61 



crustaceous animals, and others, whose shells 

 he easily breaks with his teeth. He is some- 

 times found in the northern seas exceeding six 

 feet in length, and owes his name to his natural 

 fierceness and voracity. The fins nearest to the 

 head spread themselves, when the animal is swim- 

 ming, in the shape of two large fans, and their 

 motion contributes considerably to accelerate 

 his natural swiftness. We do not hear that his 

 flesh is good to eat. 



LONGEVITY OF THE PIKE, AND ITS RAPACITY. 



The regions of fresh water have their sharks 

 as well as the empire of the seas. The Pike 

 lives in rivers, lakes, and ponds : and, in a con- 

 fined piece of water, he will soon destroy all 

 other fish, as he generally does not feed upon 

 any thing else, and often swallows one nearly as 

 large as himself; for, through his greediness in 

 eating, he takes the head foremost, and so draws 

 it in by .little at a time, till he has swallowed the 

 whole. I remember, says the writer of this 

 anecdote, to have seen in the stomach of a large 

 Pike a gudgeon of good size, the head of which 

 had already received clear marks of the power 



