I40 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 



effect upon his character, and whether when I threw him a frog 

 and addressed him caressingly as 'Tommy,' the steely cold 

 glance of his motionless eyes would soften, and possibly the 

 corners of his grim mouth relax into a convivial smile. When 

 I threw him the frog, the corners of his mouth did, indeed, 

 relax, but, alas ! it was only for the purpose of enclosing therein 

 the savoury morsel. Was it a judgment upon him for his in- 

 gratitude, that' my amphibious offering was very nearly proving 

 his destruction ? . . . ' Charley ' was the next sized pike in the 

 pond, and unperceived by me, was lying under the broad 

 leaves of some water-lilies not two yards in front of the spot 

 where the frog was thrown. The result was that both fish 

 simultaneously rushed forward open-mouthed, and ' Charley ' 

 being rather the smaller of the two, fairly darted into the 

 extended jaws of his vis-A-vis. It appeared at first likely that 

 one or both would be choked, but eventually they managed to 

 separate, with probably no worse effects than some scratches 

 on one side and a few broken teeth on the other. 



It would seem, however, from the following account, written 

 by Mr. Edward H. Cooper, in the pages of Land and Water, 

 that it is by no means impossible to more or less tame a pike 

 in a stew-pond. A pike who offers his back to be 'stroked 

 with a small stick ' may be considered to have made consider- 

 able progress on the road towards domesticity. 



When I was residing in Suffolk as a country clergyman, says 

 Mr. Cooper, I became acquainted with various peculiarities dis- 

 played in the pike tribe, the relation of which, I think, may prove 

 interesting to the readers of Land and Water. 



Having to use water from a small pond for all domestic pur- 

 poses, I procured a small pike about eight inches long, and as 

 nearly as I could judge about nine months to a year old, certainly 

 not more (but I have found by experience that the size of fish 

 much depends upon the quantity of food they are able to procure, 

 more so than upon mere age). The purpose for which I got the 

 pike in question, was to keep the pond, which was an artificial one, 

 free from all water defilers, as frogs, newts, lizards, and dragon fly 

 larvse. This he speedily did, and most rapidly increased in bulk. 



