PIKE. 15 



quantity of good gravy ; let it boil until it becomes 

 thick ; put the fish, which has been scaled, cleaned, and 

 cut into slices, into another vessel, with a little stock, 

 salt, pepper, and the juice of a lemon, and let it boil 

 till the liquor is quite reduced; then dish up the fish, 

 pouring over it the sauce, and serve. 



SECT. IV. THE PIKE. 

 Esox Lucius. 



THIS fish, which is called a Jack when under three 

 pounds weight, is ill-looking, and is characterized by 

 inordinate fierceness and voracity. 



" Pike, fell tyrant of the liquid plain, 

 With ravenous waste devours his fellow train." 



And it is not at all nice in its selection of food. Not 

 only fish and frogs, water-rats and young ducks, but, 

 when they are upon the feed, almost anything that 

 comes in their way is seized upon and gorged. Mr. 

 Pennant speaks of a pike which was choked in an 

 attempt to swallow a large fish of its own species. 



The body of the pike is long, and is cased with small, 

 hard scales. When in season, that is, from July to 

 November, it is covered with a mucous or slimy 

 substance. The head is flattish, the under jaw 

 something longer than the upper one, the mouth wide, 

 and the lower jaw is set round with large crooked canine 

 teeth. The back and upper part of -the sides are of 

 a greenish golden hue, and the belly is of a dusky white. 

 The eyes are bright yellow, and sunk low in the sockets. 

 The pike spawns in the month of March, and after it 



