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mule by the lips, to which the fish hung so fast, 

 that the mule drew him out of the water, and by 

 that accident the owner of the mule angled out 

 the Pike. And the same author observes, that 

 a maid in Poland had a Pike bite her by the 

 foot, as she was washing clothes in a pond* 

 I have heard the like of a woman in Killing- 

 worth pond, not far from Coventry. I have also 

 been assured by my friend, Mr. Seagrave, who 

 keeps tame otters, that he has known a Pike, 

 in extreme hunger, fight with one of his otters 

 for a carp that the otter had caught and was 

 then bringing out of the water. I have told you 

 who relate these things, and tell you that they 

 are persons of credit, and shall conclude this 

 observation by repeating what a wise man has 

 said" That it is a hard thing to persuade the 

 belly, because it has no ears." 



Bowlker, in his art of angling, gives the follow- 

 ing instance of the exceeding voracity of this 

 fish : " My father caught a Pike in Barn-Meer 

 (a large standing water in Cheshire) an ell long, 

 and weighing thirty-five pounds, which he 

 brought to Lord Cbolmondeley ; his lordship 

 ordered it to be turned into a canal in the gar- 

 den, wherein were abundance of several sorts of 



