XIV 

 NOTIONS, NOTES, AND ODDS AND ENDS 



TROUT IN SHOALS 



' MY boatman on Loch Errochd, Perthshire, 

 related to me one day lately that in August 

 1880 a Mr. Anderson and himself saw a dis- 

 tinct ripple upon the surface of the loch, 

 extending over a considerable distance, during 

 a dead calm. Upon closer inspection, they 

 discovered that it was caused by a large shoal 

 of trout feeding on the surface. The water 

 at the time was covered with small brown 

 gnats my boatman described it " until the 

 water was brown with them." On casting a 

 fly into their midst they the trout all 

 rapidly disappeared, but shortly afterwards 

 were seen a short distance off breaking the 

 surface as before, and causing the appearance 

 of a ripple. 



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