THE PIKE 



CHAPTER VII 



SOME FOREIGN RELATIVES 



IF one may use the innocent violence of applying 

 such a word as * ubiquitous ' to a fish, it might be 

 truly said that, at least in fresh water, the pike should 

 be the first to claim it, for if Esox lucius himself is not 

 to be found in every part of the world, some members 

 of the family will certainly be traceable. Even in 

 Australia there are what the scientific gentlemen call 

 intermediate genera. The typical genus itself is of 

 wide range, pervades the waters of Europe, and is 

 most plentiful in the northern part of the new hemi- 

 sphere. Probably the pike proper is found also in 

 Asia, though I have failed to obtain direct evidence 

 upon that point. When the ill-fated Edmund 

 Donovan returned from his captivity at Merv, I sur- 

 prised him one day at his table, littered higgledy- 

 piggledy with rough maps, charts, notes, and drawings, 

 stained more or less with dirt and water. From these 

 he was writing his book, and pointing to a sketch of 



