THE ANGLER'S GUIDE. 87 



told him, at the bottom of the garden ; he 

 stared, and could hardly believe us, until we 

 showed him the basket, when he lifted up both 

 hands and exclaimed : " Well, I have lived 

 here these forty years, and never dreamed of 

 catching one, so fond as I am of them ; bless 

 my soul, what a fool I have been !" The eel 

 is a serpentine fish, but it is highly nutritious. 



Carp are not very frequently found in rivers 

 in any great number, but they are to be found 

 in ponds in abundance, especially the Prussian, 

 which always run very small. Carp will take 

 either paste or worms, and they feed best in 

 the summer. They grow to a very great size, 

 and are a very game fish, and will not give in 

 to the angler until they have exhausted every 

 modicum of strength they possess ; and even 

 after that, they will live in your basket for a 

 number of hours, as though they were deter- 

 mined to live in spite of you. Some people 

 prize them for the table, but others think them 

 coarse eating. 



Tench are in their habits similar to carp, 

 and consequently they always live well to- 

 gether, many ponds in the kingdom possessing 

 scarcely any other fish. Tench will take a 

 worm sometimes very freely in the summer, 



