THE CARP FAMILY. 119 



against the brickwork, and otherwise show considerable 

 signs of playfubiess. 



The name ' Barbel/ as already noticed, is derived from 

 the barbs or beards at the corners of the mouth, which are 

 given to the fish to assist it in feeling its way about in 

 deep and, consequently, more or less dark waters, and pro- 

 bably also for the purpose of enabling it to detect the 

 nature of the substances with which it comes in contact. 

 Of the species provided with these barbs, viz. the Carp, 

 Tench, Gudgeon, Loach, and Burbot, all find their food prin- 

 cipally, or wholly, on the bottom ; and generally the fact of 

 a fish being ' bearded ' affords a correct index to its habits. 



The food of the Barbel consists principally of slugs, 

 worms, grubs, and occasionally of small fish ; and in order 

 to procure these it turns up the gravel and loose stones 

 with its nose, in very much the same manner that a pig 

 furrows a field with its snout. The baits for the fish are 

 lob-worms, greaves, gentles, cheese, caddis-worms, and 

 many others ; but of these the first three (here placed in 

 their order of merit) are, in my opinion, much the best- 

 Three styles of fishing also, one of which is peculiar to the 

 Barbel, are commonly employed for its capture. These 

 are — ordinary float-fishing, Nottingham-fishing (a clever 

 variation of float-fishing), and leger-fishing, which is the 

 specialty of the art, and was, until late years, almost 

 wholly confined to the Thames and its habitues. A good 

 chapter on the subject will be found in Baily's Angler's 

 Instructor, p. 43. 



