Philip Henry Gosse

“ The marvel lies in the triumph of art over brute force. If the sporting gear of the fly-fisher were not managed with art, on the mathematical principles of leverage, he could not, by its means, lift from the ground more than a minute fraction of the dead weight of that living, bounding, rushing fish, which he tires to death, nay drowns, in its own element. The overcoming of difficulties by the suaviter in modo forms one of the greatest charms of fly-fishing, and to my fancy is the pleasantest element of success that can be used in any pursuit. ”

“ The scenes in which the angler pursues his pleasant avocations are among the most delightful that Nature yields. The broad river, meandering through the meadows, here and there widening into calm and placid pools, that reflect in mirror-like perfectness the pollard-willows on the bank, and allow the eye to trace without difficulty the ruby-finned Roach and Perch, the gleaming Chub, and the speckled Trout, as they play or dart through the crystal element, cannot but be delightful ”

“ According to Fabricius, the male Lump Sucker, a British fish of grotesque form, but of brilliant colours, keeps watch over the spawn when laid by the female, and defends it with the utmost courage. Even the ferocious and formidable Wolf-fish approaches the nest at the risk of his life, for the Sucker, though so much smaller, and far more feebly armed, is yet able to infix its teeth in its adversary's throat, and inflict a mortal wound. If driven away by man, he does not go far, but is continually looking back, and soon returns. ”

“ He is a greedy, unsociable, tyrannizing savage, and is hated like a Bluebeard. Everybody girds at him with spear, gaff, hook, net, snare, and even with powder and shot. He has not a friend in the world. The horrible gorge-hook is specially invented for the torment of his maw. Notwithstanding, he fights his way vigorously, grows into immense strength, despite his many enemies, and lives longer than his greatest foe, man. His voracity is unbounded; and like the most accomplished corporate officers, he is nearly omnivorous, his palate giving the preference, however, to fish, flesh, and fowl. ”

“ Notwithstanding its formidable weapon, its great strength, and its almost incredible celerity, a small crustaceous animal penetrates the flesh of the Sword-fish, and sometimes so torments it that it dashes itself on the shore with mortal violence. ”

“ When playing at an inconsiderable depth, in their turnings hither and thither, the rays of the sun, reflected from their polished sides, as one or the other is exposed to the light, flash out in sudden gleams, or are interrupted, in a very striking manner. Night and day these interesting creatures are sporting about, apparently insusceptible of weariness. Their motion is very rapid, when their powers are put forth, as in pursuit of the timid little Flying-fish. ”

“ The Perch, when seen alive in a clear stream, is, as we have said, a beautiful fish. Perhaps the elevation of its back may be thought to detract from its elegance of form, giving it a humped appearance. The back rises somewhat abruptly just behind the head, after which it tapers to the tail: the height of the body, independent of the fins, is about twice that of the width. The general hue of the upper parts is a rich olive, crossed by five or six dark brown bands, which become inconspicuous after death. ”

“ Great strength is requisite, especially in those employed on the Kentish coast, where the shore is rocky, and heavy shocks are continually sustained, as the boats take the beach.
"It is impossible to see the rich and varied shades of colour of the Mackerel in full perfection, except while it is actually in the water, or immediately after it has been taken. Nothing can be more exquisite than its formation, nothing better calculated to secure ease and rapidity of motion. No bulky mass to impede its natural activity, not an angle to present the slightest obstacle to its motion. ”

“ The canoe skims rapidly along, rising and falling on the waves, by which a similar motion is communicated to the hook, which skips along, sometimes out and sometimes in the water, while the plumes of feathers flutter immediately above. The artifice rarely fails to succeed; if the Bonito perceives the hook, he instantly engages in pursuit, and if he misses his grasp, perseveres until he has seized it. The moment the man in the stern perceives the capture, he hoists the crane, and the fish is dragged in, and thrown into a sort of long basket, suspended between the two canoes. ”

“ Yarrell, "is one of those beautiful and advantageous provisions of Nature which are so often to be observed and admired. Whether the fish inhabits the stream or the lake, the current of the water in the one case, or progression through it in the other, carries this defensive secretion backwards, and spreads it over the whole surface of the body. In fishes with small scales, this defensive secretion is in proportion more abundant; and in those species which have the body elongated, as the Eels, the mucous orifices may be observed along the whole length of the lateral line." ”

“ It often enters the fishermen's nets for the purpose of plundering them of the entangled fish; and when the fishermen attack it, and it cannot dart through the net, it fights like a lion. They maul it with hand-spikes, spars, and such heavy timber as they may have in the boats; but even when it is landed, and apparently dead, they are not quite safe from its bite." Its teeth resemble the canines and molars of quadrupeds, and their strength is so great as to break down and crush the hardest shells, and even stones. ”

“ This fish never goes to a great distance from land, but delights in shallow water, when the weather is warm and fine; at which time it is seen prowling near the margin in search of food, and imprinting a dimple on the placid surface as it snatches beneath any oily substance that may chance to be swimming. It ventures to some distance up rivers, but always returns with the tide. ”

“ Touch is considered to be feebly exercised; but the thick and fleshy lips of the Wrasses, the whiplike filaments of the Anglers, the beards of the Cod and Barbel, and the long flexible fingers in the pectoral fins of the Gurnards may be the seats of special sensations of feeling. Taste is even still more dubious. The bony character of the mouth, and the manner in which the tongue is often covered with teeth, combine with the circumstance that the food is almost invariably swallowed whole the instant it is seized,—to forbid the supposition of acute taste. ”

“ Those who have wandered on the banks of my favourite Avon, as it flows through the borders of the New Forest, and seen its clear and sparkling waters passing over the long and yielding rushes, which sometimes show themselves above the surface, and then gently hide themselves as some dragon-fly settles upon them,—those that have watched the graceful bendings of the stream, sometimes opening into shallow broads covered with ephemeræ, and then narrowing into deeper and more rapid channels, will have experienced the quiet enjoyment of the scenery of one of our most beautiful rivers.... ”

“ But the perfection of angling is fly-fishing, which is performed at the surface of the water, the baits being in general artificial imitations of the various flies which flit about the surface, and attract the fish to leap up at them. The greatest skill is put in requisition to throw the bait so that it shall fall on the surface with the light elastic touch of the natural fly alighting, and shall imitate its fitful motions so perfectly as to deceive the practised eye of the wary and experienced Salmon or Trout beneath. ”

“ Here the bottom-fisher delights to station himself, quietly and patiently pursuing his sport until his pannier is full, or his leisure exhausted. And in such peaceful streams the more presumptuous troller spins his minnow, and calls his strength of limb and agility into exercise, as he drags from his hole the ferocious Pike. ”

“ The Carp is wary, and often tries both the angler's skill and patience. The small ones, however, may be caught readily, but the large ones seem to have learned wisdom, "long experience having made them sage." They avoid the baited hook and the net; the latter by sinking into the mud, and allowing it to be dragged over them. They delight in still water where there are aquatic plants with large leaves: they feed on worms, the larvæ of insects, the spawn of other fishes, and the shoots and tender leaves of water plants. ”

“ The body, indeed, is often not thicker, except in its middle, than that of a sword; and, being covered with the richest silver, and of great length, the undulating motion of these fishes in the sea, must be resplendent and beautiful beyond measure. ”

“ A quick eye, a ready and delicate hand, an apprehensive brain, delicacy in the senses of touch and hearing, activity of limb, physical endurance, persevering control over impatience, vigilant watchfulness, are qualifications necessary to form the fly-fisher. His amusing and chanceful struggles, teeming with varying excitement, are with the strongest, the most active, the most courageous, the most beautiful, and the most valuable of river fish ”

“ The richest greens, purples, blues, yellows, and reds of all degrees of intensity, in various combinations, are the common hues of the Wrasses, especially of those which inhabit the warmer seas; but the shores of Britain and those of southern Europe produce not a few, which shine in gorgeous tints, unfortunately as evanescent as beautiful. Some shade of green is perhaps the most common ground-colour, and the other hues are usually disposed in the form of spots or of longitudinal bands. ”

“ A great, and we fear insuperable, difficulty which the naturalist meets with in prosecuting his investigations into the manners and economy of Fishes, is the nature of the element in which they live. Even the common species of our rivers and ponds are secluded from observation for the greatest part of their time, the depth of only a few feet of water precluding the possibility of our watching them with that care and perseverance necessary for the ascertaining of facts ”

“ To Brazil and the West Indian Isles, Cod fish is sent in casks, pressed in by a screw; to the Mediterranean and home market it is shipped in bulk.
The Cod is a deep-water fish, rarely coming into the shallows; he is a voracious and almost promiscuous feeder. Unlike the Herring or Mackerel, it can scarcely be called gregarious; great multitudes, it is true, congregate together, but they seem not to obey any common laws of motion, shifting their places in great shoals, but rather each obeying the impulse of his own independent will, attracted by the abundance of food, or other causes. ”

“ They differ very little in form; the shape of the caudal fin, the number of its component rays, and the position of the pectorals and ventrals with respect to each other,—constituting the distinctions which have been relied on as specific. In colour their resemblance is equally exact; a delicate tint of pink, in some specimens, even of the same species, deepening to a light vermilion, in others fading to a carnation or flesh-colour, is the universal hue, adorned in life with pearly, or silvery, or metallic reflections; the fins are party-coloured in bands. ”

“ M. Freycinet, in his Voyage round the World, records, that when wading over the coral reef encircling the island of Guam, in the Indian Archipelago, in search of mollusca, he was assailed by a small Chætodon, not bigger than his hand; it butted at his hand, and pertinaciously refused to be driven away. In the former case it might, perhaps, be presumed that the fish was collecting some object or other, animal or vegetable, desirable to it, in these repeated strokes; but what could the naked hand of the worthy naturalist yield in the way of food? ”

“ The Perch is a bold and fearless fish, and not a little destructive: small fry of all kinds are greedily devoured by him; he roots up the spawn-beds to feed on the deposited ova; small Roach and Trout are destroyed by him in great numbers, and even Trout of considerable size are often driven from their feeding-places near shore by this beautiful but tyrannical spinous-finned fish.
In the beautiful lake of Geneva the Perch is said to be subject to a singular accident. ”

“ The air is so pure on a fine morning in the spring, her breath so sweet as it passes through the snowy hawthorn bushes, the sloping hills are so varied with trees and flowers, and the meadows so fresh and gay, that cold must that heart be, and insensible to the charms of river-scenery, that does not enjoy such a spot, and look around him with delight. ”