THE DACE. 307 



mentions dace caught in this country eighteen inches 

 long. I fear that dace of this size were taken before his 

 time. In the Thames one that scales half a pound is con- 

 sidered a good fish; but Thames anglers, I fancy, prefer 

 to talk of dace by length rather than by weight. Six 

 inches is the " regulation " size on the Thames, shorter 

 than which it is not lawful to retain them except for the 

 purpose of bait, but I fear the regulation (to use a very 

 trite quotation), is — 



"More honour'd in the breach than the ohservance." 



A Thames angler may be justly proud of a dace which 

 approximates to twelve inches. 



G astronomically, dace have but little to commend them. 

 They are, however, in my opinion, less watery, less woolly, 

 and less muddy than either carp, tench, barbel, bream, 

 chub, or roach. Mr. Francis, who seems to have had a 

 retainer on behalf of our common fresh-water fish as 

 articles of food, says " They are a fairly delicate fish to 

 eat when in good order, and should be broiled dry, a slice 

 of butter being then allowed to melt upon them." An 

 old Thames-side recipe for converting large roach and 

 dace into "very pleasant and savoury food/' ran as 

 follows : — ■" Without scaling the fish, lay him on a grid- 

 iron, over a slow fire, and strew on him a little flour ; 

 when he begins to grow brown, make a slit not more than 

 skin deep, in his back from head to tail, and lay him on 

 again ; when he is broiled enough, his skin, scales and all, 

 will peel off, and leave the flesh, which will have become 

 very firm, perfectly clean; then open the belly, and 

 take out the inside, and use anchovy and butter for 

 sauce." Well, you can disguise anything with anchovy 



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