MAY 109 



increased perceptibly in size since the previous year. 

 However, they were transferred to the lake, to take 

 their chance among the pike, where it is more than 

 doubtful if they are ever heard of again. If once they 

 could be established in the water, and if their reputa- 

 tion for voracity is well founded, they may be expected 

 not only to hold their own with pike, but actually to 

 dimmish their numbers by devouring the fry. But it 

 must be confessed that their rate of growth half or 

 three-quarters of a pound at five years old is very 

 disappointing. 



The annexed plate is reproduced from a painting 

 by Pollard, showing how our forefathers went about 

 the capture of pike in the good old leisurely time. 

 There is a vast deal of unconscious humour in the 

 scene : the elaborate paraphernalia, including a stool 

 for the angler to sit on, the enormous rods, the baskets, 

 bags, and bait-cans, above all, the chimney-pot hats, 

 chokers, and cut-throat collars, seem ludicrously out 

 of proportion to the undersized jack which the princi- 

 pal sportsman is towing within reach of the powerful 

 gaff. In those days, the ceremonial costume which 

 modern practice only insists on for the hunting field, 

 was looked on as indispensable to all field sports; 

 peradventure some of us may live to hear young men 

 laughing at the unwritten law which, in the nineteenth 

 century, enforced the wearing of white breeches and 

 tall hats by all who would worthily pursue the fox. 



