ON THE BEST KINDS OF FISH FOE EIVEES. 147 



HammersmitL Of late years, however, tlie sewage 

 has affected even them, and they are scarcer. In 

 most of our brackish and tidal waters they abound. 



The Gudgeon is a most delicious fish, although a 

 small one ; it is scarcely less delicate than the smelt; 

 Few gravelly rivers in the midland counties are 

 without them. They serve, too, not only to furnish 

 an excellent dish for man, but a j)i^c6 de resistance 

 for all fish of prey. The fact is not generally known, 

 but gudgeon will thrive very well in ponds. In one 

 of the ponds in Eichmond Park — ^the largest of the 

 Penn ponds — it has been the custom of the anglers 

 fishing there, in order to save the', trouble of carryiag 

 home their bait-kettles full of water, to empty their 

 cans and turn the remainder of their live baits 

 into the pond. Many of these baits being at times 

 gudgeon, they have lived and thriven, and have bred 

 so freely, the keeper has informed me, that on, the 

 gravelly part of the pond it is easy to catch four, 

 five, or six dozen in an hour or two; but the 

 gudgeon thrives equally well in a muddy pond and 

 in even stagnant water, for I once emptied my bait- 

 kettle into a horse-pond ; there were about a score 

 of large gudgeon in it, and they bred rapidly in the 

 pond, so that in a year or two there were abundance 

 of gudgeons of all sizes. I have, however, never 

 L 2 



