FISHES AND FISHirrG. ' 105 



royalty, and of the favourite of a king, James the 

 Second, serving him after as a refuge ; and finally, 

 by a marriage with the king's mistress, the seat of 

 the Earls of Portmore — all, all completely annihilated, 

 and not one brick left upon another to mark the site 

 of its former regal splendour. The family and title 

 of Portmore are also extinct. 



The bleak is a small fish very like a large sprat in 

 shape, scales, and colour ; they are very numerous, 

 and afford amusement in a summer evening, by whip- 

 ping for them with a very light fly rod, seven or 

 eight feet long, and a fine taper line about double 

 the length of the rod, two or three small artificial 

 ant-flies or gnats, each hook pointed with a small 

 gentle ; or fish with a very small light self-balanced 

 float, about eight inches from the bait, of one small 

 gentle. The flesh of this fish is sweet, nutritious, 

 and pleasant ; I once caught thirty dozen of them, 

 had them marionated, and they were excellent. 



These little fish breed within them a white worm ; 

 when they are thus afflicted, they cannot sink, but 

 swim about mostly in circles, with their heads even 

 with the surface of the water ; they generally appear, 

 if the weather be hot, in July, and are called by the 

 watermen "mad bleak." I have often met with 

 them in going by water in a wherry from Westmin- 

 ster to Wandsworth, and I believe they are found as 



