168 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
was stabbed by my directions in the spinal marrow, with 
a large knife, which appeared to be the most humane man- 
ner of killing him, and I then ordered all the signals, with 
the sky-scrapers, to be hoisted; and the whoop re-echoed 
through the whole range of the Grampians. On opening 
his jaws, to endeavour to take the hooks from him, which 
were both fast in his gorge, so dreadful a forest of teeth, 
or tushes, I think I never beheld: if I had not had a double 
link of gimp with two swivels, the depth between his sto- 
mach and mouth would have made the former quite use- 
less. His measurement, accurately taken, was five feet 
four inches, from eye to fork. 
On examining him attentively, I perceived that a very 
large bag hung deep below his belly, and, thinking it was 
lower than usual with other Pike, I concluded that this 
had been deeply fed but a short time before he was taken. 
After exhibiting him, therefore, to several gentlemen, I 
ordered that my housekeeper, on whom I could depend, 
should have him carefully opened the next day, and the 
contents of his stomach be reserved for inspection; and 
now ordering the servants to proceed with their burden, 
we returned to Avemore, drank tea, and afterwards went 
on to the Raits, where we produced our monster for in- 
spection, to the no small gratification of the spectators, 
whose curiosity had been strongly excited to view a fish 
of such magnitude. 
Agreeable to the orders of the preceding day, Mrs. C. 
opened the Pike, and sent to us the contents of his sto- 
mach, which, to our surprise, consisted of part of another 
Pike half digested. The tumour, or bag, arose from his 
having, no doubt many years since, gorged a hook, which 
seemed to us better calculated for sea than for fresh-water 
fishing. It was wonderfully honey-combed, but free from 
rust, so that I cannot doubt of its having been at least ten 
years in his belly. His head and back bone I ordered to 
be preserved in the best manner I could devise, and the 
rest to be salted down. 
The weight of this fish, judging by the trones we had 
with us, which would only weigh twenty-nine pounds, 
made us, according to our best opinions, estimate him at 
between forty-seven and forty-eight pounds. I had before 
this seen Pike of thirty-six pounds, and have had them at 
Thornville of above thirty; but the addition of seventeen 
pounds and a half made this quite a different fish. There 
may be larger Pike, but I cannot readily credit the ac- 
counts of such until I receive more authentic information. 
This extraordinary fish was taken in Loch Alva, in the 
Highlands of Scotland. 
[Sportsman's Cyclopedia. 
MANNER OF PRESERVING GAME, BY POISON- 
ING GROUNDS, AS ADOPTED IN ENGLAND 
AND IRELAND. 
The best mode for preserving grouse, is by poison, 
nux vomica, and yellow arsenic, of each, half an ounce, 
mixed with a quarter of a pound of wheaten flour, and 
divided into pills of an ounce each. These pills must be 
dipped in rendered tallow, as candles are, until they have 
a thick coat of the same, which preserves them, not only 
from being destroyed by the wet, but it induces the dog to 
take it; for a dog must be made use of to poach grouse. 
The poison should be laid round the borders of the pro- 
perty, and a second line inside of the first, so that if the 
dogs miss the first, they will by chance take the second; 
it should be put on a slate, or a small stone should be put 
under it, or a short stick drove in the ground, with the 
poison secured to the top of it; but not so as to project 
over the heath, which should be drawn round it, in order 
to keep it from the sight of the poacher. In Ireland, this 
is always practised, and those who value their dogs, never 
attempt to approach the poisoned grounds; by the law 
there, it is necessary to give a month’s notice in the news- 
paper, printed in the county wherein the property is, and 
those who wish to poison, are often debarred the pleasure 
of shooting on their own mountains for the season; but if 
the poison is mai'ked as it should be, it can be taken up by 
the keepers, the day before the owner wishes to shoot, and 
laid again at night, without the smallest risk, if the 
keeper is a steady person. 
A gentleman in the west of Ireland, who was remarka- 
bly tenacious of his game, poisoned his mountains one 
season, and having it marked, used to have it taken up 
when he thought proper. Some sportsmen who happen- 
ed to come on it one day to shoot, bad three brace of 
beautiful setters poisoned: in revenge they made up a couple 
of thousand pills, and in the night, thickly poisoned all 
these mountains, unknown to the proprietor, who, on 
taking up his own poison, and going out to shoot, was 
greatly surprised to find all his fine dogs dead, in the 
course of three hours after he began to shoot, never sus- 
pecting the trap that was laid for him. It is inconceiva- 
ble to think how immediate the death of every dog is after 
taking this poison; he seldom outlives seven minutes, ex- 
cept some assistance is given, which a sportsman seldom 
can come at on a mountain, unless he is aware of poison 
being laid, and then it is to be hoped, he would not be so 
imprudent as to risk the life of a valuable dog. 
[, Shooting Directory. 
