COMMON TROUT. 99 



tivated district. The Trout of Whitadder (Whitewater) are 

 a beautiful silvery fish, but good for nothing ; those of the 

 other, dark, almost black, with bright orange fins, and their 

 flesh excellent. Nothing can be more different than the 

 appearance of the Trout of these two rivers ; and surely no- 

 thing can be more easy than at once to see the cause of this 

 difference. The Trout in neither of these streams are of a 

 great size. In the Blackadder they would attain a large 

 size, say three or four pounds ; but the river is over- 

 fished, and poached to perfection. 



" I have ascertained that the Tweed Trout, after haying 

 been a month or two in the Leet, change their colour, and 

 soon assume the appearance of those of the Leet : while, 

 again, not only the Leet Trout, but those of the other small 

 burns, soon lose their beauty and other good qualities after 

 they have been any time in the Tweed. I may mention that 

 the food in the two little rivers Leet and Eden afforded the 

 Trout, is the principal cause, in my opinion, of their superior 

 size and excellence. This food consists of small shells, cadis 

 bait, &c. and clouds of flies produced by the marl on the 

 sides of the brooks and the woods on their banks. 



" Once, while fishing in the Tweed for Trout with minnow, 

 a Trout rose and missed. I threw the minnow over him at 

 least twenty times ; each time the fish rose eagerly, and made 

 the most unfishlike (if I may use the expression) attempts to 

 seize the minnow ; at last a tail-hook took hold of him, and I 

 got him out. It proved to be a Trout with the upper jaw 

 formed exactly, or very nearly, like that described in the 59th 

 page of vol. ii. ; and resembling as near as possible the 

 vignette at the bottom of that page.* This Trout was lank 

 and thin, but weighed a pound and a half. Unluckily I did 

 not preserve it." 



Sir William Jardine, Bart, in a paper on the 



* See page 108 of the present volume. 



H 



