upon opening the watch, found the maker's 

 " name, Thomas Cranefield, Burnham, Norfolk. Upon a strict enquiry, 

 ' it appears, that the said watch was sold to a gentleman's servant, 

 K who was unfortunately drowned about six weeks ago, in his way 

 ' to Cambridge, between this place and South-Ferry. The watch 

 " is still in the possession of Mr. John Roberts, at the Cross-Keys, in 

 Littleport, for the inspection of the public." 



And this, in the same paper, the 25th of the same month, and, 

 year. 



" On Tuesday last, at Lillishall lime-works, near Newport, a pool 

 <c about nine yards deep, which has not been fished for ages, was let 

 ' off, by means of a level brought up to drain the works ; when an 

 enormous Pike was found : he was drawn out by a rope fastened round 

 " his head and gills, amidst hundreds of spectators, in which service a 

 great many men were employed : he weighed upwards of 170 pounds, 

 " and is thought to be the largest ever seen. Some time ago, the clerk 

 " of the parish was trolling in the above pool, when his bait was seized by 

 " this furious creature, which by a sudden jerk pulled him in, and 

 * doubtless would have devoured him also, had he not by wonderful 

 " agility and dexterous swimming, escaped the dreadful jaws of this 

 < voracious animal." 



In Dr. Plot's History of Staffordshire, 246, are sundry relations of 

 Pike of great magnitude ; one in particular, caught in the Thawe, an 

 ell and two inches long. 



The following story, containing further evidence of the voracity of 

 this fish, with the addition of a pleasant circumstance, I met with in 

 Fuller's Worthies, Lincolnshire, page 144 : 



