WITH NOTES ON TnEIE FISH. 123 



and again at Boxmoor, I remember them being taken by expert 

 anglers in abundance. As a boy I have often captured several 

 brace, in a few minutes, by wadiug in the river below the Bourne 

 End Mill, and feeling for the fish with my hands in the holes and 

 crevices of the walls and woodwork. At present I am afraid there 

 are but very few remaining in the localities I have mentioned, 

 several causes ha"v*ing combined to assist in their extermination. 

 The large artificial watercress-beds below Northchurch, affording, 

 as they do, constant employment to numbers of working men, in 

 close proximity to the river, are probably by no means favourable 

 to the preservation of trout. At Berkhampstead the population 

 has of late rapidly increased. The Back Ditch, to which I have 

 before alluded, pours its load of drainage into the Bulborne at the 

 upper mill, and I am informed by its occupier, Mr. Cook, that 

 not only fish, but even ducks are poisoned by it. Excepting the 

 grayling, the trout is the most sensitive and delicate of fish, and its 

 absence from this portion of the river is thus readily explained. 

 I believe there are a few yet to be met with about Bourne End and 

 Boxmoor ; but even in the most favoured reaches of the river their 

 number is very limited. The upper portion of the Gade, extending 

 from Great Gaddesden to Marlowes, and traversing the properties 

 of Lord Brownlow, Mr. Halsey, Sir Astley Cooper, and others, is 

 strictly preserved ; and were it not for the privileged efforts of a 

 few inveterate anglers, these charming waters might well constitute 

 for the trout a very paradise. 'I'lie drainage from the town of 

 Hemel Hempstead does not appear to be so destructive to the trout 

 of the Gtide as is that of Berkhampstead to those of the Bulborne ; 

 at Marlowes there may still be seen a fair quantity of beautiful fish, 

 but very few are to be met with below the paper mills. A trout 

 weighing 7jlbs. is reported to have been taken some years ago at 

 Nash Mills. At Hunton Bridge the trout of the stream Avere 

 formerly carefully preserved by Mr. Carpenter, and until recently 

 five or six very fine ones, weighing from 2lbs. to 4lbs. each, were 

 almost always to be noticed at the foot of the water-wheel. They 

 were extremely tame, and would often leave their shelter to be fed. 

 Shall I be believed when I state that they were stolen by a person 

 who called himself a gentleman, and to whom, after pointing them 

 out, I had given permission to fish in another part of the stream ? 



During last autumn two fine trout, weighing 6J and 6Albs., 

 were taken in the canal, close to Hunton Bridge ; and through the 

 kindness of my neighbour, Mr. Burbidge — to whom I am also 

 indebted for my other stuffed specimens — I am pleased to be able 

 to exhibit them. They are, I believe, the largest fish which have 

 been taken in our portion of the river. Several years ago Mr. 

 King, of Wiggenhall, kindly presented me with about three 

 hundred tiny young lake trout ; I turned them into a run specially 

 prepared for them, and paid them every possible attention ; but 

 notwithstanding this only a few dozen survived, and when about 

 four inches long almost all of them escaped into the stream. I 

 have never since been able to identify any of them, but it is very 



