108 BRITISH FISH AND HSIIEKIES. 



first of all put into the lake by the hands of the 

 governor of the universe, Frederick the Second, 

 the 5th of October, 1230." This fish must 

 therefore have been at least 267 years old. It 

 is said to have ■weighed 350 pounds. 



In the lakes of Scotland and Ireland, pike 

 weighing from fifty to seventy pounds have 

 occasionally been taken, and Horsea Mere, and 

 Heigham Sounds, two large sheets of water in 

 Norfolk, have been long celebrated for the size 

 and excellence of theu- pike, and also for their 

 abundance. 



In the lakes of North America, a species of 

 pike, called the muskanungee, grows to an 

 enormous size, but we cannot obtain any de- 

 finite measurements. 



It must not be supposed that the larger pike 

 are, the better is their flesh for the table ; 

 Walton rightly says : " Old or very great pikes 

 have in them more of state than goodness ; the 

 smaller or middling-sized pikes being, by the 

 most and choicest palates, observed to be the 

 best meat." 



In warm and sunny weather, the pike mostly 

 swims near the surface, and may be often seen 

 luxuriating in the sunbeams, lulled into a sort 

 of slumber. It is not difiicult at such times to 

 draw a wire noose, fastened to the end of a rod 



