RESORTS OF THE FISH. 307 



other places where I have taken them. On the con- 

 trary, the fish of these waters are, with few exceptions, 

 soft and slimy in fact, positively disagreeable to the 

 smell and taste. It is a great improvement to the fish 

 to have it crimped, immediately on its being taken, at 

 the water-side. I have seen grilses and salmon also 

 treated in this manner, and it brings out the curdy 

 firmness of the fish amazingly in boiling. After cleans- 

 ing, wrap up the pike in a cloth brought for the purpose, 

 and transfer it to your pannier. The directions for 

 boiling it are similar to those I have elsewhere given 

 for the boiling of salmon ; only it is advisable, first of 

 all, to immerse the fish for a minute or two in hot, 

 scalding water, and thereby render easy the removal of 

 the scales by means of a knife or scraper. A pike of 

 about eight pounds in weight, when baked or roasted, 

 forms an excellent dish. It is, of course, much im- 

 proved by various sauces and stuffings j but it is not, 

 as some affirm, mainly indebted to these for its edible 

 qualities. As for the Teviot pike, I consider them, at 

 all seasons, preferable to the general run of salmon cap- 

 tured in that stream, these being, during the Spring 

 months, chiefly kelts or baggits, and, after September, 

 dun, soft, unhealthy-looking fish. Occasionally, it is 

 true, one may alight upon a lively grilse in July or 

 August, or even a clean salmon, now and then, but 

 such events are of rare occurrence. 



I have not, as yet, attempted any description of the 

 places generally resorted to, and held in defence by the 

 pike or jack. They consist, in lochs, of all shoal and 

 weedy parts, of bays and covert places, such as are 

 formed by a projecting wall or sunken tree. In rivers, 

 they include the bye-water, and such spots as are not 

 much operated on by the ordinary current. Dam- 



