472 
VERTEBRATA. 
adds, " that a gentleman now residing in AYeybridge, in Surrey, Avallcing one day by the side of 
tlie river AVey, near that town, saw a large pike in a shallow creek. He immediately pulled off 
his coat, tucked up his shirt-sleeves, and went into the Avater to intercept the return of the fish 
to the river, and to endeavor to throw it out upon the bank by getting his hands under it. 
During this attempt, the pike, finding he could not make his escape, seized one of the arms of 
the gentleman, and lacerated it so much that the marks of the wound are still visible." 
Pliny considered the pike as the longest-lived, and likely to attain the largest size of any fresh- 
water fish. Pennant refers to one that was ninety years old ; but Gesner relates that in the 
year 1497 a pike Avas taken at Hailbrun, in Suabia, with a brazen ring attached to it on which 
were these words, in Greek characters : " I am the fish which Avas first of all put into this lake 
by the hands of the Governor of the Universe, Frederick the Second, the 5th October, 1230." 
This fish Avas therefore two hundred and sixty-seven years old, and Avas said to have Aveighed 
three hundred and fifty pounds. The skeleton, nineteen feet in length, Avas long preserved at 
Manheim as a great curiosity in natural history. The lakes of Scotland have produced pike of 
fifty -five pounds' Aveight ; and some of the Irish lakes are said to have aff'orded pike of seventy 
pounds; "but it is observed," saj^s honest Izaak Walton, "that such old or very great pikes 
have in them more of state than goodness ; the smaller or middle-sized pikes being by the most 
and choicest palates, observed to be the best meat." 
The flesh of the pike is of good quality, and those of the Medway, in England, Avhen feeding on 
the smelt, acquire excellent condition, Avith peculiarly fine flavor. In Lapland, and some other 
northern countries of Europe, large quantities of pike are caught during the spawning season, 
being then most easily taken, and are dried for future use. 
In North America there are several species of this genus, some of them very remarkable. The 
Common American Pike or Pickerel, E. reticulatus, is from one to three feet long, and is 
found in most of the lakes, ponds, and rivers of the Middle and Eastern States. It is especially 
abundant in the numerous bright, limpid lakes of Ncav England, and is there taken in large 
numbers. In habits it ag-rees Avith 
the European species ; it not only 
feeds on fish, but on frogs, Avater-rats, 
and even young water-foAvl. When 
introduced into a piece of Avater it 
soon makes almost every other spe- 
cies scarce, except the perch, Avhose 
bony spines protect it even from this 
Avolf of the waters. It is taken in 
various Avays, though perhaps most commonly with hook and line, having a small floating buoy 
and living bait. Frank Forester says : " I infinitely prefer trolling with the gorge-hook to fishing 
either Avith the common snap or Avhat is here called the sockdollager hook, Avhich last I regard 
as a great and dangerous humbug !" This fish is taken in considerable numbers in Avinter, by 
cutting through the ice. Its Aveight is tAvo to five pounds; sometimes even, though rarely, 
twelve pounds. 
The Long Island or Varied Pickerel, E. fasciatus, is common in the trout-ponds and clear 
runjiing brooks of Long Island ; it resembles the common pike, but is not more than half its size, 
rarely exceeding a pound in Aveight. It is remarkable for its very large scales. This fish is 
found in NeAV Jersey, and generally in the State of Ncav York. 
The Great Northern Pickerel, E. hicioidcs, is an exceedingly fine species, weighing from 
four to ten, and even up to seA'enteen pounds. The back is of a rich blackish-green. It is bold and 
voracious, and takes any sort of bait in spinning or trolling ; it is captured in Avinter by baits set 
through the ice, and is an essential resource to the Indian hunter Avhen the chase fails him. It 
devours fishes of CA^ery A^ariety, even its own species and the thorny perch, rats, reptiles, Avater- 
fowl, indeed any living thing that comes Avithin its reach. It is found in the great lakes and 
rivers, from Lake Superior to the St. LaAvrence. 
The Mascalonge, a term said to be derived from the Canadian French, Masque allonge, and 
THE PICKEREL. 
