AND OF STILL WATERS. 43 



run gradually off, leaving that bed of deep mud 

 which seems to be one of the necessaries of 

 carp existence. When there is only a thin rill 

 of water left trickling down the centre of the 

 erstwhile pond, the fishing begins. On all 

 sides the carp lie floundering, panting, gasping 

 on the expanse of mud ; in some places they 

 are two or three deep on top of one another. 

 Though the quantity of carp in these ponds is 

 something extraordinary, they do not seem to 

 suffer individually from their great numbers ; 

 for the fish are remarkably fine and heavy. 



The men wade through the mud, catching the 

 carp by the gills, and flinging them on to the 

 bank. There they are weighed by men who 

 have come with carts from the nearest town to 

 buy the fish ; and after the weighing the carp 

 are packed amongst straw in the carts as tightly 

 as possible. When the carts are full they 

 return to the town, and the carp are then 

 placed in tanks. A carp takes a good deal of 

 killing; and though being tightly packed in 

 straw for a whole day and jolted down-hill for 

 perhaps four hours may strike him as a novel 



