1 66 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 



years ago a London clergyman paid me a visit in Scotland. 

 He had recently become acquainted with the charms of angling, 

 and on the first morning after his arrival fixed a longing eye 

 upon a large natural lake which lies in front of my house. To 

 his enquiry about the sporting capabilities of this sheet of water, 

 I could but tell him that it contained no fish except pike, 

 perch, and eels, which are not highly esteemed in the North ; 

 in fact, they are cursed as vermin occupying thousands of acres 

 which ought to be peopled by the nobler trout. However, it 

 was September, and both pike and perch were at their best. 

 Tremulous with excitement my friend disappeared directly 

 after breakfast, and I saw no more of him till I came in that 

 evening in time for dinner. Never did I behold a man more 

 unaffectedly delighted. There he was, dancing about among 

 nineteen pike laid out before him, in lines, from 15 lb. down- 

 ward. It was my destiny to damp his pride in the biggest fish. 

 Observing a suspicious fulness in its abdomen, I caused it to be 

 cut open, which revealed the secret of the convexity. A jack* 

 of 2 lb. weight, recently swallowed, was in the stomach of the 

 brute, whereby the weight of the fifteen-pounder was virtually 

 cut down to 13 lb. 



Nor is this incident exceptional. Pike are habitually 

 cannibals ; quantity, not quality, is what they demand, 

 and the only line they draw in diet is at what cannot be 

 swallowed. Apologists for the pike, if such there be, might 

 draw tears by describing the anguish of a large pike on having 

 by accident seized what he fancied, in the dim light of some 

 deep mere, was a lusty trout, and found, too late, that it was a 

 great-grand-nephew, or even one of his own children. Too 

 late ! yes, because nothing upon which those fearful jaws 

 once close can ever retreat from them. The multitude of 

 sickle-shaped teeth can only be withdrawn by bending them 

 backwards, thereby forcing the victim still further into 

 the trap. 



* Pike under 4 lb. weight are usually called " jack." 



