A GAME ADVERSARY. 369 



sure you success. Almost a hundred yards of line have 

 passed through the heated rings, the strain commences to 

 tell upon the foe, and second by second the pace decreases, 

 till ultimately the adversary changes the route he pursued, 

 enabling the fisherman to recover many a yard of the tough 

 line. The battle is not yet finished ; a movement frightens 

 the prey, and a second dash is made for freedom, but it is 

 a feeble effort, and unworthy to be compared to the first; 

 still, it is the last struggle made for life, and the giant pike 

 is drawn within reach of the gaff, and soon flounders in 

 the bottom of the skiff. It is a splendid fish, dark bronze 

 upon the back, white as mother-of-pearl along the vent, 

 well-made and handsome but for the alligator-shaped head. 

 For a member of the family to which he belongs, he is 

 wondrously game ; for a salmon of the same proportions, 

 he is a wondrous cur. 



It is beyond a doubt that muskallonge have been cap- 

 tured exceeding eighty pounds, but such leviathans are 

 very scarce, their average weight being from fifteen to 

 twenty-five. 



For edible purposes they are much superior to the pike, 

 for they are firm and not insipid in taste. In fact, I can 

 recall on more than one occasion, when they have been 

 roasted in wood-ashes by our camp-fire, that they have giv- 

 en so much satisfaction, possibly resulting from the pro- 

 verbial hunter's appetite, that it would have puzzled the 

 most celebrated cook to have produced any thing that 

 would have been more enjoyed. 



PIKE. 



This species is very abundant throughout all the waters 

 of the Northern United States and Canadas that are suited 

 for its residence. However, the familiar name which heads 

 this chapter is almost unknown in the Western Land, its 



16* 



