SOME BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 183 



appeared. Until the line got clear away, I did 

 not strike, and then struck but gently. The rod 

 bent double, and, as there were no water-lilies or 

 rushes, I gave plenty of scope, then reeled up, 

 and, with a landing-net, brought to grass a splendid 

 carp that pulled down the steelyard at 6 lbs. By 

 breakfast-time I had half a dozen, including one of 

 8 lbs. weight. I secured them in a box with holes, 

 and placed them in a clear, running stream to rid 

 them of their muddiness. I then selected a couple 

 and gave them to the cook, who scoured them 

 with salt and water, inserted a savoury stuffing, 

 according to the immortal Izaak's recipe, and 

 stewed them in German fashion. They were im- 

 mensely appreciated, and I congratulated myself 

 on having introduced a new culinary " sensation." 



Those elegant, and, as Frank Buckland affirms, 

 useful little fish, the bleak, that feed on insects and 

 garbage at the mouths of sewers, abounded in the 

 moat. They played about the surface in shoals, 

 but declined to bite at anything solid, antl were 

 hardly worth enticing with an artificial fly. 



Eels, however, the common or sharp-nosed kind, 

 took any bait that was allowed to lie on the mud, 

 which was pretty thick, owing to the accumulation 

 of dead leaves which fell into it every autumn. 

 When a dish of eels was required, they were 



