n6 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. PARTI. 



honest men; and I trust : you jwill prove both, and therefore I 

 have trusted you with this secret. 



Let me next tell you that Gesner tells us there are no pikes 

 in Spain ; and that the largest are in the lake Thrasymene in 

 Italy ; and the next, if not equal to them, are the pikes of 

 England ; and that in England, Lincolnshire boasteth to have 

 the biggest. Just so doth Sussex "boast ot tour sorts of fish ; 

 namely, an Arundel Mullet, a Chichester Lobster, a Shclsey 

 Cockle, and an Amerley Trout. 



But I will take up no more of your time with this relation, 

 but proceed to give you some observations of the Carp, and 

 how to angle for him, and to dress him, but not till he is 

 caught. 



CHAPTER IX. 



OBSERVATIONS OF THE CARP ; DIRECTIONS HOW TO 

 FISH FOR HIM. 



PiSC. The Carp is the queen of rivers ; a stately, a good, and 

 a very subtle fish ; that was not at first bred, nor hath been long 

 in England, but is now naturalised. It is said they were 

 brought hither by one Mr. Mascal, a gentleman that then 

 lived at Plumsted, in Sussex, a county that abounds more with 

 fish than any in this nation. 



You may remember that I told you Gesner says there are no 

 pikes in Spain : and doubtless there was a time, about a hundred 

 or a few more years ago, when there were no carps in England, 

 as may seem to be affirmed by Sir Richard Baker, in whose 

 Chronicle you may find these verses : 



" Hops and turkeys, carps and beer, 

 Came into England all in a year." 



And doubtless, as of sea-fish the herring dies soonest out of 

 the water, and of fresh-water fish, the trout, so, except the eel, 

 the carp endures most hardness, and lives longest out of his own 



