CLASS PISCES. 107
predophagous monster were living a secluded life in more than one
part of the country. Several gentlemen, who had personally become
acquainted with this fish on the Continent, introduced a small
number of young into more or less suitable private waters, where
probably the majority found premature and nameless graves in the
stomachs of Pike. At any rate, very little has been heard, and, as
far as I know, nothing has been seen, of them. Therefore, the
following instance of the capture of an adult specimen seems to be
of particular interest. I am indebted to Mr. Nocton, of Langham
Hall, Colchester, for my information.
A week or two ago, the gamekeepers of this gentleman, while
engaged in Eel-fishing, caught a fish unknown to them, 4ft. 3m. long,
and weighing over 3olbs., in the River Stour, at Flatford Mills,
Suffolk. It was in perfect condition, but, probably owing to its
having been rubbed by the net, it did not long survive.
Mr. Nocton suspected at once the real nature of the fish, and
had it mounted by Mr. Gardner, of Oxford Street.
How did the fish get into the river Stour ?
I am informed that Sir Joshua Rowley put, about twenty-
nine years ago, young Siluri into a lake communicating with
that river, and distant some six or seven miles from the place of
capture.
There is, therefore, no doubt that this fish was a survivor of
Sir Joshua's experiment, and that it grew in the intervening period
to the size mentioned. Mr. Gardner tells me that it was a male
fish.
I am unable to offer an opinion on the question whether this
fish would have continued to grow if it had lived, or whether it had
reached its maximum size long before capture. Male Siluri are
generally smaller than females.
Austrian fishermen maintain that, in suitable localities, with an
abundance of food and plenty of sea-room, the Wels can attain a
weight of one and a half lbs. in the first year, and of three lbs. in
the second; but, under less favourable conditions, the rate of
growth is known to be much slower. An old ichthyologist
(Balder) reports the case of a Wels which was one foot long
when captured in the River Ill, in the year 1569. It was placed in
a pond by itself, and had reached a length of five feet when it died
in 1620.
In exceptionally favourable localities, as in the middle and lower
courses of the Danube, Siluri are not rarely caught of 400 and 500