PIKE. 
153 
of the other fishes which had been placed in this pond were 
one Tench, that weighed a pound and a half, and eight Crucians 
of about a pound eachj” and he adds, “I cannot have the 
smallest doubt that the Pike devoured the fish that were missing, 
and these nine that remained only escaped because they were 
rather too large for these Pikes to swallow.” But in addition 
to this, the same gentleman remarks, that in fact the Pike is 
doubly destructive of Tench, as well as of other fish, “not only 
devouring such as are of a size suitable to the capacity of his 
jaws and stomach, but also by seizing, mutilating, and finally 
destroying others which are too large to be so disposed of.” 
The formidable array of teeth in the mouth of the Pike must 
present an effectual barrier to the escape of any prey when 
once it has been grasped within the jaws; but this armature is 
of further use in crushing the life from the creature that is 
seized; and then it is conveyed away to a retreat, in order to 
its being passed into the stomach in a more deliberate manner. 
The usual haunts of the Pike are in the stiller waters of 
slow-flowing rivers, and ponds where weeds are growing; in 
which situations it lies in wait for any tempting prey that may 
come within sight, and from which it makes excursions in 
search of any living thing that may satisfy its hunger. On this 
it rushes with a violence well described in an extract given by 
Dr. Badhani, in his “Fish Tattle,” from which we quote it: — 
“Shrouded from observation in his solitary retreat, he follows 
with his eye the motions of the shoals of fish that wander 
heedlessly along; he marks the water-rat swimming to his 
burrow, the ducklings paddling among the water-weeds, the 
dabchick and the waterhen leisurely swimming on the surface ; 
he selects his victim, and, like the tiger springing from the jungle, 
he rushes forth, seldom indeed missing his aim; there is a sudden 
rush, circle after circle forms on the surface of the water, and 
all is still again in an instant;” and in this manner it sometimes 
happens that a pond is almost wholly deprived of its most 
valued inhabitants, the solitary Pike being left, like some human 
tyrants, to reign and starve in gloomy grandeur over a kingdom 
destitute of inhabitants. 
This fish is known in almost every part of England except 
Cornwall; and the lake or pond of Slapton Ley, in Devonshire, 
is the only part of that county in w'bich I can find it has 
voi. IV X 
