CHAP:rEE V. 



ANGLERS' FISHES. 



Fresh-Water Pish not of much value — ^The Angler and his Equipment — 

 Pleasures of the Country in May — Anglers' Fishes— Trout, Pike, 

 Perch, and Caip — Gipsy Anglers — ^Angling Localities — Gold Fish — 

 The River Scenery of England — The Thames — Thames Anglers — Sea 

 Angling — Various Kinds of Sea-Fish — Proper Kinds of Bait — ^The 

 Tackle necessary — The Island of Arran — Corry — Goatfell, etc. 



Although it may be deemed necessary in a work like the 

 present to devote some space to the subject, I do not set much 

 store by the common anglers' fishes, so far, at least, as their 

 food value is concerned ; for although we were to cultivate them 

 to their highest pitch, and by means of artificial spawning 

 multiply them exceedingly, they would never (the salmon, of 

 course, excepted) form an article of any great commercial value 

 in this beef-eating country. In France, where the Church 

 enjoins many fasts and strict sumptuary laws, the people require, 

 in the inland districts especially, to have recourse to the meanest 

 produce of the rivers in order to cany out the injunctions of 

 their priests. The smallest streams are therefore assiduously 

 cultivated in many continental countries ; but the fresh-water 

 fishes of the British Islands have only at present a very slight 

 commercial value, as they are not captured, either individually 

 or in the aggregate, for the purposes of commerce ; but to 

 persons fond of angling they afford sport and healthful recreation, 

 whether they are pursued in the large English or Scottish lakes, 

 or caught in the small rivulets that feed our great salmon 

 streams. 



Although Britain is possessed of a seabord of 4000 miles, 

 and a large number of fine rivers and lakes, the total number of 

 British fishes is comparatively small (about 250 only), and the 

 varieties which live in the fresh water are therefore very limited ; 

 those that afford sport may be numbered with ease on our ten 



