18*2 
PIKE. 
then the case with respect to the carp. As early as 
the year 1 466, great numbers of this fish were served 
up at the splendid feast given by George Nevil, 
archbishop of York. 
Boulker mentions a pike that was an ell long and 
weighed thirty-five pounds. He tells us that it was 
caught by his father, and presented to Lord Chol- 
mondeley. This pike, it seems, devoured all the 
fish in the canal where it was placed, so that, when 
the water was suffered to run off, only one solitary 
carp remained, and even that carried about with it 
the marks of its ferocious enemy, having been bitten 
in several places. The canal was again stocked with 
fish, which in the course of a twelvemonth all met 
with the same fate as their predecessors. His insa- 
tiable voracity even induced him to pull the ducks 
under water, and he was frequently seen at this 
practice by the workmen who were engaged near 
the canal. After this he was fed with the garbage 
from a slaughter-house ; but at length his keepers 
became careless, and he died ; it is supposed in 
consequence of their neglecting to supply him with 
his proper food. 
The intelligent Mr. Pennant has given the best 
general history of this fish, and to him we princi- 
pally stand indebted for what follows, 
The jaws of the pike are very loosely connected, 
and have on each side an additional bone like the 
jaw of a viper, which renders them capable of greater 
distension when the fish swallows its prey. It does not 
