He is so bold that he will other fish have, two fins on his back. invade one of his own kind, which the Pike will not do so willingly; and you may, therefore, easily believe him to be a bold biter. The Perch is of great esteem in Italy, saith Aldrovandus: and especially the least are there esteemed a dainty dish. And Gesner prefers the Perch and Pike above the Trout, or any fresh-water fish he says the Germans have this proverb, "More wholesome than a Perch of Rhine:" and he says the River-Perch is so wholesome that physicians allow him to be eaten by wounded men, or by men in fevers, or by women in childbed. He spawns but once a year; and is, by physicians, held very nutritive; yet, by many, to be hard of digestion. They abound more in the river Po, and in England, says Rondeletius, than other parts and have in their brain a stone, which is, in foreign parts, sold by apothecaries, being there noted to be very medicinable against the stone in the reins. These be a part of the commendations which some philosophical brains have bestowed upon the fresh-water Perch: yet they commend the Sea-Perch, which is known by having but one fin on his back, of which they say we English see but a few, to be a much better fish. The Perch grows slowly, yet will grow, as I have been credibly informed, to be almost two feet long; for an honest informer told me, such a one was not long since taken by Sir Abraham Williams, a gentleman of worth, and a brother of the angle, that yet lives, and I wish he may this was a deep-bodied fish, and doubtless durst have devoured a Pike of half his own length. For I have told you, he is a bold fish; such a one as but for extreme hunger the Pike will not devour. For to affright the Pike, and save himself, the Perch will set up his fins, much like as a turkey-cock will sometimes set up his tail. But, my scholar, the Perch is not only valiant to defend himself, but he is, as I said, a bold-biting fish: yet he will not bite at all seasons of the year; he is very abstemious in winter, yet will bite then in the midst of the day, if it be warm and note, that all fish bite best about the midst of a warm day in winter. And he hath been observed, by some, not usually to bite till the mulberry-tree buds; that is to say, till extreme frosts be past the spring; for, when the mulberry-tree blossoms, many gardeners observe their forward fruit to be past the danger of frosts; and some have made the like observation of the Perch's biting. But bite the Perch will, and that very boldly. has wittily observed, if there be twenty or forty in And, as one a hole, they may be, at one standing, all catched one after another; they being, as he says, like the wicked of the world, not afraid, though their fellows and companions perish in their sight. And you may observe, that they are not like the solitary Pike, but love to accompany one another, and march together in troops. And the baits for this bold fish are not many: I mean, he will bite as well at some, or at any of these three, as at any or all others whatsoever; a worm, a minnow, or a little frog, of which you may find many in hay-time. And of worms; the dunghill worm called a brandling I take to be best, being well scoured in moss or fennel; or he will bite at a worm that lies under cowdung, with a bluish head. And if you rove for a Perch with a minnow, then it is best to be alive; you sticking your hook through his back fin; or a minnow with the hook in his upper lip, and letting him swim up and down, about mid-water, or a little lower, and you still keeping him to about that depth by a cork, which ought not to be a very little one: and the like way you are to fish for the Perch with a small frog, your hook being fastened through the skin of his leg, towards the upper part of it and, lastly, I will give you but this advice, that you give the Perch time enough when he bites; for there was scarce ever any angler that has given him too much.* And now I think best to rest myself; for I have almost spent my spirits with talking so long. VENATOR. Nay, good master, one fish more, for you see it rains still and you know our angles are like money put to usury; they may thrive, though we sit still, and do nothing but talk and enjoy one another. Come, come, the other fish, good master. PISCATOR. But, scholar, have you nothing to mix with this discourse, which now grows both tedious and tiresome? Shall I * Although Perch, like Trout, delight in clear swift rivers, with pebbly, gravelly bottoms, they are often found in sandy, clayey soils: they love a moderately deep water, and frequent holes by the sides of or near little streams, and the hollows under banks. The Perch spawns about the beginning of March: the best time of the year to angle for him is from the beginning of May till the end of June, yet you may continue to fish for him till the end of September: he is best taken in cloudy windy weather. Other baits for the Perch are, loaches, miller's-thumbs, sticklebacks; lob, marsh, and red worms. When you rove for Perch with a minnow or other small fish, use a large cork float, and lead your line about nine inches from the bottom, otherwise the bait will come to the top of the water; but in the ordinary way of fishing, let your bait hang within about six inches from the ground.-H. Pennant mentions a Perch that was taken in the Serpentine river, Hyde Park, that weighed nine pounds. He also mentions a very singular variety of the Perch; the back quite hunched, and the lower part of the backbone, next the tail, strangely distorted, found in a lake called Llyn Raithlyn, in Merionethshire. "They are not peculiar to this water, for Linnæus (he adds) takes notice of a similar variety found at Fahlun, in his own country. I have also heard that it is to be met with in the Thames, near Marlow." -E. Brit. Zoology, vol. iii. p. 224, edit. 1776. have nothing from you, that seem to have both a good memory and a cheerful spirit? VENATOR. Yes, master, I will speak you a copy of verses that were made by Doctor Donne, and made to show the world that he could make soft and smooth verses, when he thought smoothness worth his labour: 8 and I love them the better, because they allude to Rivers, and Fish and Fishing. They be these: * Come, live with me, and be my love, And if mine eyes have leave to see, Well remembered, honest scholar. I thank you PISCATOR. for these choice verses; which I have heard formerly, but had quite forgot, till they were recovered by your happy memory. Well, being I have now rested myself a little, I will make you some requital, by telling you some observations of the Eel; for it rains still and because, as you say, our angles are as money put to use, that thrives when we play, therefore we'll sit still, and enjoy ourselves a little longer under this honeysuckle-hedge. PISCATOR. IT is agreed by most men, that the Eel is a most dainty fish: the Romans have esteemed her the Helena of their feasts; and some the queen of palateBut most men differ about their breedpleasure. ing some say they breed by generation, as other fish do; and others, that they breed, as some worms do, of mud; as rats and mice, and many other living creatures, are bred in Egypt, by the sun's heat when it shines CHAP. XIII. Of the Eel, and other Fish that want Scales. VARIATIONS. 8 when he thought them fit and worth his labour.-1st edit. 9 that the Eel is both a good and a most dainty fish.-1st edit. * As has been observed in a former note, this song is an imitation of the one by Marlowe, which the Milkmaid sung to Piscator and Venator on the Third Day. See page It is printed among Donne's Poems, ed. 1635, p. 39, with the following varia 79. tions: a And there th' innamour'd fish will stay. b Bewitch poor fishes wandering eyes. c Alas, is wiser far than I. |
