NOVEMBER. 93 



the latter part of the month their existence hangs in the 

 balance, and, like the flyfisher's sport, depends on the 

 weather. The browns and drakes may best furnish the 

 favorites, with the lion, house fly, and bronze beetle. The 

 duns are much out on fine warm days and evenings ; and 

 the ear wigs are numerous. The needle and orange brown, 

 the dark and light drakes, with the small black silver and 

 golden hackles, may be fished in the daytime ; towards 

 evening, small red drakes and the duns. 



NOVEMBER. 



ARDENTLY the trout pursues his unknown and oft difficult 

 track, dams or obstructions, or the most furious rapids, 

 stop not the fury of their ardour. By the eve of St. Martin* 

 the lengthened lines halt ; the files take up their ground 

 the chosen stream and place their journey's end and sum- 



* On the 28th of November there were some sharp splashes in the water a little 

 above Skellcrooks dam ; on peeping unperceived over the edge of the bank opposite 

 the place, ttere were several pairs of trout laid in the water. It happened to be 

 their spawning time. They were not in the descending or streamy part, but in the 

 tail-end of the deep above, where the water runs shallow over the gravel, similar to 

 the gtavelly shoal just above the North Bridge, where we see grayling spawn and 

 copulate the beginning of April. The female trout kept her station in the spawn- 

 ing bed, with but little motion, except every four or five minutes she ploughed up 

 the gravel with her nose, which seemed to be her own peculiar task. In doing this 

 she turned herself nearly on one side, and with very qutck motion of tail and body, 

 thrust her nose against the gravel, which swam down about her and muddied the 

 water, but showed the quick light glishes of her silvery sides. The male kept in 

 constant motion, about half to a full length behind, hovering over her and veering 

 from one side of her to the other, but could not perceive that he ever touched her. 

 His business seemed solely then to watch and protect her. He frequently and 

 furiously darted at other trout, which was the cause of the splashes in the water 

 that first attracted my notice. These attacks were sudden and quick as lightning, 

 they scarce could be seen before the male was with his mate again. The spawning 

 beds seemed rather hollow and the gravel bright. In about a week after, weather 

 and water much the same, there were no splashes, and the trout had settled into the 

 dam below. 



