42 EXPERIENCES OF SPORT. 



the fish were very closely examined, and I 

 soon found out the cause. There are twenty 

 times more females than males, and had I not 

 kept my eyes open I should never have found 

 out how the male fish was distinguished. No 

 matter if he is a blood-red or a black-backed 

 one, the sign is always the same and always 

 there. It is a very bright star on the back, 

 composed of three or four scales at the end of 

 the back fin. There is no mistaking it. These 

 fish, I always observed, they would never give 

 me, and they were always lean ones. On inquiry 

 I found out that these were the male fish, and 

 much prized, and on insisting upon having a 

 fair proportion of these, I got seven of them to 

 the hundred, and then only by buying the whole 

 number mentioned. I have experimented on 

 these by putting the fish without the star on 

 the back in a pond together, and they have not 

 bred. I then put in those with a star, and the 

 consequence was I had hundreds of fish, and 

 they are increasing very rapidly. 



If any of my readers are interested in this 

 subject, I shall be very glad to give them fur- 

 ther information. 



In my "Pike Story," I should also have 

 mentioned another deadly bait, better, even, 

 than the gold fish, and that is the smelt. Of 

 all killing baits I have ever used, this is the 



