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to the ledge of rock on which I stood, nothing 
daunted by my repeated attempts to seize him. 
The keeper took one of the largest, about the 
same weight, in her lap, and stroked and patted 
it, saying, ^ Poor fellow! poor fellow!’ just as if 
it had been a child, and she opened its mouth, 
and put in a mussel, which he swallowed with appa- 
rent gusto — at least so I interpreted a wriggle of his 
tail at that moment — and she then put him back 
again. I observed several gradations of tameness 
in the fish ; some were quite tame, and came close 
up to the ledge on which I was kneeling ; another 
class kept parading from right to left about two 
or three yards from me, but they readily partook 
of some food that was thrown to them : a third 
kept aloof altogether, and would have nothing at 
all to do with me ; and others, which I did not 
see, kept themselves secluded from sight in the 
nooks and corners at the bottom of the pond, and 
were, I suppose, the ^ Johnny Newcomes,’ or 
^ Grifiins/ of the place. 
It is a curious fact that fish when they remain 
long in this pond always become blind; and I 
was informed that this is owing to there not being 
sufficient shelter for them from the heat and glare 
of the sun, owing to the shallowness of the water 
compared to the depth of their usual haunts. 
Several which I saw in this state are fed entirely 
by hand, as they are unable to compete in obtain- 
ing food with those whose sight is unimpaired. 
Surely some remedy might be found for this. 
One large and blind fellow called ^Jack’ is a great 
pet, and upon the keeper calling his name, he 
appeared to hear and understand her, for he came 
forward slowly, and she held a mussel to his 
s 
