366 §=Wild Life in a Southern County. 
shallower parts become land, and are even passable 
on foot, though in places quicksands and deep fine 
mud must be carefully avoided. The fish that pre- 
viously could enjoy a swim of some three-quarters of 
a mile are then forced to retire to one deep hole only 
a few acres in extent. Now commences a reign 
of terror, of which it is difficult to convey an adequate 
idea. 
These waters have not been netted for years, and 
consequently both pike and perch have increased to 
an extraordinary degree, and many of them have 
attained huge proportions. Pike of six pounds are 
commonly caught; eight, ten, twelve, and fourteen 
pound fish have often been landed. There was a tra- 
dition of a pike that weighed a quarter of a hundred- 
weight, but one day the tradition was put into the shade 
by the capture of a pike that scaled a little over thirty 
pounds. There are supposed to be several more such 
monsters of the deep, since every now and then some 
labourer passing by on a sunny day, when jack ap- 
proach the shore and bask near the surface, declares 
that he has seen one as big asaman’s leg. But about 
the vast number of ordinary-sized jack there can be 
no doubt at all; since anyone may see them who 
will stroll by the water’s edge on a bright warm day, 
taking care to walk slowly and not to jar the ground 
or let his shadow fall on the water before he can 
glance round the willows and bushes. Jack may 
then be seen basking by the weeds. 
