28 FISH HATCHING. 



year I went down to the residence of J. 

 Hibbert, Esq., at Chalfont Park, near Ux- 

 briclge, in order to procure trout spawn for his 

 hatching boxes ; and as we found that the 

 fish had all spawned, both he and I went into 

 the water to get the eggs from the nest. The 

 mill hatch was put down, so that the stream 

 was much diminished, and we were enabled 

 to scrape the gravel away easily with our 

 hands, like the pictures of monkeys digging 

 up nuts. I was much surprised to find the 

 eggs of the trout at such a considerable depth 

 in the gravel, certainly from one to two 

 feet. They were all about loose in the 

 gravel, reminding one of plums in a pudding. 

 I hollowed out a basin in the nest, and the 

 eggs fell by their own weight into it. When 

 sufficient were collected, I scooped them out 



