440 THE UMBER, OR GRAYLING - COMMON PIKE. 



THJI UMBER, OB GRAYLING. 



The ancient writers strongly recommend these fish as food for sick 

 persons: they considered them 

 to b peculiarly wholesome,, and 

 easy of digestion. To oil made 

 from the fat of the Graylings, 

 they attributed the property of 

 obliterating the marks of small- 

 IKJX, freckles, and other spots 

 on the skin. The season of the 

 year during which these fish 

 are considered in greatest per- 

 fection, is from September to January. 



Graylings delight chiefly in rapid streams, where they afford greafc 

 amusement to the angler. They are very voracious, and rise eagerly 

 to the Fly. They are bolder fish than Trout, and even if misseS 

 everal times successively they will still pursue. So rapid are their 

 motions in the water, that their name of Umber has been thence 

 derived. Ausonius says of them, 



" The Uraber swift, escapes the quickest eye.* 



They feed principally on worms, insects, and water-snails; and the 

 jLclLs of the latter ore often found in great quantity in their stomachs, 



OF THE FIEE TBTBK 



ll cbes not appear that more than three species of Pike wer 

 kno^n to the ancients. The species at present known, are fifteen iu 

 number. They are all predatory fish, but few of them, are so voracious 

 as tho Common Pike. They multiply fast, and increase rapidly ia 

 ize. Their velocity in the water is very great, and tkeir general 

 muse Uar power* are beyoad those of most; other fish* 



THB COMMON P1KB. 



There b scarcely any fish of its size in the world r that m voracity 

 can equal the Pike. One of these 

 fish has been known to choke 

 itself in attempting to swallow 

 another of its own species, that 

 proved too large a morsel: and it 

 Las been well authenticated, that 

 if* Lord Gower'a caaal at Trent- 



