THE GRATEFUL PIKE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1757, 3 February 1888, Page 3

THE GRATEFUL PIKE

When the lata Dr Warwick resided at Durham, the ?e»t of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington, be was walking one evening in the Park, and came to a pond where fiih, intended for the table, were temporarily kept. He took partlcu'ar notice of a fine pike, c-f about 6'b weight, whioh, v.hen it observed him, darted hastily away. It doir.<j so it struck ha head against a tenter hook, In a ton (of which there were several in the pond, placed to prevent poaching), and as It afterwards appeared, fractured its skull and turned the optlo nerve on ona side, The anguish evinced by thefish appeared most horrib'e. It rushed to the bottom, and, borint' Its head into the mud, whirled itself roond with such velocity that It was almost lost to sLht, for a short Interval. It then plunged about the pond, and at ! length threw itself completely out of the water on to the bank. Tbe doctor went and examined it, and found that a very email p; rtion of the bfaln was protruding from the fracltra in the skull, He oireluily replaced this, and with a small sliver toothpick raised the indented portion cf the skull. The fish remained still for a short time, and he then put it again ioto tha pond. It appeared at first a good deal relieved", hot iu a few mlnu'es it a^ain darted and plunged about vjatir it threw itself out of the water a spcond time, A seomd time Dr Warwlok did what he could to relieve i', and again put it into (he water. I r . continued for several times to throw i silf out of tho pond, aud with the astlstance of the keeper, the doctor at length made a kind of pillow for the fish, which was then left in tbe pond to its fate, Upon making his appearance at tbe p>nd on the following morning the pike oarae towards him to the edge of the water, and actually laid its head upon his foot. The doctor thought this mist extraordinary, but he examined the fish's skoll and found it going on all right. He then walked backwards and forwards a\ong the edge of the pond fov some time, and tbe fish comlnued to swim up and down, turning whenever he turned ; huh being bltnd on the wounded side of its skill', It always apprared agitated when it had that side tc wards the bank, as It could not then see its benefactor. On the next day he took some young friends down to see the fish, which came to him as bef jrp, and at length he actually taught the pike to omo to him at his ' whistle aad feed out of his hand', With ' other persons it continued as shy as fhh ' usually are, ' Dr Warwiok thought this a most remarkable instance of gratitude In a fish for a benefit received ; and as It always 1 came to bis whistle, It also proved what > he had previously disbelieved, that fi«hes are sensible to sound.

appear to be m very bad state at Invercargill. A correspondent of a Southland paper just to hand writing' thus d^pponfleutly : -— **T- think we Ought to taveV publio meet* j ing md discuss the situation. The very pick of our citizens are leavinp üb— our farmers [ pQ»e?liiß-~ow. tradesman ilwoet io do^iir.