THE SAMLET. 61 



rivers here offer superior amusement. In the greater waters, 



Lough Mask, Lough Carra, and Lough Conn, the coarser 



f species of fishes are taken in immense numbers, and in the 



I lesser lakes many interesting varieties of the trout tribe will 



be found, from the little speckled samlet to the large and 



curious gilaroo.* 



It is true, that the scientific angler generally confines 

 himself to the use of the fly, and for salmon and trout, he 

 will forego the commoner department of bait and float fishing. 

 Hence, angling for pike and perch is usually an amusement 

 of the peasantry ; and to those contiguous to the banks of the 

 large lakes, it yields occupation for idle hours, which might 

 be less innocently dissipated, and occasionally supplies their 

 families with a welcome addition to their unvarying food, the 

 potato. 



Besides the established system of bait-fishing, other and 

 more successful methods are resorted to by the lake-fishers 



* The natural history of the samlet, or par, is very doubtful. Some 

 assert it to be a mule produced by the salmon and trout ; and as a corro- 

 boration of this theory, it is stated that the rivers where the par is found, 

 are always resorted to by salmon. Others conjecture it to be a hybrid of 

 the sea and river trout ; and Sir Humphry Davy mentions, that fishing 

 in October, in a small stream communicating with the Moy, near Ballina, 

 he caught a number of sea trout, who all proved males, and accordingly 

 infers that " these fish, in which the spermatic system was fully developed, 

 could only have impregnated the ova of the common river trout." 



The par differs from the small mountain trout in colour, and in having 

 additional spines in the pectoral fin. It has also certain olive bluish 

 marks upon the side, similar to the impressions made by the pressure of 

 i man's fingers. 



Great numbers of salmon are found in the upper streams of the Bal- 

 lycroy river. They will rise voraciously at a fly, provided it be gay and 

 small enough. I remember my friend Sir Charles Cuyler and I amused 

 ourselves on a blank shooting-day, when there was neither a sufficiency of 

 ivind nor water to warrant salmon -fishing, in angling for this hybridous 

 liminutive. We nearly filled our basket ; we reckoned them, and they 

 imounted to above two hundred. 



* Pennant says : " In all these lakes the gillaroo is found. It varies in 



.- weight from twelve to eighteen pounds, but sometimes reaches thirty ;" 



md Daniel states these fish to be " esteemed for their fine flavour, which 



s supposed to exceed that of any other trout. Their make is similar to 



; he common, except being thicker in proportion to their length, and of a 



> -edder hue, both before and after being dressed. The gillaroo is re- 



., narkable for having a gizzard resembling that of a large fowl or turkey." 



'J ic also says : " It is usual to dress the gizzards only, which are con- 



' idered as very favourite morsels." 



