vHE CARP OR TENCH. 
153 
The carp generally feeds on worms and water insects, and 
are very tenacious of life, having been known to live a great 
length of time out of water. As an instance of this, it is re- 
lated that they have in Holland a way of fattening them, by 
hanging them up in a net in a damp cellar, and feeding them 
with bread and milk. They are then placed in wet moss, 
and moistened twice a day ; and by which method they grow 
very large, and increase in flavor. 
Holland gives the following instance of their tenacity of 
life, through a Mr. Hilditch, who painted the full length por- 
traits of a carp and tench. “ He kept these fish in a tub for 
a week, taking them out alternately in the morning at ten 
o’clock, to paint fiorn, and putting them into water again at 
foui, during six days; and I may add, that his amiable sister 
pleaded so well for the lives of these two fish, who had seen 
so much land service, that Mr. Hilditch took them down from 
Ludgnte-Hill to Black-1' nur’s-B ridge, when, to use his own 
words. * they swam away fresh and lively.’ ” 
They are said to spawn several times in the course of a 
year, but their time or times of spawning depen Is much on 
the state of the weather and the temperature of the water. 
The time when they are known to spawn, is in the months 
of May or June. 
They are found near the bottom of muddy streams and 
ponds, and choose to lie under and near the weeds, plants, 
and water lilies. When old, they are like the trout, shy and 
crafty, and sometimes, where they are scarce, require all the 
skill of the most finished Angler in taking them. In large 
ponds, however, where they are found in abundance, they 
are often very tame, and are known in some instances in Ger- 
many, to he called to feed by tile ringing of a bell. 
Holland says: “ Even large carp become very tame in 
ponds where they are regularly fed ; for Mr. Jesse says of 
