HYPOCRITICAL FISH. 103 



back of the head ends him in an instant. If he is a 

 trout I find his stomach distended with flies. That 

 beautiful one called the May-fly, who is by nature 

 almost ephemeral — who rises up from the bottom of 

 the shallows, spreads its light wings, and flits in the 

 sunbeam in enjoyment of its new existence, — no 

 sooner descends to the surface of the water to deposit 

 its eggs, than the unfeeling fish at one fell spring 

 numbers him prematurely with the dead. You see> 

 then, what a wretch a fish is ; no ogre is more blood- 

 thirsty, for he will devour his nephews, nieces, and 

 even his own children, when he can catch them ; and I 

 take some credit for having shown him up. Talk of a 

 wolf, indeed, a lion, or a tiger ! Why these are all mild 

 and saintly in comparison with a fish. When did any 

 one hear of Messrs. Wolf, Lion, and Co. eating up their 

 grandchildren ? What a bitter fright must the smaller 

 fry live in ! They crowd to the shallows, lie hid 

 among the weeds, and dare not say the river is their 

 own. I relieve them of their apprehensions, and thus 

 become popular with the small shoals. 



When we see a fish quivering upon dry land, he 

 looks so helpless without arms or legs, and so demure 

 in expression, adding hypocrisy to his other sins, that 

 we naturally pity him ; then kill and eat him with 

 Hervey sauce, perhaps. Our pity is misplaced — the 

 fish is not. There is an immense trout in Loch Awe 

 in Scotland, which is so voracious, and swallows his 

 own species with such avidity, that he has obtained 

 the name of Salmoferox. I pull about this unnatural 

 monster till he is tired, land him, and give him the 

 coup de grace. Is this cruel ? Cruelty " should be 



