237. UMBER, or GRAYLING (Salmo thymallus), is a fish of the salmon tribe, distinguished by having several longitudinal streaks upon its body, the first dorsal fin nearer the head than the ventral fins, the upper jaw longer than the lower one, the side line nearly straight, and the tail forked.
A fish of this species, which, weighed five pounds, was caught some years ago in the river Severn.
The umber inhabits clear and rapid streams of Europe and Siberia.
These fish are so much esteemed in some parts of the Continent, that they are exclusively reserved for the tables of the nobility. They are fattest in the autumn, but are best in season during the winter, particularly when the weather is cold; and they cannot be dressed too soon after they are caught. Many of the old medical writers strongly recommended umber as a wholesome fish for sick persons: they also stated that an oil prepared from its fat would obliterate freckles and other spots on the skin. By the Laplanders the intestines are frequently employed as a substitute for rennet, to coagulate the milk of the rein-deer, when used for the making of cheese.
These fish are in great esteem by anglers on account of their vivacity, the eagerness with which they rise at a bait, and their rapid motions in the water. They lurk close all the winter, and begin to be very active in April and May, about which time they deposit their spawn.
238. The PIKE, or JACK (Esox lucius), is a voracious fresh-water fish, with large teeth, a compressed head and muzzle, the part of the head betwixt the nape and the eyes elevated and rounded; and the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins marked with black spots.
These fish sometimes attain so large a size as to weigh upwards of thirty pounds.
They are found in deep rivers, and in lakes of nearly all parts of Europe, in some of the northern districts of Persia, and in North America.
Common as pike now are in our fresh-water rivers, it has been asserted that they were originally introduced from the Continent in the reign of Henry the Eighth. This, however, cannot be the fact, as they were known in England long before that period. Mr. Pennant speaks of these fish being formerly so rare in this country, that a pike, in the month of February, was sold for double the price of a house-lamb. If caught in clear and tolerably rapid waters, these fish, though bony and dry, are not bad eating. In some parts of Germany they are salted, smoked, and barrelled for exportation to other countries.
The modes of catching pike are very various, by nets, with lines, and snares of different kinds. Their voracity is so great that they not only eagerly seize a bait, but one pike has been known to choke itself by swallowing another of its own species, which proved too large a morsel.