head and a large mouth, no teeth, but his lips are like a file, with which he nibbles at the bait. They spawn in April, and are full of spawn most of the summer. Their haunts in summer are chiefly in holes, or amongst stones in clear water; but in winter they lay in the mud like the eel. The worst of anglers may take this fish; for if look above the water in a hot day, you may you see him sunning himself on a flat stone, put your hook upon it, baited with a small red worm, and he will take it directly. The taste of this fish is very good.-Hook, No. 13.

THE STICKLEback, sharpling, or banSTICKLE.

This fish, with three names, as he is called by in different counties, is a small prickly fish, and not worth the angler's notice, in regard to himself, but that he is an excellent bait for the trout, who will take it sooner than the minnow. His prickles must be broke off, and baited according to the directions given for baiting the minnow, under the description of the trout.

N. B. The tackle, baits, &c. for this fish, and the foregoing ones, must be the same, and very

five.

There are three fishes which I omitted in the first edition, and what anglers in general seldom meet with, because they are local, and peculiar to certain waters; but as they are held in high estimation where they are taken, I shall describe them for the reader's information.

ALBULA SALMONI SIMILIS-THE GUINniad.

The guinniad, according to Camden and others,

H

is peculiar to Pemble-Meer in Cheshire. "The river Dee," says this author," which runs by Chester, springs in Merionethshire, and it runs towards Chester; it passes through the said Pemble-Meer, which is a large water, and it is observed, that though the river Dee abounds with salmon, and Pemble-Meer with guinniad, yet there are never any salmons caught in the Meer, nor any guinniads in the river.

UMBRA MINOR GESN-THE RED CHARR, OR WELCH

TORGOCH.

The red charr is a fish whose make is longer and more slender than that of a trout, for one of about eight inches long was no more than an inch and a half broad. The back is of a greenish olive spotted with white. The belly, about the breadth of half an inch, is painted with red, in some of a more lively, in others of a paler colour, and in some, especially the female, it is quite white. The scales are small, and the lateral lines straight. The mouth is wide, the jaws pretty equal, except the lower, which is a little sharper and more protuberant than the upper. The lower part of the fins are of a vermilion dye. The gills are quadruple, and it has teeth both in the jaws and on the tongue; in the upper jaw there is a double row of them. The swimming bladder is like that of a trout; the liver is not divided into lobes; the gall-bladder is large; the heart triangular; the spleen small and blackish, and the eggs of the spawn large and round. The flesh is more soft and tender than that of a trout, and when boiled can scarcely be allowed to be red. It is in the highest esteem where known,

and in Wales is accounted the chief dish at the tables of people of fashion.

Dr.

The chief place in England where this fish is taken, is Winander-Meer: but in Wales they are to be had in five different places, viz. Llamberris, Llin-Umber, Festiniog, and Beltus, in Caernarvonshire, and near Casageddor, in Merionethshire. In this last county they are smaller than in the former, and are taken in October; but in Caernarvonshire, in one of the lakes, they are caught in November; in another in December, and in the third in January, and when the fishing in one ends, it begins in another. Leigh says, the charr, in Coningston-Meer, which is not far from Winander-Meer, are much better, but there are reasons to suppose he was prejudiced in this article. According to Camden, the latter Meer is the largest standing-water in this kingdom, being ten miles in length; and some say it is as smooth at the bottom, as if it was paved with polished marble. They swim to-gether in shoals, and though they appear on the surface of the water in the summer-time, yet they will not suffer themselves to be taken, either with the angle or with nets; therefore the only season for fishing, is when they resort to the shallow parts of the lakes to spawn: at these times they set trammel-nets baited, and leave them for whole days and nights, into which the fish enter of their own accord.

CARPIO LACUS BENACI-THE GUILT OR GILT CHARR.

The Latin writers called the gilt charr, carpio lacús Benaci, because they imagined it was only to be met with in that particular lake, where it is

called roetel; but it has since appeared to be the same fish with our gilt charr, which is bred in Winander-Meer, in the county of Westmoreland. It is proportionably broader than the trout, and the belly is more prominent; but its length, when greatest, never exceeds twelve inches: the scales are small, the colour of the back is more lively than that of a trout, and is beautified with black spots, the belly and sides, beneath the lateral line, are of a bright silver colour; the skull is transparent, and the snout blueish it has teeth in the lower jaw, on the palate, and the tongue; the swimming-bladder is extended the whole length of the back, and the gall-bladder is large. The flesh of the gilt charr is red, and is accounted so very delicious amongst the Italians, that they say it excels all other pond and sea fish whatever; and they esteem the nature of it so wholesome, that they allow sick persons to eat it.

Some have doubted whether the Welch and English fish, are of the same kind or not; but Mr. Ray thinks there is no room to make a doubt of it. The Welch name torgoch, signifies a red belly, which distinguishes the red charr properly enough: the gilt charr is, indeed, quite a different species, and is about twice as small as the red; the belly of the former is red, the flesh white, and the spots on the back white likewise; whereas the belly of the latter is of a silver colour, the flesh red, and the back is spotted with black.

'The charr and guinniad never change their shires,
But live in Winander and Pemble-Meers.'

CHAP. VI.

The most scientific method of making Fish-Ponds, Stews, &c. to which is added several Arcana in the Art of Angling.

T is agreed, that those grounds are best that are full of springs, and apt to be moorish: the one breeds them well, and the other preserves them from being stolen.

The situation of the pond is also to be considered, and the nature of the currents that fall into it; likewise that it be refreshed with a little brook, or with rain-water that falls from the adjacent hilly ground. And that those ponds which receive the stale and dung of horses, breed the largest and fattest fishes.

In making the pond, observe that the head be at the lowest part of the ground; and the trench of the flood-gate, or sluice, has a good swift fall, that it may not be long in emptying.

If the pond carries six feet of water it is enough; but it must be eight feet deep, to receive the freshes and rains that should fall into it. - It would be also advantageous to have shoals on the sides, for the fishes to sun themselves in, and lay their spawn on; besides in other places certain holes, hollow barks, shelves, roots of trees, islands, &c. to serve as their retiring places. Consider further, whether your pond be a breeder; if so, never expect any large carps from thence;