APOLOGY FOR ANGLERS. 



larly on the sides, by their ravenous enemies,* 

 which must have caused them sufferings far more 

 acute than could possibly arise from any method 

 used by the angler, whose hook generally catches 

 the fish by the lip or gill, parts, I conceive, not 

 the most susceptible of pain. 



The Pike fell tyrant of the liquid plain, 

 With ravenous waste devours his fellow-train, 

 Nor less the greedy Trout and gutless Eel, 

 Incessant woes, and dire destruction deal. 



* The mouth of a fish of prey, particularly the Pike, is 

 studded with teeth in such a manner as to pierce his victim 

 with many hundred darts at once : the large, sharp, crooked 

 fangs in the lower jaws, the frightful expansion of which, 

 with the horrid abyss of throat, must convey to the observer 

 the terror and sufferings of the defenceless part of the finny 

 tribe. It sometimes happens that a Jack or Pike will gorge 

 such a quantity of fish, as to appear nearly choaked for a con- 

 siderable time, with a part of the last even yet hanging out of 

 the destroyer's mouth, writhing in a^ony, so great is their 

 roracity. 



