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UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Darlington Memorial Library

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THE

HISTORY

O F

ESCULENT FISH.

Price, in Boards, One Guinea and a Half, coloured.

a-oajfews

THE

HISTORY

O F

ESCULENT FISH,

WITH PLATES, DRAWN AND ENGRAVED BY
ELE AZAR ALBIN:

AND AN

ESSAY

ON THE

BREEDING OF FISH,

AND THE

CONSTRUCTION OF FISH-PONDS,

BY THE HONOURABLE

ROGER NORTH,

L O N D O 1ST:

Printed for Edward Jei fery, Pall Mall; Robert Faulder, New Bond Slrewj.;

J. Cutheli, and J. Deighto.v, Holborn ; J. Walker, Paternoffer Row ;

Hamilton and Co. Beech Street, Barbican.

mdccxciv.

The B A R B E L9

C^ALLED, in I&hyology, Barbus, but by fome writers in
Natural Hiftory, Muftus Stuviatitis, and is a fpecies of the
Cyprinus. The Barbel is a fifh commonly known and fo
called from the barb or beard under its chaps or nofe, and is of
the leather-mouthed kind.

It is but a moderate tafted fifh., and the female is lefs efteemed
for the table than the male; but neither of them is much
valued: the word feafon for them is in April. They love to
be among the weirs, where there is a hard gravelly bottom,
and generally fwim together in large fhoals.

In fummer, they frequent the ftrongefl and fwifteil currents
of water, as under deep bridges, weirs, and the like pLces, and
are apt to get in among the piles, weeds, and other fheltcr;
but in winter, they retire into the dcepeft and ftilleft waters;
the beft feafon for angling for this fifh, is irom May to Auguft,
and the time for taking them is very early in the morning, or

A late

( 6 )

late in the evening. The place mould be baited with chop-
ped worms fome time before ; and no bait is fo good for the-
hook as the fpawn offifh, particularly the Salmon: in defect
of thefe, lob-worms will do; but they muft be very clean and
nice, and the hook carefully covered, otherwife he will not
touch them. Old cheefe fteeped in honey alfo is a fine, bait..

CAR P.

( 7 )

CARP.
Leonard marchal firft brought this fift into

England about 15 14: it is the mod valuable of all kinds of
£fh for flocking ponds, becaufe of its quick growth and great
increafe. If the feeding and breeding of this fifh were more
underftond and pradtifed, the advantages refulting would be
very great; and a fifth pond would become as valuable an
article as a garden. The gentleman who has land in his own
hands, may, befides furnifning his own table and fupplying
his friends, become a fource of much profit in monev, and
very confiderable advantage to his lands at the fame time, fo
as to make it produce more than by any other employment
whatever. The fale of Carp makes a confiderable part of
the revenue of the principal nobility and gentry in Prufiia,
Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony, Mecklenburgh, Bohemia,
and Holflein. Particular attention fhould be paid to the
foil, water, and fituation of a Carp pond; the be ft: kind are
thofe which are furrounded by the fin eft: pafture, or corn fields,
with a rich black mould, and foft fprings on the fpot, or other
running water, that is neither too cold, or impregnated with
acid, calcareous, ielenctic, or other feraneous, mineral parti-
cles. The water may be foftened by expofing it to the air

A 2 or

( 8 }

or fun in a refervoir, or by forming an open channel for it
fome diftance from the pond; they mould be expofed to>
the influence of the fun, and llieltered from the eaftern and;
northerly winds.

By experience, it is found convenient to have three kinds
.of ponds for Carp, viz. the fpawning pond, the nurfery, and
the main pond: the firft. pond mull be cleared of all other
kind of fifh, efpecially thofe of the rapacious kind, fuch as
the perch, pike, eel, and trout; the water beetle, and alffo
of the newts or lizards. It mould be expofed to fun and air,.
and be fupplied with foft water. A pond of one acre re-
quires three or four male Carp, and fix or eight female ones;
and in the fame proportion for each additional acre. The
beft Carp for breeding are thofe of five, fix, or feven years old,,
in good health, with full fcale, and fine full eyes, and a long
body, without any blemiih or wound: the pond mould be
flocked in a fine calm day, towards the end of March, or
beginning of April. Carp fpawn in May, June, or July,
according to the warmth ofthefeafon; and" for this purpofe,
they fwim to a warm, ihady, well-fheltered place, where
they gently rub their bodies againlt the fandy ground, grafs,
or ofiers; and by this preffure the fpawn iffues out at the
fpawning feafon. All forts of fowl fhould be kept from
the ponds: the young fry is hatched from the fpawn by the
genial influence of the fun, and fhould be Icrt in this pond

through

t 9 )

through the whole fummer, and even the next winter, pro-
vided the pond is deep enough to prevent their fuffocation
during a hard winter ; then the breeders and the fry are put
into ponds fafer for their wintering.

The fecond kind of ponds are the nurferies; the young
fiih fhould be moved, in a fine calm day, into this pond, in the
months of March or April: a thoufand or twelve hundred
of this fry may be well accommodated in a pond of an acre.
When they are firft put in, they mould be well watched, and
driven from the fides or the pond, left they become the prey
of rapacious birds. In two fummers, they will grow as much
as to weigh four, five, or even fix pounds, and be flefhy and
well tafted.

The main ponds are to put thofe into that mcafure a foot/,
head and tail inclufive ; every fquare of fifteen feet is fuffici-
ent for one Carp: their growth depends on their room, and
the quantity of food allowed them.

The beft feafons for flocking the main ponds are fpring and
autumn. Carp grow for many years, and become of con-
fiderable fize and weight. Mr. Fofter mentions feeing in
Pruffia two or three hundred Carps of two and three feet in
length, and one live feet long, and twenty- five pounds weight;
it was fuppofed to be about fixty years old : Gefner mentions
one that was an hundred years old. Thefe were tame, and
would come to the fide of the pond to be fed, and fwallowed!

with

( io )

with eafc a piece of bread half the fize of a halfpenny loaf.
Ponds fhould be well fupplied with water during the winter;
and when they are covered with ice, holes fhould be opened
-every day ,for the admiflion of frefli air, through want of
which, Carps frequently perifh. Carp are fometimes fed,
during the colder feafon, in a cellar: the fifh is wrapped up
in a quantity of wet mofs laid on a piece of a net, and then
laid in to a purfe; but in fuch a manner, however, to ad-
mit of the fifh breathing: the net is then plunged into water,
and hung up to the ceiling of the cellar: the dipping muft at
firft be repeated every three or four hours, but, afterwards,
it need be plunged into the water only once in fix or {'even
hours: bread foaked in milk is fometimes given him in fmall
quantities; in a ihort time, the fifli will bear more, and
grow fat by this treatment. Many have been kept alive,
breathing nothing but air in this way, feveral fucceilive days.

Tk

C " )

Th CHUB

IS, according to the Artedian and Linnaean fyftem, a fpecies
of Cyprinus, and is called by the French the Vilian and
Teftard, and was called by the ancient Romans Squalus. The
reibrts of this fifh are eafily found; being generally holes over-
fliaded by trees ; and on a hot day, they may be (c<t\\ in
great numbers, floating almoft on the furface of the water. For
the table 'they are very poor fifh, full of bones. They afford
much entertainment to the angler, and are eafily caught.
The beft manner of fifhing for them is thus: prepare a very
ftrong rod of fufficient length ; fix a grafhopper to the hook ;
place yourfelf fo as not to be perceived by the fifh, and drop
in the bait about two feet from the place where a Chub
lies; if he does not fee the angler, he. rarely fails biting, and
is taken directly; but he is fo ftrong a fifh, that he mould
be taken out carefully, after a great deal of play, otherwife the
tackle will be in danger; a beetle, or any large fly, will an-
fwer the purpofe in the place of a grafhopper; and if none
of them arc to be had, the method of fifhing muft be altered,
and the line be long enough for fifhing at the bottom.

In March and April, this fifh is to be caught with red
worms; in June and July, with worms, fnails, and cherries;

but

(

)

but in Auguft and September, the proper bait is good cheefe,
pounded in a mortar with fome faffron and a little butter.
Some make parte of cheefe and Venice turpentine for the Chub
in winter, at which feafon the fiih is better than at any
other; the bones are lefs troublefome in this feafon, and the
flefh more firm and better tailed. The roe is alfo generally-
well flavoured. The angler muft keep his bait for this fifh at
the bottom in cold weather, and near the top in hot. The
fiih will bite eafily.

Tfa

( *3 )

The CO D FISH

1 S the largeft of the genus Afelli, by authors called Afellus
Maximus, and fometimes Afellus Varius, five Striatus. It
is diftinguifhed from other flfhes of the fame kind by the
following marks. Its colour on the back and fides is a dufky
olive, intermixed with yellow fpots; a white belly, with a
white line running along each fide from the gills to the tail,
which is curved at the abdomen, but flraight elfewhere. It
has very fmall fcales, which adhere firmly to the fkin; its
eyes are large; a fmgle beard hangs at the angle of its lower
jaw, which is fhort, feldom longer than one's finger. It has a
broad tongue, and feveral rows of teeth, one being much longer
than the reft. Among thefe there are fome moveable teeth, as
in the Pike ; and in the palate, near the orifice of the ftomach,
and near the gills, it has fmall clufters of teeth; it has three
back-fins, two at the gills, two at the breaft, and two at the
anus; and the tail is plain.

B Tie

( 14 )

The HADDOCK

1 S, according to the Artedian fyflem, of the genus of GadL
It is called by Salvian the Afellus Major, or Greater Afellus^
and by Turner and Willoughby the Orus, or Afinus of the
Ancients. Charlton tells us, that it was the Callaris Galeris,
or Galaxis, of the old Romans, mentioned by Pliny; but
Artedi has fome doubt about that. It is likewife called by
Artedi the Gadus; with a bearded mouth, three fins on the
back, a whitifh body, with the upper jaw longeil; the tail a
little forked. Large Haddocks begin to be in roe about the.
middle of November, and continue fo till the end of January;,
from that time till May, their tails grow thin, and they are
out of feafon.

The fmall ones are very good from May to February; and
thofe which are not old enough to breed in February, March,
and April. It is faid by fifhermen, that in rough weather
they hide themfelves in the fand at the bottom of the fea, and.
among the ooze, and flicker themfelves till the ftorm is over,
becaufe they take none in ftormy weather. 1 hey live in the
fummer on young Herrings, and on other young fiih; and in
winter, on a fpecies of fefpula, called the Hone-coated Worm,
and by the fifhermen, Haddock-meat. The ore at fhoals of

Haddocks

( i5 )

Haddocks come periodically on the coaft of Yorkshire. The
large ones quit the coaft as foon as they get out of feafon, and
leave behind them a number of fmall ones. They are faid to
vifk the coafts of Hambuigh and Jutland in the fummer.
There is a large black fpot on each fide of the Haddock,
afcribed by fuperftition to the mark which St. Peter's thumb
made, when he took the tribute money out of the mouth of a
fpecies of this fifh.

\ ■ *r •

B 2 The

( 16 )

the HERRING.

riARENGUS, in Icthyology, a fpecies of the Clopea. Its
Harengi forms are thefe: its length is generally feven or
eight inches, though it fometimes grows to a foot; its head is.
flatted, and its mouth placed upwards : it has a green back and
fides mingled with blue, and a belly of a filver caft; its fcales
are large and round. It is not fpotted at all, and its belly is
carinated; the ridge is quite fmooth, and not at all ferrated;
its fide lines are fmall, and fcarce diflinguifhable ; the lower
jaw is ftronger and more prominent than the upper ; its gills
are four innumber, as in other fifhes; their fibres very long,
and open remarkably wide; fo that this fifh dies almoft as
foon as taken cut of the water : it has one fin on its back,
which confifts of about feventeen rays, and is between the
head and the tail; the two ventral fins have nine rays, the
peftoral feventeen, and the anal fourteen ; the tail is forked.
The name Herring, takes its derivation from the German
Heer, an army, which exprefles their number when they
migrate our feas. Herrings are found in vaft quantities from
the higheft northern latitudes as low as the northern coaft. in
France; on the coaft of America large fhoals of them are to-
be met with as low as Carolina. In Kamtfchatka they are

alfo

( *7 )

alfo to be found, and very pofTibly in Japan: their winter
rendezvous is within the arctic circle; they retire there after
fpawning, and wherever they can meet with infect food.
They are in full roe at the end of June, and in perfection till
the commencement of winter, when they begin to depofit
their fpawn.

PRESERVED HERRINGS.

Various are the names given to them, and according as they
are ordered : as,

ift. Sea-Sticks are what are caught all the fifhing feafon,
and but once packed. A barrel oi thefe contains fix or eight
hundred ; according to law, eight barrels go to the hundred,
A hundred of Herrings is one hundred and twenty ; a laft is
ten thoufand; and they generally reckon fourteen barrels to
the laft.

2d. Rfpacsf.d Herrings are Herrings repacked on fhore.
Seventeen barrels ot Sea- Sticks make irom twelve to fourteen
barrels of repacked Herrings. They repack them in the
following manner: take out the Herrings, warn them in their
own pickle, and lay them orderly in a frefh barrel : they have
no fait put to them ; but after being clofe packed, have a fworn
copper put over them with the pickle when the barrel is

half

( *8 )

lialf full: the pickle is brine; fo ftrong that the herring may
fvvim in it.

3d. Summers are what are caught by the Dutch Chafers,
or Divers, from June till the middle of July. They are
fold in Sea-Sticks ; they will not endure repacking: they go
one with another full and fhotten; but the repacked Herrings
are forted.

4th. The Sick and Shotten Herrings by themfelves ;
the barrel fhould be marked.

5th. Cruss Herrings are what are caught after the mid-
dle ol September; they are cured with fait upon Salt: all
thefe are lull Herrings.

There is likewife another fort, called Cowed Herrings.
Thefe ferve to make Red Herrings from September to Octo-
ber; they fhould be carried on fhore within a week after they
are taken; they are roed in fait, but never gipped ; thofe
which they make R.ed Herrings of, are vvafhed in frelh water
previous to their being hung up in the Herring-Houfes, gene-
rally known by the appellation of Herring-Hangs.

Then followeth the manner of faking Herrings. When the

fiflies

( i9 )

fiflies are taken out of the nets and put into the warbacks
which ftand on the fide of the vefl.ll, one fills the gipper's
bafkets. The gippers, after having cut their throats and
taken out their guts, proceed to fort them. When the gipped
are put into the bafket, one man takes it to the rowerback,
wherein there is fait; one ftirs them about in the fait, whilil
another takes them from him, and carries them in bafkets to
the packers. Each barrel is packed by four men, who lay
the Herrings one by one in a very even manner ; which barrel
being full, another man takes it from them. The barrel
is ufually left to ftand open for a day or two, to diflblve the
filt; afterwards it is filled up, and the barrel is headed.
Obferve, that the pickle be ftrong enough to fuftain the fifh ;
otherwife they will decay in it.

^IS*

( 20 .)

The M A C K A R E L.

x\. VERY common fea fifh of the Scliomber kind. Its nofc u
fharp pointed and tapered; its eyes large; and both its jaws
of the fame length: the teeth are fmall, but very numerous;
the body compreffed on the fides; towaids the tail, it is
rather ilender, and fomewhat angular. The firft dorfal fin is
placed a little behind the perioral fin; it is triangular, and
has nine or ten ftiffrays; die fecond has twelve foft rays', and lies
at a diftance from the other ; the pectoral has twenty, and the
ventral fix rays: at the bafe of the annal fin, is a long fpine.
Betwixt the laft dorfil and the tail, are five fmall fins ; the
fame number, likewife, betwixt the anal and the tail. The
tail is broad and femilunar; the colour of the back and fides
above the lateral line is beautiful green, variegated with black
lines pointing downwards; beneath the line, the belly is of
a beautiful filvery colour. The eyes of the Mackarel are
almoft covered with a white film, which grows in winter,
during which time they are nearly blind: they call it in
the beginning of fummer.

It is in high eftimation amongfl; the Romans, becaufe it
furnifhed the precious garum.

n6

^

_

t*

The MULLET,

IS a name given indeterminately to hih ot ieveral kinds;
but the true meaning of the word is the fame with that of
the Mugil, or Cephalus. The characters of the Mugil are
thefe. The branchioftege membrane on each lide contains fix:
crooked bones; the upper one being the broadeft, and hid
under the gills; only five are difcernible; the fcales are large,
and cover the head and the opercula ot the gills, as well as
the body of the fifh. The head is depreffed in the anterior
part; the body oblong and compreffed. According to thefe
diftinclions, there is only one fpecies of Mugil, namely,
the Mugil of Ovid and the Ancients. It refembles the Thy-
mallus in its external figure ; its jaws are tender and thin, and
have no teeth in them; the tail is forked. The Linnrcan fyf-
tem reckons two fpecies; viz. the Cephalus and Albula.

Three or four different fpecies of the Mugil have been
defcribed by Rondeletius and others ; but their difference
feems to arife merely from age, place, and the like accidents.

The nofe is fharp, the belly bowed; the head plain and
flatted; the fcales are very large, and cover the body entirely.
The back is of a dufky blue, or greenifh-brovvn colour; the
belly white, and the fides variegated, from the head to the

C tail,

( 22 )

tail, with green and black lines ; its tongue is rather rough;
it has no teeth. It preys upon.no fifh, and is therefore fup-
pofed to feed on weeds. At certain times it comes up the river,
but it is generally caught at fea.

The Mullet is a very good tailed fifh; we make tobago oi
its fpavvn.

Mullets arc to be found chiefly on the fandy coafls; par-
ticularly where there are influxes of frefh water. They come
in great fhoals; and they keep rooting the mud like hogs,
and leave their trace in the form of large round holes.

They arc very cunning.; and when furroundcd with a net,
the whole fhoal frequently efcape by leaping over it; for if
one takes the lead, the others are fure to follow.

I n )

The PEARCH, or PERCH,

•-LS a genus of flfh of the order of Thoracci; the character*
of thefe are, that the membrane of the gills has feven bones,
and the back has one or two fins ; the lirft fpiny, and the fecond
folt : the body is covered with rough fcales ; the edges of the
gill-covers are fcaly and ferrated. Linnaeus enumerates thirty-
fix fpecies; this fifh. is variegated with black fpots.

There is a flrange variety ofPearch; fome of which are quite
hunched; and the backbone, near to the tail, very much diflort-
cd : in. colour and other refpects, it is fimilar to the common
kind.

The bell time for their biting is betwixt fpringand fummer,,
as at that time they are very greedy; and the angler, with good
management, may take all that are in the hole, at one {landing,
if there were ever fo many. The Pearch will bite all day long,
if it be cloudy; but the bell time is from eight till ten in the
morning, and from three till fix in the afternoon. It is very
abilemious in the winter, and will feldom bite; if it does at all,
it is in the middle of the day. All nfh bite bed at this time
of the day in that feafon.

C 2 The

[ 24 )

The P I K E

IS the Lucius Efox of Linnaeus. It has a very flat head; the
upper jaw is broad, and fhorter than the lower, which turns up
a little at the end; the body is long, {lender, and compreffed
fideways; the teeth are very fharp, difpofed only in the front
of the upper jaw, but in both fides of the lower; fometimes
in the roof of the mouth, and frequently in the tongue.

The eyes are fmall, and the flit of the mouth very wide; the
dorfal fin is placed verv low on the back, and confifts of twenty-
one rays; the pectoral or fifteen, the ventral of eleven, and
the anal, of eighteen ; the tail is bifurcated.

They are to be found in moft of the lakes in Europe.
Lapland produces very large ones, fome eight feet long ; they
are dried there, and exported for fale.

The Pike was introduced into England in the reign of Llenry
VIIL in 1537, when a Pike was fold for double the price
of a houfe lamb in February. Befides its ufual food, fifh and
frogs, it devours water-rats and young ducks. It is remark-
able for its longevity : we read of one that lived till ninety
years old, and of another that was no lefs than two hundred
and feventy years old.

The

to

( 25 )

The ROACH

Is the Englifh name of a very common fifh, called by fome
authors the Rutilius and Rubiculus, and by others the Rubellio.
It is a fpecies of the Cyprinus, according to the new fyftem of
Artedi, and the Cyprinus Rutilius of Linnaeus. It has been
looked upon (though without much reafon) remarkable for
its livelinefs and vivacity, from which comes the proverb
" found as a Roach." In fome parts of the world, this fifh
will only live in {landing waters : it thrives very much in ponds
and deep, hull rivers: it is very remarkable for its progeny; a
pond being fooner flocked with this fifh than any other.

The

( 20 )

The SHAD

IS the name of a fea flih of the Herring kind : it is alio called
the Mother of Herrings; by ibme authors Clupea and Triffa ;
by the Ancients Trechis, or Trichias; and the Clupea Alofaof
Linnreus. In its general form, it very much refembles the
Herring ; only it is flatter and broader, and grows to a cubit
long and four inches broad. The back is convex and rather
fharp ; the head Hoping considerably from it. The body grows
gradually lefs to the tail from thence. The lower jaw is
rather longer than the upper ; the teeth very minute. The
dorfal fin is fmall, and placed very near the center: the mid-
dle rays are the longer!. The pectoral and ventral fins are
fmall ; the belly very fharp ; the tail forked : the body is of
a duiky blue. Above the gills is a line of black (pots, which
mark the upper part of the back on each lide. The number
of thefe fpots is different in different fifh, from four to ten.

It is very common in many of our feas, and in fome of our
rivers which lie near the fea. They run up there in great
numbers, and are then very fat; they afterwards become lean,
and go down to the fea again. They ufually fwim in large
.(lioals together.

The Shad is in higher perfection in the Severn than in any:

other

( 27 )

'other river in Great Britain. It appears there in May, and in
very warm feafons, in April ; it continues about two months,
At its firft appearance, it is efteemed a very delicate fi/li; efpe-
cially at Gloucefter, where it fells dearer than Salmon. The
London fifhmo'rigcrs diitinguiin it from that of the Thames by
the French name of Alofe. Whether they fpawn in the Severn
and Wye, is not determined, as their fry has not yet been as-
certained. The old hfh come from the fea in full roc.

The fifhermen imagine, very erroneouily, that the Bleak,
which appear in multitudes near Gloucefter in the months of
July and Auguft, arc the fry of the Shad: many of thefe are
taken in tliofe months only; but none of the emaciated Shad
are ever caught in their return.

The Thames Shad does not frequent the liver till the month
of July, and is thought a very coarfe, iniipid fifh. At that
time, the Twaite, a variety of Shad which makes its appearance
in Gloucefter, and is taken in great numbers in the Severn, but
held in as great difrepute as the Shad of the Thames. The
real Shad weighs fometimes eight pounds; but in general
from four to five. The Twaite, on the contrary, weighs
from half a pound to two pounds, which it never exceeds. It
only differs from the fmall Shad, by having one or more black
fpots on its fide, which are generally placed one under the
other.

The

( 23 )

The TENCH

IS, in I&hyology, the Englifh name of the Tinea of the modern
authors ; but, according to the Artedian and Linnaean fyftem,
a fpecies of the Cyprinus. It is diftinguifhed by Artedi by
the name of the blackifh, mucous, or flimy Cyprinus,
with the end of the tail even.

The

9 )

"The T R O U r

IS a very valuable river- fifh ; the characters of which are
thefe. It has a long body; its head is fhort and round, its
nofe blunt at the end : its tail is very broad ; its mouth large,
and each jaw furniihed with one row of fharp teeth. In its
palate there are three parcels oi teeth, each oi an oblong figure,
in the congeries, and all meeting in an angle near the end oi
the nofe; the tongue has alfo fix, eight, or ten teeth on it.
It is very beautifully variegated on the (ides with red fpots.
The colour of the Trout, and of its fpots, varies greatly in
different waters and different feafons ; yet you may reduce
each to one fpecies.

In Llyndivi (a lake in South Wales), there are Trouts cal-
led Coch y Dail, marked with red and black fpots about the
fize of a fixpence; others, not fpotted, and of a reddim hue,
which fometimes weigh from eight to ten pounds: they are
very ill tailed. In Lough Neagh, in Ireland, there are Trcuts
called Buddagh, many of which weigh thirty pounds; others
are taken or a much iuperior fize, in Hulfe Water (a lake in
Cumberland), the fame as thofe Trouts in the lakes of Geneva.

The ftomachs or the common Trouts are very thick and
mufcular, as they feed on the fhell fifh of lakes and rivers as
well as the fniall fifh; and take gravel or Hones into their

D ftomachs

( 30 }

ftomachs to ailift in comminuting the teftaceous parts of their,
food. The Trouts of certain lakes in Ireland are remarkable
for the great thicknefs of their ftomachs, which, from fome
refemblance to the digefting organs in birds, are called Giz-
zards; and the fpecies which have them, are called Gizzard
Trouts. Thefe ftomachs are frequently ferved up to the table
in Ireland, under the nomination ot Gizzards.

Trouts are a very voracious iiih, affording the angler great
amufement. The under jaw of the Trout is fubjecf. to the
lame curvature as that of the Salmon. There is likewife a
fpecies of Trout, which migrates out of the fea into the river
Efh in Cumberland, from July to September, and called, from
its colour, the Whiting. Its tafte is delicious. When they
firft make their appearance from the fait water, they have a
Salmon Loufe adhering to them. They have milt and fpawn ;
but no fry has been yet ob ferved. It goes under the appel-
lation of Phinocs, among the Scotch. They are never more
than a foot in length; the upper jaw is fomewhat longer than
the lower; the upper contains two rows of teeth, and the
lower one: on the tongue there are fix teeth. Its form is
truly elegant; the colour dulky, mingled with filver. Firft
dorfal fin fpotted with black; the tail cjuite black, and forked ;
the firft dorfal fin has eleven rays; the pectoral thirteen; the
ventral nine; the anal nine.

The

The W H I r I N G

IS, in Iclhyology, the Englifh name of a common fiili of the
Afellus kind, called by fome Afellus Mollis, and by others
Afcllus Albus, or Merlangus. It is certainly, according to
the Artcdian fyftem, one of the Gadi; diitinguifhed by that
author by the name of Gadus with three fins on the back ;
without beards, with a white body; the upper jaw long than
the lower.

The Whiting, or Gadus Melangus of Linnams, has a very
elegant form: its eyes are large, its nofe fharp; the teeth of
the upper jaw are very long, and appear above the lower
when clofed, The firft dorfal fin has fifteen rays, the fecond
eighteen, and the laft twenty. The head and back arc of a
pale brown colour; the lateral line white and crooked; the
belly and fides filvery; the fides being marked lengthways
with yellow.

They appear in the fea, by large fhoals, in the fpring, keep-
ing at the diftance of about half a mile to that of three-
miles from the fhore. They are the moft delicate and whole-
fome of any of the genus, and feldom grow to more than ten
or twelve inches in length.

D 2

I S C O U R S E

O F

FISH AND FISH-POND S,

B \

The Hon. R O G E R N O R TIL

( 35 )

A

DISCOURSE

O F

FISH AND FISH-PONDS.

Of the Situation and Difpojition of the principal Waters.

ONE great point in the conduct of fifh, is, to have them at
command; another is, to have perpetual recruits, to fupply
your flock as you draw it off. This is not to be done with-
out a certain order and method; and with it, nothing is more
practicable and eafy.

Your method muft be, to have fome great waters, which
are the head-quarters of the fifh, from whence you may take,
or wherein you may put, any ordinary quantity of fifh. Then
to have flews, and other proper auxiliary waters, fo as you
lead the fifh from one to the other, whereby you never fliall
want, and need not abound ; and, which is more, loie no
time in the growth of the fifh, but employ the water, as you
do your land, to the beft advantage.

This will appear more diflinctly in the fequel of this dif-
courfe, which fliall begin with the fltuation and difpofition of
the principal waters, whereupon you mufl depend for the
railing and feeding the grcateft part of the flock.

Firfl, you mufl examine the grounds, and find fome fall be-
twixt

( 3^ )

twixt two hills, as near a flat as may be, fo as there be a fuf-
ncient current for the water. If there be any difficulty in
fudging of inch, take an opportunity after fome fudden rain, or
the breaking up of a great fnow in winter, and you (hall fee
plainly which way the ground carts ; for the water will take
the true fall, and run accordingly.

The condition of the place mull determine the quantity of
ground to be covered with water. I mould propofe in all, fif-
teen acres in three ponds, or eight acres in two, and not lefs.
And theft ponds (hould be placed one above another, fo as
the point of the lower may almoft reach the head or bank or
the upper; which will be very beautiful, as well as profitable,
as will appear afterwards.

The head or bank, which, by flopping the water in its cur-
rent, is to raife the water, and fo make a pond, muft be built
with the clay and earth taken from the pan or hollow dug in
the loweft ground above the bank; and that pan mould be
inaped as half an oval, whereof the flat comes to the bank, and
the longer diameter runs fquare from it.

But were there not need of earth for this purpofe, it were
better to leave the natural foil for the fifh to feed upon. I
fhall give the reafon afterwards, and confider the manner of
railing and fortifying the bank particularly.

Of

( 33 )

Of the Manner of the making and raijing Pond-Heads.

IT is obvious, that if you make a dam crofs a valley or fwamp,
where at any time after, the water runs, it will produce a pond;
and as the bank or dam is higher at the point or center, which
is againft the loweft ground, fo much is the pond deeper ;
and if the hills on each fide rife fteep and quick, the water
flopped will cover lefs ground than if they rife flow.

Now firft, for making the bank or head, you mult be fure it
is tight, and that it do not few or leak, as it will certainly do,
if it be compofed of mere earth ; therefore a bed or wall of
clay, the whole length of the bank, muft be carried up with
good ramming, from a foot or two below the furface of the
ground, to fuch height as you propofe the water fhall ftand.

If you do not give the bed of clay this foundation, the water
lying under a great weight from the depth of it, will work it-
felf underneath, fo allow a fpit or two at leaft for it. Then,
as you ram the clay, you muft be fure that earth be brouoht to
carry the bank up with it, or elfe the fun will fearch and crack
it, which is of pernicious confequence ; fo when it is come to
its full height, clofe and cover it with earth immediately, left
the inconvenience happens.

You muft allow three feet to the breadth of this bed of
clay, and raife it to the height you intend the water fhall ftand,
and lay earth three feet higher; two feet would have ferved,
but that the allowance of one at leaft muft be made for the

F. finking

( 34 J

linking of the bank ; for it will do fo notwithftanding the
preiling of tumbrels, horfes, and men working upon it.

If you project many flews, or other ponds to be funk right
down about the fame- time, you will have great advantage by
the clay you take out of them, which will be much more than
is neceffary for the bed, and that may fortify the bed, by being
preffed down by the tumbrels on each fide of it ; and fo the
bank will be very much confirmed, and it will alfo fave break-
ing of ground within the pond, which is a great advantage in
the feed of the fifh-

The Dimenjions of Pond-Heads..

1 H E dimeniions of thefe banks are governed by the manner
of the hills riling ; for if it be quick, then, to cover a compe-
tent quantity of ground, you mull raife the bank higher, and
confequently it mull be made ftronger, than when the ground
rifeth flow, fo as a. moderate height fhall caft the water upon
ground enough. And of this there will be great difference ;
for in fome places, ten feet high fhall cover as much as twenty
feet in others. And this will be eafily difcovered by. the
water-level, ufed according to art, whereby you may flake the
water-line upon the ground to any height; and fo you will
fix the determinate height of the bank.

I will

( 35 )

I will fuppofe a medium, and that a bank, fourteen feet
high at the center, will cover the quantity of ground. Then
you muft make your bank at the loot at lead: fifty feet wide,
and fo ftraitening by equal degrees on either fide, bring it to
fixteen at the top ; and lb you will have a fufficient Hope,
and the bank will ftand firm and durable, fcarce to be deftroyed
without as much pains and induftry as made it.

By this proportion, pond heads or any dimenfion may be
proje&ed ; the matter is not fo nicely circumftanced, that a
little more or lefs fhould fignify. But it muft He noted, that to
make them too flight, is the greateft error, and moil to be
avoided ; let them be rather made too ftrong, for then you have
not only a more fecure bank, but a more beautiful walk, and
more room for wheel-carriage, befides a capacity of fome wood ;
all which compenfate the charge of what is fuperfluous.

Of f: curing your Banks,

IF the bank be well made, and in fufficient dimenfion, nothing
can hurt it, but great land-floods, or water-mots, which, if
fuffered to run over the bank, will carry away the fifh, which
in a warm flood will rife, and go with it to feek adventures,
but alfo gurry holes in the back of the bank, and weaken it fo

E ? much,

( 36 )

much, that if the flood continues, it fliall carry all away
together.

For preventing of this mifchief, there are two ways; i.
Grates at each end of the bank, planted upon the level that is
to be the higheft of the water. 2. Channels of diver-
fion, which being taken fo high in the current as may lead the
water upon the fide of either hill above the bank, you have
the power to turn out all the water when you pleafe, fo that
none fliall come upon the bank.

1. As to grates, the way of them is well known; however
obferve, that if they be made of wood, the banks mull be fet
diagonally, like window-bars ; lor fo rubbifli. flops leafl: againft
them, and the water pafleth freely. And in regard you can-
not allow any great diftance between them for keeping in the
hfh, you, muft help out the room by extending the grate from
each lide of the cut in the bank where the water is to vent,
fome confiderable fpace from the bank, and there to meet in
a point, forming a triangle upon the bank. Here are many
more flits for the water to vent at, than if the grate lay flat
upon the bank, covering the paflage only. And if need be,
there may be doors to Aide up and down, made in the grate,
to let the water pafs more freely ; but this endangereth loflng
the fifh. If you will afford iron for thefe grates, you need
only cover the paflage of the bank ; for the bars need not
be fo thick, but there will be fpace enough for the water to
vent at.

2. The channels for diverting the water are very ufeful in
this and many other refpects ; for they give you a perfect

command

( 37 )

command of the water, and you may turn it which way you
pleafe, Co as to fill or keep dry any of the ponds, and in a wet
feafon are a perfect fecurity. Thefe mould be made four feet
wide, and on each fide of the ponds the lofs of ground is not
confiderable ; for wood growing there will make amends for
it.

The firing of ponds in Hyde-Park are admirably difpofed
in this refpect; for the current of the valley is carried along by
the fide of all the ponds, and may be let into any of them,
or any may be emptied into it ; than which, there is not a
greater command of water.

However carefully a bank is made, it is probable it will
few a little at firft ; but this mould be no difcouragement ; for
by the fettling of the earth, it will continually grow higher,
and in a few years, if made with tolerable care, be as firm as a
rock.

Of Sluices,

1 HESE are very requifite to the good command of a wa-
ter, and though very ordinarily ufed, yet require an experienced
carpenter to make and fix them as fhould be, efpecially in great
waters ; and fuch as have not experience, fhall err moll: grofsly
in this work. They muft be framed fo as to ftand firm, that

the

( 33 )

the force of anv thruft, or a boat's running againft them, may
do no prejudice to them : for if they are any thing {trained,
they are apt to prove leaky ; and in fo great an height as is
needful for deep waters, a fmall matter will do it, unlefs they
are extraordinarily well abutted.

The timber-work mult be heart of oak, especially the top,
and that all of one piece, how long foever it be ; and the vent
hole mult be guarded with large boxes perforated fo as the
water, but no fifh, may pafs. And all this well framed, and
what is under ground extraordinarily rammed with clay, elfe
it will be apt to leak.

The ufe of thefe is very great : for if a great water mull
be emptied, you mull either apply engines, cut the bank,
or draw a iluice. As tor engines, they are too chargeable,
and puzzling to fix ; however, I may propofe to them that
are lovers of art, iome facile ways of lifting great quantities of
water. Then, if you cut the bank, the pafTage is interrupted
and made troublefome by the earth, and you fhall fcarce ram
it up fo well again, but it will perpetually leak about the place
where the fifrure was ; but fluices vent the water certainly,
though flowly, without any labour, charge, or inconvenience.

''-.jp';

Of

( 39 )

Of the Manner of working to raife a Pond-Head.

INOW, as for the manner of railing this bank, which I think
is the only chargeable work you have, I mall give fome light
into the way of working, fo as to abridge the expence as much
as may be. The advantage of trades, is, that by continual ex-
perience, they find nearer ways of doing things, fpending fewer
ftrokes, and lefs time, than others can. And in the conduct
of this work, there is much to be faved ; every man's reafon
leads him to contrive compendiums of bulinefs, as 1 have done
in the difpofition of my waters ; which experience of mine
may fave others the thought, as well as lofs by making their
own experiments.

When you have projected your work, for which the latter
end of June, or the beginning of May, is the heft time, take
the affiftance of your neighbours, and provide yourfelf with
fix tumbrels, four good horfes, and two flout labourers, befides
the driver to each pair of tumbrels. I call them pairs, becaufe
they work alternately with the fame horfes ; fo that one is
filling, while the other is moving, and your labourers, as well
as horfes, are always at work.

The firft work to be done, is, the taking up thefirfl fpit of
earth where the bank is to be, and from the pan of the pond,
and to lay it by for the ufes I fhall declare hereafter.

Then lay down your fluice, with trunks fufflcient to convey

the

( 40 )

the water through the head or bank. This mnft be done at
the deeped part of the ground, which probably will fall in
the center of the bank. This will employ two pair of tumbrels
and four labourers, for digging and fetching of clay, befides
four labourers to ram it, which muft be, as was faid, very well
done. And the carpenter, who beforehand hath fitted his
work, muft attend alfo one whole day to help in the laying it
down, and to fee it well rammed.

The next day's work may be the employment of two pair
of tumbrels in fetching of clay, and four or five good labourers
to ram the foundation of the bed of clay. And 1 fuppofe this
may rife a foot in one whole day's work, more or lefs, as the
length of the head is. Clay rifeth ft iff", and for that, if it
rifeth near, as in the pan of the pond, three labourers to a pair
of tumbrels, are requilite to dig and fill, otherwife the
horfes will be idle, and want work as well as the rammers.

The day after employ four pair of tumbrels more, to fetch
earth out of the pan of the pond to lay along the bank on each
fide of the bed of clay, the whole length of the head ; and
to this work, two labourers for a pair of tumbrels are enough.

Here you muft lay on fix labourers at leaft, to ram the bed
of clay, and fpread earth upon the bank, fo that it may be
done as taft as the fix tumbrels fupply it; and by this means
the bank and bed of clay will rife together,

Thus you proceed till the bank is finifhed, which will rife
fafter as you come nearer the top, and fo will fomewhat alter
the employment of the tumbrels and men, which you muft
conform in propoition accordingly. And obferving thefe

directions.,

( 4i )

dire&ions, you may make two ponds in one month (fuppofing
the weather propitious), which fliall be three, four, or rive
acr^s apiece, as the ground gives, and not expend in money
above eighty pounds, although you pay for every hour's work
of man and horfe.

But coniidering that a gentleman is fuppofed to intend this
bufinefs, not only as a care, but an entertainment, he will not
fuffer his own fervants and horfes to be without a lhare or it ;
and then I cannot imagine which way he can expend above
fixty pounds, fuppoiing labourers work lor twelve pence per day,
which I cannot fay they will do in all countries.

The third pond may be a work of another year ; and if the
ground lies fair for it, that is, much upon a level, I would not
be without it ; for it will add much to the ornament of your
eftate, becaule it will fill up a range or firing of waters, which
two do not ; and befides contribute vadly to the increafe of fifh,
as I fliall fhew ; and I prefs this thing the rather, becaufe with-
out it, in the method I propofc, you will have the ufe of but
one pond as to water every year. Nay, were not ceconomy,
and faving charge, one great branch of my defign, I fhould re-
commend more of thefe waters, if the place will receive them.

And to demonftrate the charge is not fo very great, compar-
ed with the other expences gentlemen are at for their diverlion,
without any return of profit, as to deter any from undertaking
this particular work ; I muff remember, that once, at the
command of my Lord North, I did, as I have directed, proceed
to the making one great pond, and one ftew, at Catledge,

F which

( 42 )

which are fUll to be feen, but neglecled ; and befides, the~
regard to profit by the fifh they would maintain and fupply,
the very ornament of them was worth the charge. I was li-
mited to ten pounds, befides the work of his lordfhip's horfes,
which I compute to be four pounds more ; fo the whole did
not cofl fifteen pounds, and yet a full acre of ground 1 ayunder
water, and all was completed in twelve days. His lordfhip
would not allow the laying down a fluice, elfe that water was
a fpecimen oi my proposition, as well lor the conduct, as the.
charge of the work.

Of Auxiliary Waters*

AS a great garrifon rauft have many fubfervient forts and re-
doubts difperfed about the place, for fecuring the country, and
ebllecHna the contributions, which are to maintain the head-
quarters ; fo the great ponds, which are the head-quarters of
the fifh, mull be accommodated with many other fubfervient;
waters, which I call auxiliary, becaufe they ferve to relieve
the greater when over flocked, to fupply them when under,
flocked, and to rear up and maintain fry and young flores, as
well as to render the fifh eafy to be taken ; without which con-
veniences, you will have but a forry account of the fifh.

There

( 43 )

There are flews, moats, and ordinary ponds difperfed about
in your eflate and neighbourhood ; the employment of which
being very confiderable in the well ordering of fifh, I will con~
iider each apart ; and firfi, of flews.

Of Stews,

x. HE peculiar ufe of thefe, is, to maintain fifh for the daily
ufe of your houfe and friends, whereby you may with little
trouble, and at any time, take out all or any fifh they con-
tain ; therefore it is good to place them in fome inclofed
grounds near the chief manfion-houfe. Some recefs in a gar-
den is very proper, becaufe the fifh are fenced from rob-
bers, and your journey to them is fhort and eafy, and your
eye will be often upon them, which will conduce to
their being well kept, and they will be an ornament to the
walks.

If you have two great waters of three or four acres apiece,
I do advife, that you be not without four flews, of two rods
wide and three rods long apiece. The way of making thefe,
is, by cutting the fides down fomewhat (loping, and carrying
the bottom in a perpetual decline from end to end, fo as you
may have a convenient mouth, fuch as horfe-ponds ufually have,
for taking out your nets when you draw for fifh.

F? If

( 44 )

If you have ground enough, it is better to make a mouth
at both ends, and the deepeft part in the middle ; for fo you
may draw your nets backwards and forwards, lofing lefs time,
and the fiili will not have fuch flicker, as the depth under a
head will be. Befides this, you will find the fifh will delight
themfelves in coming upon the fhoals, and it may be, thrive
better. But for this manner you muft allow at lead a rod of
ground in length more than for the other.

Thefe I intend for carps chiefly, though not abfolutely ;
and if you find the tench and perch increafe and profper, you
may make other lefler flews to accommodate them apart, if
you pleafe ; and fo you will have them at command, without
difturbing the other fifli ; onlv obferve this by the way, that
perch will fcarce live in flews and fmall waters, if the weather
be hot, but will pine, grow lean and thin, if not die ; there-
fore the flews are to be their winter-quarters ; from whence
you take them for the ufe of your table, but in fummer tran-
flate them to the greater ponds.

Thefe flews being deligned at the fame time you raife the
pond-heads, will be done almofl under the fame charge, as is
hinted elfewhere : and once made, you have the fifli at a
minute's warning ready for the kettle, or any other vSc ; which
convenience is the great end of all the charge and pains, and
without it, you are not a maflcr of flfh.

Of

{ 45 )

Of Moats.

1HESE were made ordinarily for fecuring of dwelling
houfes, rather than for fifh ; and fince wars have been lefs
frequent, or rather, grown fo much an art, that the ancient
way of fortifying is not ufeful, are almoffc diluied. For being
laid fo near the dwelling, as we obferve commonly they are,
for want of fun, and air to purge them, the water grows putrid
and llimy, yielding no pleaiant lcent to the houfe ; befides,
when laid dry, as is nccefiary fometimes, the {"tench and filth of
them are infupportable ; and therefore many gentlemen have
either flighted them wholly, or prefented the form only, as a walk
or low garden, planting the fide- walls with fruit, but without
water : and fo is the moat at Althrop in Northamptonfhire,
a feat of the Earl of Sunderland's, much of late beautified,,
put in order, and horn a defect, turned to a great perfection.

But I am an advocate for moats, ordered as they might be,
and do efteem them a very great accomplifhment to a feat in
many refpects. i. Though they are not a fortification for
refiftance in time of war, yet againft pilferers and tumults,
they are fufficient and better than any walls you fhall make.
2. They fhall nourifh a world of fifh, which, though not fo
well at command as in other waters, yet for angling, and the
fporting part of net-fifhing, are better than the others are,
becatife nearer, and flihed with fmaller nets. 3. They are an
ornament and delight to a feat beyond imagination, as will

appear

( 46 )

appear when I have fhewecl how I would have them made-,
and of that next.

They mould encornpafs not only the houfe, but all the out
houfes, yards, orchards, and it may be a pightle or two, fuch
as are neat for ordinary convenience of horfes, or a cow or two :
I fay, all that is called the home-flail, mould be environed by
the moat. It fhould be no lefs than forty yards, or one hun-
dred feet over, cut down with a flope on each fide, as your
pond-heads were, without walls ; which are too great charge
rto keep in repair. And towards the paftures, you may make
a mouth ; if it runs the whole length of one fide of your moat,
at is the better, and fifh will increafe and thrive from it. Let
there be but two avenues with bridges : And to prevent the
charge of ci oiling fo great a length with bridge- work, you
may leave the earth on each fide broad enough for carriages,
but not to meet by ten or twelve feet, which may be covered
by a bridge, and underneath, the water to communicate ; fo
the oafs fhall be, as upon a caufeway, with a draw-bridge ; for
fo it may be made, if you pleafe.

I know all iituations and foils will not admit of this ; for
fome are low and marfhy, and fo have naturally too much
water ; others are upon hanging ground, which for want of a
level, cannot be moated in this manner ; others are fandy, and
will not hold water: But the happieft of all, is, fuch a fitu-
ation as cither hath fprings, or will take a current, and dif-
charge it again by a fluice or gates, fo that the moat (hall be
perpetually fed with a frefh water, and may at any time be
laid dry ; therefore in thefe affairs there muft be a previous

judgment

C 47 )

judgment of the place, elfe undertakings will not fucceedr
and that is a great diigrace.

Now, fuch a moat as this hath all the convenience I ipokc
of, bcfides ferves the houfe with water ; which from the wind
and the fun's free accefs to it in a great body, will certainly
preferve it fweet and wholefome. The finks of the houfe will
not foul it, as it doth in leffer quantities, even to kill the fifh,
as well as make the water unfit for ufe. The view of it is
a delicacy the greateft epicures in gardening court, and we
hear of it by the name oi canal. Then the moving upon it in
boats, either in calm weather, or with iomc wind that ftirs the
water, and gives a power of employing fomewhat oi fail, alter a
romantick way ; and thus circling an houfe, taking the variety
of walks and gardens here and there, viiitmg ftables and offi-
ces, feeing the horfes air upon the banks, &c, arc pleafures not
given to be underftood by any but ftatefmen, laid afide for their
honeftyj who by experience are taught the variety ofgreatnefs,
and have an underflanding to diftinguim the true felicities
of life.

I know the objection of charge, which muft be very great,
in fuch a work as this ; but I confider the great profufion of
money that is allowed to tranfitory vanities ; fuch as habits,
treats, equipages, not to mention vices too well known ; fuch
as arc tellers of money and depauperate families, leaving-
nothing but diieafes to fhew for them. If fo much, or a much
lefs proportion being difpofed to employ mankind, the poor
efpecially, in making holes, and filling them again, were much
more commendable, What is it then to produce advantage

to

( 4« )

to yourfell and family, to improve your habitation and eftatc,
preferve health and reputation?

But even the charge might be alleviated, if not in great part
laved, by good management. For inch grofs works as this
may be put out to undertakers, and you may compute by the
folid foot or yard, what the charge will be; and the mailers
will fee the men work, which you cannot do if you are mafter,
and do all by the day. Then, every one delights to have railed
walks and terraces about an houfe and garden; fo that the
earth being employed in iuch, and railing mounts in proper
places, will produce a real equivalent for the charge: but this
is a digreflion which here I conclude, and return to the affair
of fifh.

Then coniidering moats, as commonly they are, it is not
expected that the fifh fhould be much at command, becaufe it
is difficult, and perhaps not convenient to lay them dry.
However, they fhould be kept full ftocked, and will maintain
a great many. This will mend your angling, and the timing
with nets will feldom be labour in vain, as certainly it will
prove if under ftocked. Thefe waters will receive a great
lliare of your fry and ftores that are fuperfluous, and fo pre-
ferve them.

If a moat come to be laid dry, as will be ncceffary fome-
times to keep it from turning all to mud, after you have by
a lluice or cut, drained the water as low as you can, make
dams with boards and clay, and ram them to be water-tight;
fo you may tofs the water out of one diviiion to another, and
takeout the fifh in good order; but if you dry all together

you

( 49 )

you will not be able to fecure all ; befides, having one divifion
full of water, you can relieve the fry and eels by letting it
upon them; which elfe, for want of a frefh to let in upon
them, will be loft. So when one divifion is fifhed, that is re-
lieved by t offing the water out of the next. And this courfe
is not amifs, though you intend to throw out the mud; for
the faving the fifh while you are taking them out, quits the
charge of making the flanks.

Of other auxiliary JFaten,.

lOU muft have other waters bendes flews, to affifl in the
difpofition of the fifh ; for laying a pond in that great order
dry, as I propofe, once in every year, there will be a great
quantity of fifh to be difpofed ; fo that you muff: have a fuf-
ficient quantity of waters to receive when you abound, and to
recruit when you want. The flews will carry fixty, feventy,
or eighty carps apiece, fuppofing you fpend continually out
of them; fo other waters will receive their proportion, by
fending this way and that the ftock of fifh, you will preferve
all, and know where to find them again.

Thefe bye-ponds will be difperfed about your eflate, where
perhaps your predeceflbrs thought fit to make them, for the
convenience of their paftures, or you may make them as you

G can

( 50 )

can beft, with refpect to charge and other advantages, obferv-
ing always in a ground to take that part for your pond, to
which the waters are moll apt to fettle. In fome places, but
very few, the waters ftand beft upon the hills, and the valleys,
when fandy, will not hold well. The nature of the ground
is to be regarded.

Some ponds of good depth, of about five or fix rods fquare,
fhould be affigned to maintain pikes, which, when great, ought
to be kept by themfelves; for in a few yeai-s they will devour
other fith, and greatly furprife you in the deftruition they will
make. But I fhall fpeak more of this when I come to the
flocking of waters.

I do much approve of cleanfing and cafting out the mud
of fmall Handing waters once in feven or eight years, and fo
letting them lie dry one fummer, if you can fpare the water;
which, from moats, and pafture- waters, can fcarce be a ',
without great inconvenience. Thefe matters exereife the in-
vention of a good ceconomift, who will endeavour to prevent
damage, as well as fave time, and turn even his pleafm es to
profit.

One thing I advertife here, which is, not to let carp? con-
tinue in a fmall ftanding water above two fummers and one
winter; for fo you run a much lefs hazard from froft, than
otherwife you will do; befides, the fim will grow much more
upon tranfplanting, than by continuing in the fame water,
and more in the great, than in the fmall waters : but of thefe
things more afterwards,

Toe

( 5i )

The Courfe of I ay i fig the Great Waters Dry.

BEFORE I come to the bulinefs of fifh, I will finifh what
I had to fay about ponds, and the conduct of them ; and of
that only remains to fpeak of the courfe of laying them dry.

As for the fmaller waters, I have touched what concerns
them already; as for the greater, or principal ponds, proceed
thus:

In October, or after, draw the fluice of the firft made pond,
and lay it as dry as pofTible you can. It may be the fluice,
efpecially if the pond be many acres, will not vent the water
fuddenly. That is of no great import, becaufe, as the waters
fall, you will have opportunity of fifhing with nets, and fo
clear the hfh by degrees; which left to the kill, will be too
great a burden to clear, and will not be done without damage;
befides, the hurry will diforder every thing. If the fluice will
not vent all the water from the pan, a labourer or two will
foon throw it out with icuppets. Here you find the ufe of
the channels of diverlion, fpoke of before; for they will keep
off all land-waters, if the time mould prove rainy, and fo per-
mit the pond to empty, and continue dry, which you could
not anfwer for a day without them; and therefore they fhould
be made on both fides of the waters, on each hill one, which
will defend the fliot of thefe hills, that otherwife would retard
the work.

When your pond is dry, and thus fecured, keep it fo all
G 2 fummer,

( 52 )

fummer, and you may make a profit of the foil fufficiently,
either by ploughing or feeding. And at Michaelmas next, or
a little fooner, let fall the fluice, and turn in all the water you
can, that the pond may fill, and at the being near full, it is
ready to receive the flock again.

At the fame time lay another dry, proceeding as before;
which you may do alternately during your whole lite: nay, if
you have but two great ponds, this is the bell: courfe, and will
turn mod to the profit and feed of the fifh, as I fhall fhevy
when I fpeak of feeding.

If your flock be very great, you may let your ponds ftand
full two or three years, but not longer, unlefs you delight to
fee flarved lean fifh; for fuch they will certainly be, unlefs you
keep an under-flock by three-fourths continuing in the fame
water four or five years. And it is a certain rule, that the
oftener waters are laid dry, the better the feed of the fifh fhall
be, and more fhall be maintained. And a little experience
will demonftrate the advantage to be gieat, as to the fize, fat-
nefs, and fwectnefs of the fifn.

When your pond is dry, concern not yourfelf to carry out
the mud for the firfl fourteen or fifteen years; and then let
it be only out of the pan whence you took the earth to raile
the bank, but never break the turf of the reft of the ground
flowed : but when it comes to be a yard thick in mere mud,
it is good to take it out; for though mud be good to improve
ground, yet, when it is taken from the pond, down to the
dead earth, your ground and foil are depauperated, and the
water by confequence, which cheats the fifh, that is, yourfelf.

Of

( 53 )

Of the Breeding of Fijh.

JTlAVING done with ponds, the manner of making, pre-
ferving, and ufing them, I intend next to difcourfe of fifh, and
how beft to difpofe them to maintain the waters in full flock:
but before I come to the Rocking of waters, I muft fpeak of
the courfe of breeding fifh, whereby the flock is to be recruited
and fupplied.

Some have thought, that great difference is to be found in
the forts of carps, fome whereof are more apt to grow up to
a great fize, others to ipread and look thick, and others for
the fweetneis or the meat. I do not deny but there may be
fome difference, but I cannot efteem it fo confiderable, as to
be worth the looking after. Varieties in nature are infinite,
and in the feveral breeds or fifh, as of other creatures : yet I
have not obferved fo much of it in carps, that I could tell
how to diflinguifh them, where I could promife myfelf better
fuccefs with one fort than another. This is a nicety which
fimmongers, that make a trade of buying and felling, talk of,
intending it only as a topic of myftery, which all trades aflecT,
and to have fomething to fay for valuing or undervaluing, as
they fell or buy, to juftify in their talk the prices they pro-
poie to take or give; therefore this nicety is hit to them.

I do yet believe, that a fort of fifh, bred in great numbers
in bad waters, over-flocked, and almoft ftarved, may in pro-
cefs of time degenerate, and both hofc a good ihape, and be

lefl

( 54 )

lefs apt to grow up to a due greatnefs, than others that have been
better defcended of a cultivated flock: and on the other fide,
it is no lei's poilible, that by coming into good quarters, fifh
may improve and mend; fo that a gentleman is to expect the
goodneis of his fifh from the eleannefs of his waters, and the
plenty or their feed, and not from any choice of his flock or
breed ; and let him get them where he may, if well ordered,
he may affure himfelf they fhall anfwer his expectations.

It is a common obfervation, that feme waters will, and
others will not breed. It is my experience, that moft waters,
the firft year after having lain dry a fummer, do breed, and
that numeroufly, efpecially carps, which I have known increafe
to fuch an incredible fry, that I have been troubled how to
difpofc them, fo as to have them again after three or four
years, when they became good flock for great waters. Eels
and perch are of very good ufe to keep down the breed of
•fifh; for they prey much upon the fpawn and fry of bred fifh,
and will probably deilroy the fuperfluity of them.

The quality of breeding is fcarce to be found out by any
certain fymptom; for feme very promifmg ponds do not prove
ufeful that way. The beft indication I know of a breeding
pond, is, when there is good ftore of rufh and grazing about
it, and gravelly fhoais, fuch as horfe-ponds ufually have.
When a water takes thus to breeding, with a few milters and
fpawners, two or three of each, you may flock a country.

As for pike, perch, tench, roach, Sec. they are obferved to
breed in almofl any waters, and very numeroufly; only eels
jiever breed in perfect flanding waters, and without fprings;

and

( 55 )

and in fuch are neither found, nor increafe, but by putting
in ; but where fprings are, they are never wanting, though not
put in: and which is moft ftrange of all, no perfon ever faw
in an eel the leaft token of propagation, either by milt or
fpawn in them; fo that whether they breed at all, and how
they are produced, are queftions equally myfterious.

The Manner of Stocking JFatcrs:

1 HAVE found a great analogy between the flocking waters-
with fifh, and paflures with cattle ; and that the fame con-
duel and difcretion belong to both. "Waters may be over-
flocked, as pafrures oiten are; fo both may be under-flocked.
The latter is the lefs error; for if you over-ftock, you lofe the
whole fummer's feed; if you under-flock, you lofe only the
reft of your profit; what you do feed, is much the better, and
turns to account by more ready falc. So alfo of beafts ; fome
of the fame age and feeding will not thrive fo well as others.
I have found the like in my fifh, And waters themfelves, like
paflures, have varieties of goodnefs; fome will raife carps from
five to eighteen inches, in five years ; others will not do it in
ten. This is moft fenfible between your great waters made
upon a fill, and the fmall (landing waters, which have more

incon-

( 56 )

kiconveniencics, and are liable to fro (Is, and other cafualties,
more than the others are.

Therefore I propofe, that the fmaller waters fhould be ufed
as nurferics, and either to breed, or be ftocked with the bred
fry of other waters, to raife them to a fitnefs for ftores in your
principal feed; that is, to fix or eight inches. And of thefc
bred fry, you may put one hundred into four rods fquare of
water, or near that proportion, and fail not to remove them in
two years time; and fo you will have good recruits of ftores
for your greater waters.

And thus the many thoufands of bred fifli that you will
have upon the draining your great waters, which many are apt
to flight, may be feht feveral ways to the waters about that
and your neighbour's grounds, and there fed up like chickens,
2nd in time turn to great profit, as I ihall fhew ; therefore
they oiight not to be flighted, but carefully to be preferred;
the rather, becaufe confidering a pond (as I propofe) will,
though but four acres, feed up one thoufand fix hundred carps
in two, and perhaps in one year, from ten to eighteen inches,
fit for your table- prefents, or fale. Flow is it pofiible you
fhould reftock your waters the winter after, without this pro-
vidential forecaft, whereby you have magazines of fifh in other
ponds, fit flores to fupply your occafion?

Now, as for your great and principal wTaters, it is hard to
afTign a certain proportion for the flock ; but perufing the
methods I propofe, you will foon come to the knowledge what
flock the waters will carry ; for laying a pond dry every year,
you will fee the fifh well fed, or elfe thin and lean; and ac-
cordingly

( 57 )

cordingly you judge whether the fleck was too little or too
much for the water. Thus, by the thicknefs or fatnefs of
cattle, you judge if your ground will carry more or not ; and
both as to fpecies and number of tifli, experience muft be your
guide in the flocking of waters.

However, to fave lofs of time, which you muft fuflain bv
making your own experience, I will give the beft directions I can,
for the firft entry upon your bufmefs, and not leave the matter
wholly in the dark.

If the pond be fupplied with a white fat water upon great
rains, vou may put into it at firft three hundred carps per acre,
in cafe there be three or four acres, elie not lo many. And
it will be expedient to put in forty or fifty tenches for a trial,
becaufe this fort of water is moft proper for carp ; but being
laid dry, fometimes may prove well for tenches alfo, which,
when thriven, are a very good fifh ; but this proof by trial
muft determine.

You may add perches to any number, and not hurt the
water : I propofe fix hundred ; for though they are great
breeders, being alio hikes of prey, they devour their own
fpecies as much, if not more than any other ; and bv deftroy-
ing the fry of bred fifli, they preferve the food for the main-
tenance ot their feeders, which the try would intercept ; fo
do good rather than harm. I took once out of a perch's
belly of ten inches, ten other perches. This is efteemed one
of the beft forts of frefh-water fifh, and therefore defervedh
to be encouraged.

Have a great care of putting bream in this fort of waters ;

H for

( 5« )

for they will grow up very flovvly, though at laft they will be
great ; but in the mean time they breed fo infinitely, and fuch
a flimy naffy fry, as both robs and fouls the water, making it
unlit for the other fi-fli. But when a water is ten or twelve
acres, and fed with fome brook, winter and fummer, they will
do very well ; otherwife not to be made ufe of.

As for pike, which are inferior to no frefh-water fiin, and
now more eftecmed than ever, being lefs plentiful upon drain-
ing the fens, and fo harm more ; they are dangerous guefls in
the great waters ; for if grown large, they will devour and
deflroy the beit fiin, and depopulate the water. But thus far
you may trull: them ; if you can procure one hundred jacks
once in two years not exceeding nine inches, you may put
them with the carps into your great waters, fo as your carps
are not under nine or ten inches ; but take care that they flay
not above two years, and then fend them to their peculiar
ponds, and feed them as I mall hereafter difcourfe, and fo they
will grow to be very large and fine fiffi, which you would
not want.

I cannot advife the flocking great {landing waters with eels,
for they grow How, and being of an indifferent fize, will be
lean and dry ; but in moats, which have the finks of an houfe
drain into it, is proper enough for them, and they will thrive in
it. It is a fort of fifh, as I noted, that belongs to a fpringy
water.

Thefe directions belong to the firll flocking of new-made
ponds, which, as to feeding, lie under a difadvantage ; the
reafon I have touched, and is from the dead earth in the pan

from

( 59 )

from whence you raifed the bank, and that at firft, which is
about an acre, is almofl unprofitable. But afterward;, when
that dead ground hath contracted a little new loil from the
fettling of the water, efpccially after land-floods, and lain
dry a fu miner, whereby it will begin to graze, it will become
like the reft of the pond, and put fortii as good feed ior fifh
as any other part. This may feem ftrange and new, but is a
great truth, known to me from indubitable experience.

Then after one, two, or three years (ior longer the pond
muft not ftand full), when you come to reftock, and io on in
all like occalians, you may put lour hundred carp, or thrc
hundred carp, and eight hundred tench [if the water feeds
them) into an acre, befides perches. It is incredible to thofe
who have not ken it, as I have done, how carps thus ordered,
by tranfplanting them every year or two, will grow. I affirm,
that from fix, they will grow to twelve and better the firfl, and
to fifteen or fixteen the next year ; and then they are moll fit
for a gentleman's table ordinarily ; for though greater are more
oftentatious, yet thefe are the moll: fweet and befb meat, as
young flefh is commonly preferred to old.

It is to be noted, that if the fifh wherewith you flock the
waters, were kept fo clofe together, and come from over-
flocked waters, which renders them lean and poor, you mull
double the flock at firfl ; elfe the two fudden plenty of lood at
firfl will furfeit them, and they will die of overmuch blood,
as I have found to rniy great lofs.

H 2 Of

( 6o

Of the Manner of feeding FiJB.

IN a flew you may keep up thirty or forty carps, from Octo-
ber to March in winter, without feeding ; and by fiming with
trammels or flews in March or April, you may take from your
great waters, to recruit the flews ^ but you mull not fail to
feed all fummer, from March to October again, as conflantly as
your cooDed chickens arc fed, and to as good and certain ac-
count. The rcafon you feed in fummer, and not in winter,
is, becanfe the flfh will lie clofe in cold weather, and ^ecd
little, not caring to flir, especially upon the fhoals, where [*
is proper to give them meat.

If you would bring more bin together into your flews, you
may preferve and improve them by feeding ; but there are
bounds, becaufe the water is but frnall, and will not admit
anv great number : but if you have a great number of fifli to

J iD JO

be kept for an opportunity,, and you put them into a confi-
derable water, you may in that manner flock to any quantity,
taking care duly to feed them ; and fo not only maintain, but
improve one thoufand per acre ; but if thus over-flocked, and
you do not feed fufficiently, they will fink, and you be a great
lofer.

Now, as for your flews, the care of feeding is befl intrud-
ed to a butler or gardener, who are or fhould be always at
home, becaufe the conflancy and regularity of ferving the flfh,
conduce very much to their well eating and thriving ; for

thev

( 6r )

they will expedl their meat as duly as horfes, and appetite in any
creature waftes by difappointment.

Any fort of grain boiled is good to teed with, efpecially
malt coarfe ground. Peafe boiled a turn or two are as good
as any other grain. The grains after a brewing, while they
are good and fweet, are very proper ; but one bufhcl of malt
not brewed, will go as far as two of grains. The chippings of
bread, and orts of a table, iteepcd in tap-droppings of good
iirong beer or ale, are very good food for carps. Of thefe the
quantity of two quarts to thirty table carps every day is fufii-
cient ; and to feed morning and evening, is better than once a
day only.

The place to feed, is towards the mouth, at about half yard
deep ; for that keeps the deep clean and fit, as a parlour to
retire to, and reft in. The meat plainly thrown into the wa-
ter, without other device, will be picked up by them, and no-
thing fhall be loft. However, there are feveral ways to give
them meat, efpecially peaie, which are ufelul, as a fquare board
let down, with the meat upon it, by the four corners, whence a
firing comes, and made faft to a flick like a fcale, is very ma-
nageable. A gentleman had found out a very facile way to
feed carps, worth noting, becaufe I have heard it was fucceis-
ful. He let down the very kettle in which the peafe were boil-
ed, into the water, and the fifh would come and take out
every grain.

When you feed in the greater waters, where the numbers
are alfo great, it will be a charge as well as trouble ; but when.
you take out the fifh, and fee how they are thriven, you will-
allow

( 62 )

allow both well employed. Either malt boiled, or frefh grains,
is the bell: food in this cafe : and what is not fupplied from
your own houfe and brewings, you may take of neighbouring
alehoufes, who will be willing, lor a fmall matter, to throw
into the water, at a place you mail affign, a certain quantity
every brewing. Thus carps may be led and railed like capons.
And tenches will feed in flews, as well as carps ; but perch, as
was faid, are not for a flew in feeding time.

There is a fort of food ior fun, which I may call accidental,
and is no lefs improving, than the beft you can contrive ; and
that is, when the waters happen to receive the wafh of com-
mons where many fheep are fed, the water is enriched by the
earth, and ihall feed many more carps, than otherwife it
would. This is the cafe at Antlingham in Norfolk, where
there arc ponds in a common that raile carp wonderfully, al-
though the foil be fandy and poor, and the waters feldom let
out ; and this earthy wafh is the reafon of it. When cattle
are fed upon the paftures by your great waters, if they have
aceefs to them, in hot weather they will take delight to Hand
in the water; the dung that falls from them, is alfo a very
great nouriihmcnr of fifli.

It is believed, that about London the filnmongers have
ways of making carps lat by the offal of butchers Ihons and
llaughter-houles ; which I do not at all recommend to others,
if that were to be done, becaufe a fudden filthy feeding can
neither be wholefome nor iweet. But I have not obferved,
that carps do in any fort delight in blood, nor indeed any
other fifh, except breams ; and thofe will feed much upon

new

( 63 )

new grains mixed with blood ; fa that if you will be at the
charge of feeding them in flews, like carps, you may have
large breams in fix or feven years, which are a very flow
grower, unlefs it be in fpringy waters.

One way of feeding fifh is worth remembering, though
not fit to be ufed in waters that you ever look upon. It Ls
laying a dead carrion upon flakes in the middle of the water,
and it will breed maggots, which falling into the water, feed
the fifh. very confiderably ; but I have not proved it.

As for pikes, the beft iood to raife them up to an extra-
ordinary fatnefs is eels ; and without them it is not to be
done, but in a long time; otherwife fmall perches are the bell
meat you can give them. And the common opinion, that
pikes will not eat perches, becaufc of their armed backs,
is a great miftake, as I have found by certain experience.
Breams put into a pike-pond, will breed exceedingly, and
are good enough to maintain pikes, who will take care they
fhall not increafe overmuch. And the great fry ol roaches
and rouds that come from the greater waters, removed into
the quarters of your pikes, will be good diet for them.

Pikes in all waters, and carps in hungry fpringy waters,
being ted at certain times, will come up and take their meat
almoft from your hand ; and it is diverting enough to fee the
greedinefs and ftriving that will be amongft them for the good
bits, and the boldnefs, that by conflant and regular feeding,
they will come to.

Of

( 6+ )

Of diffojing your Increafe of FiJIi.

1 H I S care prefTeth when you employ your great waters j
and unlefs you have projected beforehand how you fhall dif-
pofe your fifh, you will find yourfelf in great diforder.

As for carps for the fervice of your houfe, and alfo tenches
and perch for winter, they are to be dilpoied into your flews.
The reft of your fifh, except the fry, you may put into the
great water, and in March or April after, with flews or
trammels, take out good quantities to recruit your winter's ex-
pence taken from your flews ; the fry goes to your pikes,
except carps, tench, and perch, which may go to fome of yoxir
auxiliary waters to be raifed, in order to become flores again
when you want. And ii, after all, you find your flock too
high, you rnufl feed as I have already difcourfed.

But you may contrive to keep your flock within compais ;
for you may enlarge the expence in your houfe, and gratify
your family and friends that vifit you, with a difh as acceptable
as any you can purchafe for money; or you may oblige your
friends and neighbours, by making prefents of them, which,
from the countryman to the king, is well taken ; for many
that have waters, not being in a method of hufbanding them,
as well as others that have none, want and defire fifh, and
look upon fuch a prefent, as of a rarity, valuing it not by your
plenty, but their own fcarcity. And where fifh is plenty, it
is a pofitive difgrace to appear covetous of them, rather more

than

( 65 )

than of vcnifon, or any other thing; fo that prefents are not
only expedient, but necellary to be made by him that pro-
fefTeth a maftery of fiih.

Another way, more prudent, though in the account of
ihallow people, lefs reputable, is that of felling. If there
were any colour for difreputation in that matter, I mould
beftow fome words upon it; but feeing it refides only among
vain women, or women-like men, I let the humour pafs, and
mould as foon preach againft the opinion of fairies and Robin-
Goodfellow, as that. Only by the way, I prefume to advife
the cenlorious fparks to do nothing unjuff.; let their dealing
be plain, though in felling of hories, fpend what is their own,
provide for their families, and be true to their friend; and
arter this, whether they fell corn, cattle, conies, fheep, deer,
hories, or fiih, I will iniure their honour lor a farthing;. It
is the truth and fubftance of things, and no perfon's opinion,
that governs honour, which coniiils wholly in doing what is
truly juft and good, and nothing otherwife.

This matter being difmiffed, I proceed to direct the courle
to be taken when vou propofe to fell. Full contract with
the perfon you deal with for a quantity ; which, if for fale
to eat, will be by the meafure of fo much per inch, for every
inch above a foot; if for ftores, then fo much per hundred,
or dozen, between certain lengths, as between nine and
twelve, and feven and ten inches, to be delivered alive where
it is agreed.

This trade will be eafy, if you are planted within forty
miles of London, which will take off quantities for retailing,

I elfe

( 66 )

elfe it will be hard to find contractors ; but for {lores, there
will be fome always beginning in fiih, with whom you may
deal ; and fo few will feduloufly apply to the conduct of their
waters, as is neceflarv to a command of fifh, you need not fear
the country will be overftocked. If the humour of living in
the country once repofTefTeth the gentleman, there may be
much more occafion for flores than at prefent there is, becaufe
their feats are let to tenants, and the waters uncultivated.

When you have contracted, you are at a certainty, and may
proceed ; for it is a great inconvenience to take and carry fifh,
and then be paid with a wrangle ; therefore let your terms be
certain, and you can have no difpute, becaufe all is to be de^
clared by meafure.

You will find your flews and auxiliary waters of great ufe
to you upon fuch occalions ; for you clap in what fifh you
pleafe for fourteen or fifteen days ; for inflance, five or fix
hundred carps to a brace of (lews, and they take no harm : if
they continue longer, it is but feeding them until they are
fetched or carried away.

Of fjhing for Carriage*

J\S for the particular ways and methods of taking fifh, fuch
as I have dealt in, is at prefent befides my defign, though I

may

( 67 )

may not perhaps altogether pafs it by, fo much as concerns
the carriage of fifh, which I look upon as a confiderable item
in the managery as to profit, which I principally aim at, I
fhall now obferve.

When your fifhing is in order to remove far, whether the
waters are great or fmall, it muft be done in winter, between
the firfl of October, and the laft of March ; and the colder
the weather is, the better. One great caution is, not to handle,
or any way to batter or bruife them ; for it is a great truth,-
and common fenfe fpeaks it, that fifh battered and bruifed, will
not thrive upon tranfplanting, fo well as others ; therefore
when your pond is drawn, and you come to the fifh, take
them out of the water with hoop-nets fixed upon flaves about
ten feet long, and ten or twelve fifh at a time in a net is fumci-
cut, though but a foot long ; more, by their weight and ftrug-
gling, will damage each other infenfibly, fo as to hinder their
growth and thrift, and perhaps be the caufe that many die.
Let the fifh be as little out of the water as may be ; for when
fouled, and almofl choaked with mud, they will clean and re-
cover themfelves with water, which frefhen upon them often,
till you come to put them up for carriage.

If you fifh with nets, and make a great draught, as probably
you will when the water is low, be not hafly to draw the fifh
upon the ground, but fecure them by taking the lead line upon
the ground, and holding up the cork line, and fo let them ftir
a little, they will be the cleaner ; and then take them out with
hoop-nets, as before. And if there be occafion to keep them
any time out of the water, let it be upon the grafs, when there

I 2 .. -is

( 68 )

is no fun, or elfe in the fhade, for heat is the greateft enemy
to the life of fifh out of water that can be.

The beft veffel for conveyance (it you carry above twenty
miles) is a great tun that holds hve hogfheads ; but it no
more than ten, fifteen, or twenty miles, ordinary hogfheads
will do well enough. I know by experience you may fafely
carry three hundred carps, fix and feven inches long, in one
hogfhead ; but from feven to a foot, not fo many by a fourth
part. If they exceed a foot, then not above feventy or eighty
in a hogfhead. Let every hogfhead have ten or twelve pails
of frefh clean water (not well-water), every fix or feven
miles, if it may be had. There is no need of any great
liberty for the fifh, if their water be frefh, and often renewed ;
for one great ufe of the water is to bury the fifh, that with
mere weight they might not crufh and dcftroy one another.

When you are arrived at the place of difchargc, pour the
.fifh into an hoop-net a few at a time, and difpofe them forth-
with where they are defigned ; and with this care you will
fcarce lofe a fifh.

Some ufe to put up fifh in bafkets or hampers for carriage,
Rowing them with grafs between ; but this is not fo good as
water, for the grafs cleaving to the flime of the fifh, rubs
and cleans it from the fcales ; whicli done, a carp fcarce ever
thrives after. And although perhaps the fifh may live, they
will not grow or thrive, becaufe their natural flime, fcarce
recoverable, is rubbed off ; and for the fame rcafon, it is not
good to let carps lie at all in grafs, but keep them always in
water, to preferve them from biuifes, and lofing their flime.

Of

( 69 )

Of Nurfcries to Ponds and Fijh.

CjENERALLY fpeaking, the frefher air and cleaner foil
your water hath, the better fifh thrive. Wood of any fort
near the water is bad, not only from its hindering the wind
and fun from purifying the water, but from the leaves falling
in, and rotten wood- both which are pernicious to fifh. But
oliers and willows may be allowed of, without much
inconvenience. Oak boards, or timber laid in water, as
fometimes is done to feafon, will in all probability deftroy
all your fifh; and likewife hemp laid to rot; all which are
therefore to be avoided. Dung-hills, ftables, or cow-houfes,
permitted to drain into ponds, are very ill neighbours, and
moft efpecially wafh-houfes, which certainly fpoil a Handing
water.

Of Fro/Is, and the IF ays to fave the Fijh in them.

1 HE great plague and bane of fifh. in moats, great and
fmal-I, and other little {landing waters, are great and fharp
frofts. I have ufed all the tricks that 1 have heard of, which
are not a few, or could devife, to fave my fifh in fuch waters;

and

( 70 )

•and yet in ten years time I have loft three or four thoufand
carps. But yet I have found ways to fave the life of many a fair
carp, when my neighbours have loft all ; which I fhall declare
as my own experience, and may be profitable upon like oc-
cafions to any that will ufe them*

Firft, as to the forts of fifh that fufTer moft, I can only
fay, that the tench, if any, is froft- proof, and will fhift in
extremity; but if the froft be intenfe and long, the other
forts, as carps, eels, pike, perch, and roach, will go near to
pcrifh ; and I have found not any great difference of hard-
nefs, but when one fifh complains, they are all in imminent
danger.

The waters moft obnoxious to frofts are fuch as are land-
ing, fhallow, or fmall. For if there be cither a water-
current, or a frefh fpring, no fifh dies for froft. If an hard
winter fucceeds a very dry fummer, the fifh fufFers moft. It
the ponds are large and deep, fuch as I have directed to be
made upon the channel of water, which may not run but
upon floods or rain, the fifh will never die in froft there; but
fuch waters you muft look upon as the afylum for the
fecuring the fifh in extremity; and all that you can put in
there alive, though through a hole in the ice, will certainly live.
If the bank of a pond fews, it will preierve the fifh in froft;
the reafon, as I imagine, is, becaufe where the water fews out,
the air will bubble in, which relieves the fifh ; or perhaps it
might put the water into fome degree of motion. II fo, the
ftirring water" with a board flat upon a pole put under the ice,
might do good ; but this is conjecture.

The

( 7i )

The fymptom of mortality to your fifh in time of frofl, lsy
their fhewing themfelves ; which if you perceive in the leaft,
conclude all are going; and without a thaw, that water will
not keep them alive. For it is the nature of fiih in cold
weather to lie as clofe and deep as they can; fo that nothing
but the pangs of death fhall make them move. Ir no holes
are broke, they will rife and flick to the ice, and be frozen to
it; if there be holes, they will move about them, as ii they
came up for frefh air.

When the froft hath continued long, and hard, that you
begin to fufpecT: your fiih, you may make a trial by cutting
holes in feveral places, fome in the middle, and fome by the
fides of the waters that are obnoxious; that is, after about
ten days freezing ; and by the appearing of the fiih, or not,
you fhall difcovcr the temper and condition they are in; there-
lore watch them diligently. If they are not well, they will
appear; then prepare all hands to take out every fifh, as near
as you can ; for what you take out, you may prelcrve, and all
that arc left behind, arc probably loft.

Many ufe to break holes to relieve the fifh, and, as they
think, give them frefh air; fome have put dung bound up
together into the holes, as it the warmth of that keeping the
hole open would preferve the fiih; but thefe ways, and all
others that I have heard of, except taking out the fifh, are
mere vanities. I have cut many holes, and large ones, and
employed men to take out the ice, and keep them open, but
to no advantage. One thing appeared very oddly to me, when
I took that courfe. Many of the fifh in a large moat had

gathered

( 72 )

gathered together in a corner obverted to the South, where
the ground rofe under an high bank, to a fhoal- water. Thefc
fifh, by their motion and heat, together with the fun's heat,
that was ftrongeft. there, kept the water from freezing, and I
could plainly fee every fifh, great and fmall. There were
carp, pike, perch, eels, and fry in abundance, collected as if
it had been a general counfel of all the orders of fifh, met to
confider what was to be done in that extremity, very divert-
ing to obferve.

But to leave conceits, and come to the only expedient
which I have found effectual to fave the fifh in this cafe; and
that is, to fet great tubs or fats full of water in fome outhoufe,
not far from a fire; and as fall: as the fifh appear, take them
out, and put them there; and from thence you may convey
them in a bafket to your great waters, where you may make
an hole at about eight feet deep, and putting the fifh in, pre-
ferve them; or if you pleafe, you may keep them there, frefh-
ening the water every twelve hours, until the froft. breaks, and
put them into their own houfes again. You may plainly per-
ceive how the fifh, though ftunned and numb with the froft',
coming into the fat, will by degrees recover, and be perfedly
well again j and thus you may keep them five weeks, or
longer, if the froft continues.

1 have gone farther: fometimes fifh have been to all ap-
pearance dead, others frozen and inveloped in ice, yet by this
method I have preferved them; for heating water, and putting
it into the fat, until I brought the water there to a Mid-
fummcr heat, and then I have put fuch fifh. in, with their

fhdl

( 73 )

fhell of ice upon them, and in fix or feven hours the ice was
gone, and the lifh alive and well; and fo I have delivered
them to my great waters, brifk as any.

This may leem grange, but it is mo ft true, and to be at-
tcftcd, if need were; therefore in froft ufe this and no other
means, for all elfe will prove but labour in vain.

In fmall waters, where is the greateft danger of froft, ob~
ferve never to put in ftock, but the laft week of February, or
beginning of March ; for then they take lefs hurt in removing,
and they may be taken out in O&ober after, and fo all hazard
of froft prevented ; and if you venture them there one winter,
be fure never let them run the hazard of another. So you
have two fummers feed, which will raife a carp from ftore to
the table, and venture but one winter's froft; and in winter
they neither feed nor grow any thing confiderable.

Of the ordinary Benefits and Improvements by Fijh.

1HESE were touched when I fpoke of difpofmg the in-
creafe of rlih; that is, iurniihing your table, obliging your
friends, and railing money. I fhall only add to the laft, that
it is moft reafonable, if it can be contrived, that pleafures pay
for the charge of them. Then what is more juftiflable, than

K to

( 74 )

to make ponds yield a profit to anfwer the great charge in
making them?

But we muft go farther: ground fhall be vaftly improved by
fifh, and fhall be intrinfically worth, and yield more this
way, than by any other employment you can give it: for
fuppofe it meadow of two pounds per acre (which is an high
value for the beft meadow far from London), I will juftify,
that four acres in pond fhall return you every year one
thoufand carps fed up, from — to fourteen or fifteen inches,
befides pikes, perch, and tench, and other fry, ufeful on many
accounts, if the water fuits them. The carps are faleable,
and will bring perhaps twelve pence, but in all likelihood not
lefs than nine pence ; yet, let it be fix pence apiece, there is
" twenty-five pounds, which is fix pounds five fhillings per
acre; a little charge of carriage perhaps to be deducted. This
is improvement enough.

But lay alide profit, and confider how a gentleman fhould
entertain himfelf and his family, which I muft fuppofe every
one hath, who lives upon an eftate, and it may be numerous;
he muft find fome fort of diverfion lor them. Muft it be
altogether going abroad to make, or at home receiving vifits?
Or if the female part are lo grave, to decline that courfe of
life, muft they always be within? Or it they ftir out, have
nothing but mere air to invite them? Perhaps the gentle-
man himleli may find diverfion by hunting, &c. and meeting
company upon leveral diverting accounts ; and fhall all his
entertainments be exclufive of his family? No, certainly;
whoever aims at an eafy and fatisfa^Qry courfe of life, muft

fctk

( 75 )

feck that his family, as well as himfelf, be pleafed: and if he
doth not order it Co that they (hall be entertained, it is ten to
one they will rind fuch entertainments as (hall not be very
grateful to him; therefore there is advantage enough in the
maftery of fifh., from the divcrfion, not to fpeak of the em-
ployment that it brings to a family. Young people love
angling extremely; then there is a boat, which gives pleafure
enough in fummer, frequent fifhing with nets, the verv mak-
ing of nets, feeing the waters, much difeourfe of them, and the
fifh, efpecially upon your great fvveeps, and the ftrange fur-
prizes that will happen in numbers and bignefs, with many
other incident entertainments, are the refult of waters, and
direct the minds of a numerous family to terminate in fome-
thing not inconvenient, and, it may be, divert them from worfe.
Parks, bowling-greens, and billiard- tables, are of the fame
•defign; but it will be eafily granted, this of fifh is beyond
them all.

If it be laid, that this is not a pleafure, it is all care and
pains, efpecially to him that is the matter, who mud be per-
petually vexed at the negligence and blockifhnefs of fervants,
that will never perform what he expects and orders: I anfwer,
that is a good reafon for leaving the world. The plague of
fervants is the fame in all bufinefs, wherein von ufe and de-
pend upon them; therefore, to be rid of it, give away your
ettate, retire, and be an hermit: and even then you mall
ifind the gnawing of your own mind a more perverfe evil,
than all the bulineis, fervants, with the croffes and vexations
attending them. We were not made perfect, but muff, live

K ?. in

f 76 )

ill perpetual difeafe; the only point is, which way to leffen
it; and that muft be by employment, which diverts the fenfe
of our innate mifery. What can be a greater torture, than
to live chained to a bed, though the beft in the world, and
have no company nor bufmefs? Therefore court bufmefs, if
you would pafs for an epicurean, and let it be fuch as brings
comfort to nature, and not pain and torment in the confe-
quence; that is to fay, lawful, profitable, obliging, and tem-
perate. So you avoid offending the publick, increafe your
ftore, win your friends and family, and preferve your health;
all which, I take it, are accomplished, in great meafure, by
the maftery of flfh.

Now, as to the vending of fifh, obferve that it is beft to be
content with the market price, as you can find it, as moft are
lor other vendible commodities; and for carps between thir-
teen or fourteen, or fixteen inches, meafuring from nofe-end
to tail-end, twelve pence is a good price; lellmg to the nobi-
lity or gentry, may produce one penny more, and may meafure
up to ieventeen; but never promife above twenty turned of
fixteen in twelve fcore.

Of Benefits^ befdes the main Defign.

i. H E S E are many, and not inconfiderable : as firfr, when
you make a great water, you take the firff fpit of the ground

upon

( 77 )

upon which the bank is to ftand, and from the pan of the
pond. In cafe you take earth there for the bank, and this
you carry to fome place where it is moft eafily removed upon
your tillage-ground, and there let it lie to rot the fod, and
then there is not a better manure, and more than pays the
charge of digging and carrying it.

fa fafcl O J S

2. You gain the making of flews, and, it may be, other
ponds for the convenience of your cattle, all under one
charge: for if you muft dig clay and earth for your bank, it
is as eafily taken where it doth this, as othcrwife.

3. If the foil about the waters be any thing mooriih, it
may be planted with oilers, which yield a certain yearly
crop.

4. The feed of the pond when laid dry, or the corn, that
is, oats, which you may have upon the bottom, though mere
mud, is very confiderable. This hath been touched before.

5. You will invite all manner of help to your liming, by
the fry given among thofe who afiift you; and though you
pay them, they will expect fifh; and with expectations of
carrying home a difh ol lrcfh hlh, men will work in wet and
dirt, to a wonder, without oilier pay.

6. Jl you graze cattle near your great waters",, they will
delight to come and ftand in- the water; and it conduceth
much to the thrift ol your cattle, as well as the feed of your
fifh, which is much fupplied by the dunging of the cattle;
and therefore it is good to have ponds in cow-paftures and
grazing grounds.

As to the fowing of oats in the bottom of a pond, obferve

to

( 7« )

to Aij your great water once la three, or at molt four years,
and that at the end of January, or beginning of March;
which, if not a very unreasonable year, will be time enough.
After Michaelmas following, you may put in a very great
flock; and thin them in following years, as the feed will
decline.

The -Conclufioii.

1HUS I have given, as fhort and intelligibly as conveniently
I could, the bell: of my knowledge, contracted by twenty
years practice and experience, of fifh and. waters: and if I am
fo happy thereby, to contribute in the leaft to the fatis taction
or diversion of my friends, it will extremely content, if not
encourage me to add fomewhat farther concerning the na-
lure of the feveral forts of fifh I deal in, the *vays of taking
them, of nets, angling, engines for clearing waters, and other
particularities that I have proved. In the mean time, they
may command thefe as myfelf, both being alike open, con-
Uderable, and at their fervice.

INDEX.

( 79 )

INDEX.

THE Barbel — — ——— Page 5

Carp — — — — — — — 7

The Chub — — — — — 11

TheCodFifh — — — _ — 13

The Haddock — — — — — 14

The Herring — — — — — — l6

The Mackarel — — — — — — 20

The Mullet — — — — — 21

The Pearch, or Perch, — — — — — 23

The Pike _ _ — — — — 24

The Roach — — — — _ _ 25

The Shad — — — _ — 26

The Tench — — — — _ — 28

The Trout __ — — — — 29

The Whiting — — — — — 31

A Difcourfe of Fifh and Fifh Ponds — — ~ 33

Of the Situation and Difpofition of the Principal Waters — — 35

Of

So INDEX.

Of the Manner of making and railing Pond Heads — Page 33

The Dimensions of Pond Heads — — — ■ — 34

Of fecuring your Banks — — — — ■ — 35

Of Sluices — - — — — — — 37

Of the Manner of Working to raife a Pond Head — — 39

Of Auxiliary Waters — — — — — 42

Of Stews — ■ — — — — — 43

Of Moats — — — — — — 45

Of other Auxiliary Waters — — — — — 49

The Courfe of laying the great Waters dry — — — 51

Of Breeding of Fifh — — — — — 53

The Manner of Stocking Waters — ■ — — — 55

Of the Manner of feeding Fifh — — — — 60

Of difpofing your Increaie of Fifh — — — — 64

Of fifhing for Carriage — — — — — 66

Of Nurferies to Ponds and Fifh — — — — 69

Of Frpfts, and the Way to fave the Fifh in them — — ib.

Of the ordinary Benefits and Improvements by Fifh — — 73

Of Benefits belides the main Defign — — — — 76

The Conclufion — — — — — — 78

FINIS.