SOME FOREIGN RELATIVES 113 



a river which he had crossed on horseback during his 

 journey in the wilds, he said : 



( You would have liked a day's fishing here, for 

 it seemed to be swarming with fish ! ' 



When I cross-questioned him as to the species, he 

 replied that he could not be certain, but that to all 

 appearance they were precisely similar to the pike 

 he used to catch with frogs in Ireland. 



There are, of course, slight variations in the 

 appearance of the pike of different countries, but 

 these are mostly in the colourings. In the main 

 features of its structure Esox lucius is the same where- 

 ever he is found. There is a light-coloured fish 

 called the Pike King in Central Europe, and its 

 markings are uniformly dark. In this respect it re- 

 sembles one of the American fishes of this family, 

 and the varieties in North America are so interesting 

 that I may perhaps be permitted to devote the re- 

 mainder of this chapter to a consideration of them. 



Although Professor Brown Goode says that there 

 are five species of the Esox family natives of North 

 America, the later ichthyologists on the other side of 

 the Atlantic are even yet not quite agreed as to how 

 their fish shall be classified ; but I will merely mention 

 three, taken from the latest official report from the 

 State of New York : (i) The pike (Lucius lucius, 



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