The North Country Angler. 41 



ground with his nose, his mouth heing nailed 

 close with the gib in its socket. When he has 

 made this hole, a yard and a half, or more, long, 

 and near a yard broad, he goes down to his mate, 

 under a root or stone, and in what manner he 

 makes his addresses to her, I cannot tell, but 

 I have often seen the gib fish rush at his mate, 

 as if going to bite her, jostling her sometimes on 

 one side, then on the other, chasing her from 

 place to place, as we see a cock pigeon does 

 the hen to her nest, till they come to the mar- 

 riage-bed, he has been preparing for her, where 

 they lie at the lower end of it, close by the side 

 of each other, and pressing their bellies hard to 

 the bottom, wriggle on to the top of the bed, 

 squeezing out the spawn from both of them, at 

 the same time, with emotions and signs of plea- 

 sure. All the roes that are smit or touched 

 by the milt, which is of a viscous quality, sink 

 among the little stones and gravel ; and those 

 that are not touched with it, are carried down 

 the stream, and are delicious food for the many 

 trouts that are watching the opportunity ; then 

 the she fish leaves her mate, chasing away the 

 small fish, whilst the gib fish is working at the 

 head of the bed, covering up the spawn with the 

 gravel and sand, which he throws up with his 

 head, making at the same time a new bed, and 

 filling up the other. 



This he does all by himself, for I never saw 



the she fish along with the he, when he was 



making a new hole at the head of the other. 



Sometimes I have seen him lie still in the hole, 



B 3 



