The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-05-26 00:00:00

MONSTER CARP.

Fontainebleau lies within easy three-quarters of an
flour's ride by express train from Paris. Being there
quite recently I (writes W. A. W.), according to an
old habit of mine, proceeded to the pond in the
grounds of the old château, once a favourite residence
of the kings of France, with the intention of feeding
the carp which from the time of Francis I. have
held undisputed possession of the depths and
solitude of its still waters. What was my sur-
prise to find that the pond had been completely
drained. Addressing myself to one of the head
gardeners—the pond being actually in what is termed
the English garden, le Jardin Anglais—l asked him
the reason of this. "Well," said he, "you must know,
It has been found absolutely necessary to drain the
pond owing to the polluted and decomposed condition
of the soil at the bottom, which is poisoning hundreds
and hundreds of the fish; and in order to guard
against their total destruction something has had to
be done at last."" Now tell me; what about the
traditional gold rings which it is said the ladies of the
Court of Francis I. had placed through the noses of
some young carp that were fished up
and thrown back into the water ?"
"We found some tolerably large carp, and
some pretty old ones, but none with gold rings through
;heir noses," replied the man. "The whole business
of draiiiing the pond," he continued, "has been most
aborious. It is the first time these three hundred
years that it has been done completely: although some
two and twenty years ago it was partly drained, for
the purpose of clearing away some of the mud which
lay thick at the bottom." " And how did you manage
to secure the whole of the carp, some of which must
have burrowed in the slime ?" "Wó had
a special net made," replied the man, "so
large, indeed, that four or five men carrying it
had to wade up to their waists in mud to the spot
where a certain quantity of water was retained, and
where the carp had all taken refuge. It was a sight
worth seeing when the men, after great labour, suc-
ceeded in bringing the net to the bank with its
stupendous freight of carp. Was there ever such a
haul before? Not less than one thousand were
caught at the first throw, one or two weighing as
much as eighteen pounds, and many more as much as
twelve and fourteen pounds. The average weight of
the remainder being about ten pounds. Some of the
heaviest had literally turned white with old age."
"And how ci!d do you think they wsre ?" I asked.
"Some hundreds of years," was the answer. " The
pond, or, at all events, a pond of smaller dimensions, was
there when the palace was built, and we have it on tradi-
tion that when the pond was enlarged the carp were
there already in numbers." "And have the carp jug
fished up been kept alive ?" I enquired. "Certainly,"
answered the man. "Nine hundred of the largest were
at once placed in wicker baskets, carefully covered
over with wet blankets, and thrown at once into the
ornamental waters of the château, where they will re-
main for the present. We had a second cast of the
nets, when we fished up all the carp that had
escaped the first throw, and a large quantity of
gudgeon. But," continued the man, "I can tell
you of a singular fact; we did not catch a single eel,
although up to the time of the pond being drained,
they could be seen twisting and turning in numbers.
Where could they have gone! The old fishermen
who assisted us declare that frightened and harried by
the disturbance of the water during the operations of
the men with the net, they burrowed far into the
mud, which, in certain places, was nearly three feet
deep." My informant added that it was entirely
owing to the large quantity of putrid mud which
formed the bed of the pond that an epidemic broke
out last year amongst the historical carp,
which were discovered in hundreds floating dead on
the surface of the water. They had to be buried secretly
at night in order not to alarm the inhabitants of Fon-
tainebleau, so great is their veneration for and belief
in the sacredness of these carp. A singular circum-
stance in connection With the occupation of Fontaine-
bleau by the Prussians during the last war was the
desire of Prince Frederick Charles, whose headquarters
were at the château, to organise a fishing match on a
large scale, so as to obtain as many carp as possible;
and to that end he isaued an order that all the nets
available should be requisitioned at once; but the
fishermen to a man refused to give them up to the
German soldier's, some of them hiding their nets in
plat es where they could not possibly be found, whilst
others did not hesitate to destroy them altogether.
' No doubt the prince knew well enough what a
delicate mtirsel the carp is., When taken fresh from
the waterit is alit up_the back, each side being opened
and spread out, floured all over, and thrown into a
bath of boiling fat. Prince, Frederick Charles had to
do without this luxury, but the carp of Fontainebleau
were saved. It may be an appropriate ending to this
article to state that it is said the carp was first-intro-
duced into English -waters by-. an ancestor of the
• Shiffners , who had some of them transferred to his
ponds on am estate not far from Cook's Bridge Station.
Cook and carp I 'what' a delicious alliteration.