one of them, so that the worm may not hang lower in the water than eight inches; the Angler must retire as far as he is able to discern the shot, which when he sees drawn off the leaf he is to strike his fish, and with all expedition get him to shore.

One Gentleman recommends the taking Carp with a sort of small trimmer; the Cork to be the size of what fits the wide-mouthed Gooseberry-bottles; the line three feet or more, according to the depth of the water; the last six inches near the hook to be silkworm gut; the hook of a moderate bigness, with two or three shot fastened a few inches above on the line, to keep the bait (which should be marsh or other worms) straight in the water: if the pond is large, or not easy of access at the sides, a boat is requisite to attend the corks, otherwise a line fixed to a long rod, with a few Thorns tied to the end, will, by being thrown beyond a cork, so entangle as to bring it to hand. He asserts, that by this method he has caught many brace of a morning, and some of them the best fish the water contained.

The most ingenious plan (but not illustrated by any proofs of its efficacy) for reducing the Carp to the necessity of taking a bait is said to be by giving him a dose of physic (which he never refuses) over Night; by which means he is purged, his Stomach emptied, and he is consequently so hungry that his natural Shyness forsakes him, and he falls to with the appetite of an Alderman; and this, we are gravely told, beans boiled with succotrin aloes will effect: the Morning bait is to be a bean dipped in honey, doubtless to dispel the disagreeable Bitter of the aloes,

There are many other baits used for the Carp; as bobs, cherries, green gentles, sweet pastes, &c.; the best months to angle for him are May, June, and July; (though WALTON hints the tenth of April is a fatal day for Carp;) and his chief biting times are from Day-break to eight in the morning, and from Sun-set until dark, and perhaps best in the Night: no one ever angled for this fish too early or too late, kept himself too much retired and out of sight, or laid his line too gently in the water. It is needless to angle for Carp from a boat, as they will not come near it.

Tench

By

underwent a similar fate with the Barbel, as to its notice by the early writers; and AUSONIUS, who first mentions, treats it with that disrespect, which evinces the capriciousness of Taste; for the Tench, which is now held in such repute, was, in his days, the Repast only of the Canaille. The Germans adopt his opinion, and, by way of contempt, call it Schoe-maker; and GESNER says, it is insipid and unwholesome.. some it is termed the Physician of the Fish, and who believe, from tradition, that the slime is so healing, that the wounded apply it as a Remedy, and that even the Pike will spare the Tench, on account of its healing powers; but it is apprehended, this observation has no Evidence to support it, and this supposed self-denial of the Pike may be fairly attributed to a different cause; namely, that Tench are so fond of Mud, as to be constantly at the bottom, where

they are probably secure from the attacks of their voracious neighbour; for, as all the different species are in some degree Enemies to each other, it cannot be imagined that so timid a fish as the Tench would passively admit the approach of the Pike: however, Mr. DIAPER, in his piscatory Eclogues, poetically

says,

"The Pyke fell tyrant of the liquid plain,

With ravenous waste devours his fellow train:
Yet howsoe'er with raging famine pin'd
The Tench he spares, a medicinal kind,
For when by wounds distrest, or sore disease,
He coufts the salutary fish for ease;

Close to his scales, the kind Physician glides,
And sweats a healing balsam from his sides."

GESNER relates a most extraordinary mode of exposing the Pike to sale in England, which raises the sanative powers of the Tench to a high pitch indeed; but, after speaking so positively to the Pike's longevity, he might possibly think it but fair to guard against all Diseases that could curtail its Existence, by affording it such medical Aid as should defy all Maladies whatever. He alleges, he heard from an eye-witness, that the Pike's breast was cut up about two inches, to shew its degree of fatness, and if no Purchaser offered, the wound was sewed up, and the fish again committed to the Pond; where, by being rubbed with the glutinous matter on the body of the Tench, it was soon cured, and of course was ready for the next Market day.

Without vouching for the Virtue of its Slime upon the inhabitants of the Water, its flesh is undoubtedly

a delicious and wholesome food to those of the Earth. The Tench does not commonly exceed four or five pounds in weight: Mr. PENNANT says he has heard of one that weighed ten, and SALVIANUS speaks to some that weighed twenty pounds: it is thick in proportion to the length; the scales are very small, and covered with Slime; the eyes are large, and of a gold colour; the irides are red: he is leathermouthed, and sometimes there is a small barb at each corner of the mouth; the colour of the back is dusky, the dorsal and ventral fins of the same hue, and those of the male much bigger than those of the female; the head, sides, and belly, of a greenish cast, most beautifully mixed with gold, (especially those taken in rivers,) which is in its greatest splendour when the fish is most in Season: the tail is quite even at the end, and very broad.

Tench love still waters, and their haunts in rivers are chiefly among Weeds, and in places well shaded with Bushes or Rushes: but they thrive best in standing waters, where they lie under weeds, near sluices, and at Pond heads; they are much more numerous in pools, and pits, than in rivers, although those taken in the latter are far preferable: they begin to spawn in June, and may be found spawning in some waters until September; their best Season is from that period until the end of May.

The Tackle, in angling for the Tench, should be strong; a swan or goose quill float, except in Rivers, where the Cork is always to be preferred; the hook No. 4 to No. 6, whipt to a sound silk-worm gut, with two or three shot ten or twelve inches from it;

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