CH. XXXII. TROUT AND SALMON. 185 



stones on which they are accustomed to lie. Few 

 Highland streams contain very large trout : the 

 feeding is not abundant enough, the cold waters 

 not being sufficiently productive of animalculae and 

 small insects. Fish are as dependent on the 

 nature of the soil through which a stream runs 

 as oxen are on the richness of the meadows on 

 which they pasture. The reason is obvious : a 

 river which runs through a fertile country always 

 abounds in flies, worms, snails, etc., on which its 

 inhabitants feed ; whilst a mountain stream, which 

 flows rapidly through a barren and rocky country 

 has not the same supply. 



I will not pretend to give a descriptive list of 

 all the rivers, streams, and lakes in Scotland, where 

 the angler may find employment for rod and line : 

 they are too numerous for me to do so ; nor is my 

 knowledge of them sufficiently complete. 



There are few districts, from Ayrshire to Caith- 

 ness, where trout and salmon are not to be found 

 in tolerable abundance. Many streams run into 

 the Solway Firth which are plentifully supplied 

 with good trout, fed on the insect population of 

 the fertile fields of Ayrshire, Kirkcudbright, etc. 

 Many fine lakes, abounding in trout, char, and pike, 

 are also to be found in that district. But mines, 

 and other similar works, are already beginning to 



