THE PIKE 



for this distinction, for the pike is not now a favourite 

 article of food and has no lovable qualities. Perhaps 

 it is because he has none of the ordinary claims to 

 popularity that he is held in a certain degree of 

 respect, yet without affection or admiration. My own 

 conclusion is that the eminence he enjoys is due not 

 a little to the belief that he is the representative in 

 water of the British bulldog on land; in other words, 

 that in a way he reflects the national character of 

 dominancy, tenacity, and pluck. He is the conqueror 

 before whom all other fishes scatter in flight; the 

 bold, predatory adventurer who keeps the tribes of 

 smaller species in subjection. For these supposed 

 commendable qualities his ferocity, unscrupulous- 

 ness, and tyranny are overlooked or forgiven. 



The pike is also a fish of some mystery, with an 

 uncanny appearance and an ogreish reputation. The 

 brilliantly marked perch, the silver-sided roach and 

 dace swim in shoals ; and the village children love to 

 watch them cruising in harmonious family parties 

 among the water-lilies, evidently enjoying life to the 

 full. But the long, sharp-nosed pike, lying low, with 

 sinister eye almost on the top of its flat head, is all 

 the difference between friend and foe; it is a fish to 

 inspire dread, not confidence. There are probably 

 many readers of these lines who may remember 



