LIVE-BAITING. 143 



sexual instinct so strongly developed in the frog at certain 

 seasons of the year. 



My attempts to fascinate my friend's large pike remind me 

 of what once happened to Lady Barrow, at that time better 

 known as the beautiful Miss Croker, who fancied that by the 

 dominant power of the human eye, and doubtless of her own 

 beaux yeux in particular, she would fascinate a grisly old 

 African lion, a- la Van Amburgh. The experiment appeared 

 to be proceeding successfully, when suddenly the object of it 

 sprang up, and with a mighty roar dashed himself furiously 

 against the bars of the cage. The effect was electrical. Most 

 of the spectators took to their heels, while the beautiful operator 

 herself fell back fainting into the arms of one of the party I 

 believe the Duke of Wellington who was, of course, accus- 

 tomed to being 'lionised.' 



The quantity of food a pike will consume in a stew-pond, 

 and his consequent growth rate are points upon which opinions 

 and experiences differ widely, and to procure positive data 

 upon must clearly be a matter of great difficulty. 



One writer mentions that eight pike, of about five pounds 

 each, consumed nearly 800 gudgeons in three weeks, and that 

 the appetite of one of them was almost insatiable. There is 

 no doubt, however, that this dietary is far below the limit which 

 might be reached. Mr. Stoddart, in his ' Angler's Companion ' 

 (p. 298), makes a curious calculation of the ravages committed 

 by pike in the Teviot, and also states that in some lochs in 

 Scotland the fish has been known to eat its own weight of baits 

 every day. 



From frequent opportunities of watching the feeding and 

 management of pike in stews, I should say that a fish of five 

 or six pounds would eat, if permitted, at least twice its own 

 weight of fish every week ; whilst, on the other hand, it can be 

 almost starved for a very considerable period without suffering 

 perceptibly ; and in one instance already alluded to, namely, 

 that of the pike in the Zoological Gardens, the increase of 

 \veight has only been \\ Ibs. in ten years. This capacity of 



