TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 197 



was supposed to be dead, and seized me by the thigh, where it 

 hung, sinking its teeth deeply into a stick which was used to 

 force open its jaws. 



More examples might easily be adduced ; but the above 

 are sufficient to prove that in rare instances, and when under 

 the influence of either extreme anger or hunger, a large pike 

 will not hesitate to attack the lords of creation. 



Such being the case, it is hardly necessary to say that it is 

 by no means uncommon for animals, often of large size, to be 

 similarly assaulted, and, in the case of the smaller species, 

 devoured by this fish. Accounts are on record of otters, dogs, 

 mules, oxen, and even horses, being attacked. Poultry are 

 constantly destroyed by the pike — 'the dwellers in the "eely- 

 place," ' as Hood punningly says, ' having come to pick-a-(////j/ : ' 

 sometimes the heads of swans, diving for food, encounter 

 instead the ever open jaws of the fish, and both are killed. 



The instincts of the pike being thus shown to be not only 

 piscivorous and ornivorous, but also homo-nivorous, we may 

 turn with a certain sense of poetical justice to the subjective side 

 of the picture — that, I mean, in which instead of eating he 

 is regarded from the point of view of being eaten. Indeed, 

 ichthyophagously considered, the pike is by no means an un- 

 interesting fish to the epicure, when properly cooked ; whilst, 

 from its substantial size and nutritive qualities, it frequently 

 forms a very useful addition to the housewife's bill of fare. A 

 fish of from 5 to 10 lbs. is generally to be preferred for the 

 table, for as Walton quaintly remarks, ' old and very great pikes 

 have in them more of state than goodness, the smaller or middle- 

 sized fishes being by the most and choicest palates observed to 

 be the best meat,' a dictum which Nobbes endorses, and adds, 

 ' One about 2 feet or 26 inches is most grateful to the palate, 

 and a male fish of that size is generally fat and delicious.' 



As to the gustatory qualities of the pike, however, it is fair 

 to say that opinions considerably differ, and the old adage 

 ' that what's one man's meat is another man's poison,' loses 

 none of its truth as applied to the question in dispute. Pro- 



