THE TENCH. 83 



Bring forth the carp ! 



The carp was brought. 



In truth it was a noble fish, 



And looked splendacious in the dish. 



Decked with capers and lemon, and smelling savoury of 

 spices and sauces, we all allowed that it looked good to 

 eat. James helped us all to a good round morsel each. 

 Every fork was plunged into the delicacy, every mouth 

 received its mouthful with tender anxious expectation. 

 Every eye was beaming at one moment with calm delight 

 the next, you never saw such an alteration of feature : 

 agony, horror, dismay ! I dropped my mouthful again in 

 the plate. It was beyond any capability I possessed to 

 swallow it ; others got rid of it as best they could ; one or 

 two swallowed it and gasped for ' brandy and water.' 

 Never was anything so filthy. If you can imagine a stale 

 musty bed flock out of some old hospital dipped in strong 

 sewage you have some idea of it. Every man pushed his 

 chair back and cried ' Take it away.' At this moment 

 Ponsford ' the ready ' entered. ' In case you shouldn't like 

 it, sir, I ordered the turbot to be handy ; ' and he marshalled 

 in a splendid turbot, so after a time we dined on the turbot, 

 and I have never tasted carp since. In many places carp 

 are tamed so that they will come and feed out of their 

 keeper's hand, and will even come to his whistle or any 

 other accustomed signal. 



THE TENCH (Cyprinus tinea). 



The tench is a better fish for the table than the carp, 

 and if caught in a tolerably well kept pond, is not a bad 

 fish to eat, the skin being thick and gelatinous, and the 

 flesh white, firm, and sweet. The method which I have 

 described in fishing for carp with the worm and float 

 answers equally well for the tench, save that the bait need 



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