Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/337

Rh The Lamprey is taken in the Severn, near Worcester, and also in the Thames, but only in the summer months. The mode of taking this fish is very simple, and not difficult to one who

has a quick eye and steady hand. By the aid of a long staff armed at the end with several diverging hooks, the fishes are seized from the gravel at the bottom, where on a bright day they may be seen feeding, and are lifted into the boat.

In winter the Lampern affords employment to the Thames fishermen, when other fishes fail. It is taken in large numbers by means of wicker baskets placed across the weirs. Though much valued for the table, the Lampern produces a better remuneration by being sold to the Dutch fishermen, who use it as bait in the Cod fishery. Many thousands are exported alive, preserved in tanks of fresh water, in the course of the winter; and when the produce is divided, the share of each man engaged in the pursuit not unfrequently amounts to forty pounds sterling.