208 SPORTS AND ANECDOTES. 



How the ugly monster was caught I never heard, 

 but I suspect in some kind of bow-net or eel-pot. 

 Having seen this beast, and having found out where 

 he came from, a friend and myself made an excursion 

 to the lake, which was situated in a pretty valley 

 surrounded by rather swampy ground. The lake 

 itself was not a very tempting-looking one, and the 

 water was anything but clear, and anything but fishy 

 looking. We, however, got the loan of a rustic's 

 boat, and proceeded to bait some lines, and tried all 

 possible means to get hold of the great Levi-Nathan 

 of the lake. We sat for some hours in the broiling 

 sun, fully expecting to be pulled in every moment, 

 but no ! No one seemed to be at home, or at least 

 they were not hungry, and we did not seem to know 

 how to , make them so. 



At last, getting tired of the business, we went to 

 a small house on the shore, and were civilly con- 

 ducted to where some rude baskets or eel-pots, made 

 of willow rods, were set, and in them were a few 

 small welrers, quite as ugly as the big one, but not 

 weighing more than three or four pounds each. One 

 of these we took home and had a slice or two cooked, 

 but it wasn't good, being flabby and of a white 

 transparent colour, and you might almost have eaten 



