ON LAKES, POOLS, ETC. 185 



of fish, but of all food prefers frogs. "We have 

 undoubtedly vast quantities of frogs in this country, 

 which at present are not used by us in any way as a 

 medium either of food or of producing food'; and so 

 rapid is the growth of the sUurus, that it has been 

 known to reach the enormous weight of o41b. in four 

 years. 



" Its flesh somewhat resembles veal in appearance, 

 and partakes of the rich flavour of the eel. All 

 Englishmen who have partaken of it unite in aver- 

 ring that it is superior even to our own noble salmon. 

 The above facts I have from Sir Stephen Lakeman, 

 to whose enterprise, energy, and determination the 

 introduction of the sUurus is due. It need not be 

 pointed out that, if we can replace the worthless carp 

 and roach with which our large sheets of water are 

 infested with a fish of this character, the gain to us 

 will be very great. Sir Stephen Lakeman brought 

 these fish from Kopaeheni, where he has an estate on 

 the banks of the Argisch, which is a tributary of the 

 Danube, and is about ten nules from Bucharest — a 

 distance of 1,800 miles. The labour of transporting 

 them hither was enormous. He started from Kopa- 

 eheni on the 23d of August, and brought these fish 

 by Bucharest to Giurgevo, a distance of fifty mUes, 

 thence by steamer to Basias (in Transylvania), and 



