278 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 



for the carp in a very few minutes pulled itself together, and 

 though a trifle groggy in its movements at fii'st, began to swim 

 about. Meanwhile the other — which for distinction's sake we may 

 call the Teetotaller— continued dead, and, the experiment being 

 considered complete, it was taken out of the water and thrown 

 away. A dead carp, even though it may have died of excessive 

 abstinence, is not worth much, at any rate not as a carp. About 

 four hours later, however, it occurred to the Secretary that perhaps 

 it was all piide on the part of the Teetotaller that made it go on 

 being dead ; that it would not commit itself to anything that 

 might seem to countenance the tippling of its companion ; that, 

 in fact, it persisted in keeping its eyes shut to the important fans 

 transpiring before it out of sheer obstinacy of principle. With this 

 in his mind, the Secretary took up the representative of temperance 

 and — we shudder as we write it — poured some brandy down its 

 throat. There was no feather used this time. He simply opened 

 the Teetotaller's mouth and let the spirits run down. .The fish 

 was then restored to the water for the second time, and for five 

 minutes refused to confess that the brandy had done it any good. 

 It floated helplessly on its side. All of a sudden, however, it 

 thought better of it— a live toper is, after all, something better 

 than a dead teetotaller — and wagged its tail. The motion was 

 very feeble, a mere apology of a wag — a waggle ; but, still, it was 

 a beginning. Then it moved a fin, and then it gaped, and finally, 

 turning itself right side uppermost, proceeded to swim. Both fish 

 are now alive and well; 



I have seen it stated, though I cannot say that I have met 

 with an instance within my own knowledge, — that upon the 

 drying up or exhaustion of a pond, the carp that were in it will 

 bury themselves deep below the surface of the mud, and re-appear 

 like the celebrated mud-fish of Ceylon in undiminished num- 

 bers upon the first return of the water. An instance of this 

 was recently staled in a contemporary to have happened in the 

 case of a dried up pond at Filly, near Norwich, and I accord- 

 ingly wrote to the Rev. Edward Gillet (the gentleman upon 

 whose authority the circumstance was narrated) to ask him to 

 be so good as to inform me of the real facts of the case. The 

 following is his reply : 



