4. Whiting.—These were scarce in the pond, and very shy.
5. Pollack.—This was pretty common, and has been found to answer well as a pond fish.
6. Salmon.—This was the wildest and quickest in its motions of all the inhabitants. When a muscle or limpet, freed from the shell, was thrown on the surface of the water, the salmon very often darted forward and took the prey from all the competitors, disappearing with a sudden jerk and turn of the body.
7. Flat fish or flounders, of two sorts, were also in the pond, but they naturally kept at the bottom, and were not seen.
The food given to the fishes consisted chiefly of sand-eels and of shell-fish, particularly limpets and muscles. In the herring-fishery season, herrings were cut in pieces for this purpose.
It is remarkable that all the kinds of sea-fish above enumerated, seemed to agree very well together. No fighting had ever been observed by the keeper, and seldom any chasing of one species by another. None of the fish ever bred.
Dr. Fleming has remarked, that when a salt-water fish is put into fresh water, its motions speedily become irregular, its respiration appears to be affected, and, unless released, it soon dies; and that the same consequences follow when a fresh-water fish is suddenly immersed in salt water.
This is not, however, the case with all fish. A cod will not only live, but thrive well in fresh water, if properly fed. A respectable fishmonger assured me that he had tried the experiment, and succeeded, and offered to send me some live cod in a well-boat, for my piscatorium in Bushy Park.
Immense value of pond fish.—The fish in the ponds of Lucullus, sold, after his decease, for 3,000,000 of sesterces (24,218l. 15s. sterling). Caius Hirtus first introduced the keeping of lampreys in stews, and lent Cæsar, during the time of his triumph, 600 of these fish, for which he would receive no equivalent in money, nor any other commodity, but conditioned the repayment to be the same number and weight of lampreys. His ponds and fish about his house, which was itself extremely small, were sold for one million more than the above sum (32,291l. 13s. 4d.)