PIKE AND PERCH 157 
I was anxious to get a picture of that lovely shrub, 
the Tutsan (Hypericum Androsemum). I came 
across a beautiful specimen growing at the side of 
a rapid stream, the bed of which was strewn with 
boulders. I stood high and dry on a boulder, set 
my camera legs in the stream, and got my plant 
focussed. Just when I was going to put in the dark 
slide the stream upset the camera. I made a dart 
for it, and before I realized what had happened, I 
was in a hole of the stream, nearly up to my waist ! 
However, I had my revenge. I stood in the cold 
water—it was very, very cold—and got my picture. 
A little wetting does one no harm so long as the 
blood is kept in circulation by active exercise. I 
walked a couple of hours in my wet condition, and 
experienced no ill-effects. 
Now we are at the pond. How luxuriantly the 
hedge grows in the background, and how the 
Alders almost kiss the water! The Hawthorn 
(Crategus Oxyacantha), which, by the way, belongs 
to the Rose family, is in glorious bloom, and the air 
is laden with its fragrance. 
I have caught both Pike and Perch in this pond. 
The Pike, you know, has the reputation of being 
the fresh-water shark, and I’m sure he justifies his 
reputation. All’s fish that comes into his net! 
He will swallow tadpoles, fish, young waterhens, 
voles, and even young ducks. He has a habit of 
remaining apparently motionless among the weeds, 
but when he spies an attractive morsel he is after 
it like a shot. I think the Perch is the most beautiful 
of our fresh-water fish; he is dressed in a lovely 
combination of colours—red fins, deep green back, 
