CHAP. XIV.] THE FOURTH DAY. 169 



the likelier to catch fish. Some have directed to cut the cheese 

 into thin pieces, and toast it ; and then tie it on the hook with 

 fine silk. And some advise to fish for the Barbel with sheep's 

 tallow and soft cheese, beaten or worked into a paste ; and that 

 it is choicely good in August : and I believe it. But, doubtless, 

 the lob-worm well scoured, and the gentle not too much scoured, 

 and cheese ordered as I have directed, are baits enough, and I 

 think will serve in any month : though I shall commend any 

 angler that tries conclusions, and is industrious to improve the 

 art. And now, my honest scholar, the long shower and my tedious, 

 discourse are both ended together : and I shall give you but this 

 observation, that when you fish for a Barbel, your rod and line be 

 both long and of good strength ; for, as I told you, you will find 

 him a heavy and a dogged fish to be dealt withal j yet he seldom 

 or never breaks his hold, if he be once strucken. And if you 

 would know more of fishing for the Umber or Barbel,* get into 



* Of the haunts of the Barbel, the author has spoken sufficiently. Barbel spawn 

 about the middle of April, and grow in season about a month after. Baits for Barbel, 

 other than what Walton has mentioned, are the young brood of wasps, hornets, and 

 humble bees. In fishing for him, use a very strong rod, and a silk line with a shot and 

 a bullet, as directed for the Trout. Some use a cork float, which, if you do, be sure to 

 fish as close to the bottom as possible, so as the bait does not touch the ground. In 

 angling for lesser fish, the angler will sometimes find it a misfortune to hook a Barbel ; 

 a fibh so sullen, that, with fine tackle, it is scarcely possible to land one of twelve inches 

 long. A lover of angling told me the following story : He was fishing in the river Lea, 

 at the ferry called Jeremy*s, and had hooked a large fish at the time when some Lon- 

 doners, with their horses, were passing : they congratulated him on his success, and got 

 out of the ferry-boat, but, finding the fish not likely to yield, mounted their horses and 

 rode off. The fact was, that, angling for small fish, his bait had been taken by a Barbel 

 too big for the fisher to manage. Nor caring to risk his tackle by attempting to raise 

 him, he hoped to tire him, and, to that end, suffered himself to be led (to use his own' 

 expression) as a blind man is by his dog, several yards up, and as many down the bank 

 of the river, in short, for so many hours, that the horsemen above mentioned (who had 

 been at Walthamstow, and dined) were returned, who, seeing him thus occupied, cried 

 out, " What, master, another large fish?" " No," says Prjcrt^^r, "it is the very same." 

 ** Nay," says one of them, "that can never be ; for it is five hours since we crossed the 

 river." And not believing him, they rode on their way. At length our angler deter- 

 mined to do that which a less patient one would have done long before; he made one 

 vigorous effort to land his fish, broke his tackle, and lost him. 



Fishing for Barbel is, at best, but a dull recreation. They are a sullen fish, and bite 

 but slowly. The angler drops in his bait ; the bullet, at the bottom of the line, fixes it 

 to one spot of the river. Tired with waiting for a bite, he generally lays down his rod, 

 and, exercising the patience of a setting-dog, waits till he sees the top of his rod move ; 

 then begins a struggle between him and the fish, which he calls his sport : and that being 

 over, he lands his prize, fresh baits his hook, and lays in for another. — H. 



The Barbel-angler has, however, sometimes occasion to exult at the sport which he 

 finds. As recently as August g, 1807, at one of the deeps near Shepperton, which had 

 been prepared by baiting the preceding night, a party of four gentlemen, named Emes, 

 Atkinson, Hall, and Moore, separated into two boats, began fishing between ten and 

 eleven in the forenoon : in about five hours they caught the following quantity :■ 



