THE ANGLER'S GUIDE. 57 



a little, so long as you do not bring him to the 

 top of the water. Take care, then, that you 

 tire him quite out, before you attempt to draw 

 him out of his element. Many a good barbel 

 has been lost, by attempting to bring him too 

 soon to the net. Some persons fish for barbel 

 with a ledger bait, and others with a clay bah 1 , 

 with baited hooks in it, but as we do not con- 

 sider them skilful and scientific ways, we say 

 no more about them. In no case attempt to 

 land a barbel without a landing-net or hook. 



The barbel is considered by most persons 

 a rather coarse eating fish; but there is a 

 sweetness in the flesh of them when they are 

 in season, which is agreeable to some palates. 

 They may be dressed in the same way as jack 

 and pike. As we have sung of the roach, the 

 jack, and the pike, I suppose we must do the 

 same of the barbel. But we must beg the 

 indulgence of our angling friends, for we 

 know that some of them are rather poetical, 

 and they must recollect, too, that it is the 

 young, in particular, that read angler's guides. 



THE BARBEL. 



The barbel, with his leathery nose, 

 Comes from the sea, as some suppose, 

 But lives and feeds in rivers fair, 

 And loves the summer's sun and air. 



