1 6 An Angler's Paradise. 



and an inspection of his rods and tackle, which were " something 

 numerous " and formed an enticingly interesting collection, and 

 promising, all being well, to meet again another day, we bade adieu. 



But more about Loch Kinder and its trout. The loch has 

 long been famous for them, and tradition tells us they were 

 originally brought from Loch Leven by the monks of the abbey 

 close by. Be this as it may, the fish are excellent, and some of 

 them which I have seen bear a resemblance to some forms of 

 Salmo Levenensis. But this latter fish is found to occur in great 

 variety, and according to the testimony of Dr. Francis Day and 

 others, it soon assumes in some waters an ordinary fario type, 

 shewing more or less of red on the adipose fin and having red 

 spots. I have made a careful study of this trait in the character 

 of the Loch Leven trout, and I find that even if fish are bred 

 from a pair of typical Loch Levens, or, as we call them on a fish 

 farm, "thoroughbreds," that some, it may be only a few, show 

 these variations, which are looked upon as typical of the ordinary 

 fario form of trout. It is only by careful study that these peculiari- 

 ties can be followed up, but those who are accustomed to 

 handle, year after year, large numbers of these fish of all ages and 

 sizes have an opportunity of noting changes and differences which 

 few others possess. 



Much has been done but much yet remains to be done in 

 tracing the development of new types, the result it may be of 

 artificial cultivation, and in tracing out the reversion in the case 

 of some individuals, to an origin from which they may possibly 

 have sprung. It is not my province to go into these matters here, 

 but I cannot pass by a subject of such deeply fascinating interest 

 without a brief allusion to it. 



Wherever these Loch Kinder trout originally came from, they 

 are good fish. There seem to be three varieties in the loch, due 

 no doubt to the different portions the fish inhabit, a feature 

 noticeable in many other lochs. The weakest point about this 

 piece of water is its great want of accessible spawning ground. 

 At present it is entirely inadequate to the requirements of the 

 loch, and beset with natural difficulties, which if removed would 

 make it one of the finest lochs in the south of Scotland, and the 

 work could be quite easily done. 



