Illustrative Anecdotes of the Animal Kingdom

by Samuel G. Goodrich

The mackerel is one of the most voracious of all fishes; and when they get among a shoal of herrings, they make such havoc as frequently to drive it off the coast. Pontoppidan informs us that a sailor, belonging to a ship lying in a harbor of Norway, went into the water to wash himself, when he was suddenly missed by his companions. In the course of a few minutes, however, he was seen on the surface with vast numbers of mackerels fastened to him. The people went to his assistance in a boat, and tore the fishes from him; but it was too late; for he very shortly afterwards expired from the effects of the wounds he had received, and from the loss of blood.

THE SWORD-FISH.

The extraordinary power of this fish is shown by the following statement, from the Penny Magazine: "In repairing his Britannic majesty's ship Leopard, in 1725, on her return from the coast of Guinea, a sword of this fish was found to have gone through the sheathing one inch, next through a three-inch plank, and, beyond that, four inches and a half in the firm timber. It was the opinion of mechanics that it would require nine strokes of a hammer weighing twenty-five pounds to drive an iron bolt, of similar size and form, to the same depth in the hull; yet this was accomplished by a single thrust."

THE PIKE.

Anecdotes.—The rapacity of this fish is notorious. Jesse says, "Out of eight hundred gudgeons, which were brought to me by a Thames fisherman, and which I saw counted into the reservoir,—some few of which, however, died,—there were scarcely any to be seen at the end of three weeks. Indeed, the appetite of one of my pike was almost insatiable. One morning, I threw to him, one after the other, five roach, each about four inches in length. He swallowed four of them, and kept the fifth in his mouth for about a quarter of an hour, when it also disappeared."

The pike is an animal of extraordinary boldness. A few years ago, the head keeper of Richmond Park was washing his hands at the side of a boat, in the great pond, when a pike made a dart at one of his hands, which the keeper suddenly withdrew, otherwise he would have received a severe snap.

Mr. Jesse says, "Fish appear to be capable of entertaining affection for each other. I once caught a female pike during the spawning season, and nothing could drive the male away from the spot at which the female disappeared, whom he had followed to the very edge of the water. A person who had kept two small fish together in a glass, gave one of them away; the other refused to eat, and showed evident symptoms of unhappiness, till his companion was restored to him."

In the year 1497, a pike was caught, in standing water, at Heilbronn, on the Neckar, which had a copper ring round its head; the ring bore the following inscription in Greek: "I am the first fish that was launched into this pond, and was thrown in by Frederick the Second, emperor of the Romans, on the 5th of October, 1230." It appeared, therefore, that the pike was two hundred and fifty-seven years old when thus caught; it weighed three hundred and fifty pounds; and an exact representation of it exists to this day upon one of the gates of Heilbronn.

THE GOLDEN CARP.

This beautiful fish was first introduced into England about the year 1691. It is a native of China, where they are very common in ponds. They are, however, very delicate, and unable to stand the powerful rays of the sun; on which account, in each of the ponds where they are kept, earthenware basins, with holes in them, are placed upside down, so that the fishes may retire under them for shade. In China these fish are taught to rise to the surface of the water, to be fed, at the sound of a bell. In very cold weather, they are frequently taken into the house, to prevent them from being frozen.