54 A BOOK OF THE RUNNING BROOK; 



In England the merits of the tench as food 

 are but little known, a remark that could 

 equally be applied to many other good and 

 wholesome articles of food in favour with our 

 more enlightened Continental neighbours. In 

 France and Italy tench are highly esteemed ; 

 even in small country towns in France as much 

 as one franc and upwards a pound is given for 

 them. In Holland tench are considered a 

 first-rate delicacy, equal to turtle. 



Much of the excellence of tench, however, 

 depends upon their feeding ; but this may be 

 said to be the case with all fish as well as 

 animals. Frank Buckland says that " the 

 natural food both of carp and tench is the 

 larvae of insects, small worms, and the soft 

 parts of various aquatic plants," and Mr. Gill- 

 bank, an eminent botanist and a friend of Mr. 

 Buckland, adds that "the water in which they 

 (tench) are placed cannot be too soft." The 

 slime at the bottom of ponds in which tench 

 love to bury themselves does not seem to affect 

 their flavour. Yarrell mentions some tench 

 who were taken out of Munden Hall Fleet in 



