COLOUR VARYING IN PERCH. 107 



works at that place. Mr. Pennant also mentions 

 one which was taken in the Serpentine river in 

 Hyde Park which weighed nine pounds. 



The colours of perch vary according to the 

 waters they inhabit. I have seen them nearly 

 black in ponds where there was a great deposit of 

 leaves, and a perch, nearly white, was taken in a 

 chalk-pit in Surrey, a proof perhaps how much 

 the soil influences their colour. In clear running 

 streams, with gravelly bottoms, the perch becomes 

 the most beautiful of our British fish, and is per- 

 haps the best, with the exception of those of the 

 Salmo genus. 



Having given this account of our Perch fishing, 

 it is time to return to the Club. As the evening 

 drew towards a close, we adjourned to the house, 

 where tea was made by Phoebe, not in tiny cups, 

 but in good capacious bowls, which bore a due 

 proportion to the piles of muffins and toasted rolls 

 which were placed on the table. Exercise had pro- 

 duced a fresh appetite, and I am not sure whether 

 this meal was not as much enjoyed as our host's good 

 dinner. There was also something in the cheerful- 

 ness of the room which made every one feel happy 

 and comfortable. The rays of a setting sun, just 

 disappearing beneath a distant hill, and tinging the 

 tops of the trees with its lustre, and afterwards. 



* The last faint gleamings of the twilight sky,' 

 added to the charm of the scene before us : We 



