CHAP. IX.] THE FOURTH DAY. 217 



but these, with diligence, and patient watchfulness, will do 

 it better than any that I have ever practised, or heard of. 

 And yet I shall tell you, that the crumbs of white bread and 

 honey made into a paste, is a good bait for a carp ; and you 

 know it is more easily made. 1 And having said thus much 

 of the carp, 2 my next discourse shall be of the bream, which 

 .shall not prove so tedious ; and therefore I desire the con- 

 tinuance of your attention. 



But first 1 will tell you how to make this carp, that is so 

 curious to be caught, so curious a dish of meat, as shall 

 make him worth all your labour and patience : and though 

 it is not without some trouble and charges, yet it will 

 recompense both. 



Take a carp, alive if possible, scour him, and rub him 

 clean with water and salt, but scale him not : then open 

 him, and put him with his blood and his liver, which you 

 must save when you open him, into a small pot or kettle ; 



or eight feet from the bank, with refuse potatoes well boiled, and do this 

 for about a week. If there is no tree close to the spot, have a wattled 

 hurdle placed so that you may conceal yourself behind it, for it is a sine 

 qua non to keep out of sight of carp, and to prevent your shadow from 

 falling on the water. Provide yourself with a strong rod, and about forty 

 yards of line on a reel. Get the best and strongest gut you can procure, and 

 a well-tied small Limerick hook at the end, but without shot or float. Bury 

 the hook in a small piece of half-boiled potato, about as big as the end of 

 your little finger. Drop it very gently into the water, about five or six feet 

 from the shore, and strike as soon as you perceive the line to begin to 

 move. Have a landing-net, and land your carp as soon as you can. 

 Probatum est. Carp are in season from October to March. ED. 



1 And see a bait that serves likewise for the Bream, in the next chapter. H. 



2 The haunts of the river-carp are, in the winter months, the broadest 

 and most quiet parts of the river ; but, in summer, they lie in deep holes, 

 nooks, and reaches, near some scour and under roots of trees, hollow 

 banks and, till they are near rotting, amongst or near great beds of weeds, 

 flags, &c. Pond-carp cannot with propriety be said to have any haunts ; 

 only it is to be noted, that they love a fat rich soil, and never thrive 

 in a cold hungry water. 



They breed three or four times a year ; but their first spawning-time is 

 the beginning of May. [Erroneous : see note at p. 208. ED.] 



Baits for the carp are all sorts of earth and dunghill-worms, flag- worms ; 

 grasshoppers, though not at top ; ox-brains, the pith of an ox's back-bone ; 

 green peas ; and red or black cherries, with the stones taken out. [Red 

 worms and sweet paste are among the best baits. ED.] 



Fish with strong tackle, very near the bottom, and with a fine grass, or 

 gut next the hook ; and use a goose-quill float. Never attempt to angle 

 for the carp in a boat ; for they will not come near it. H. 



