172 SEASON 1874-75. 



spawning. Only one seemed the least sick, at which I rejoiced 

 exceedingly, for there was a widespread prejudice that spawning 

 artificially caused the death of the victims. 



On the 7th December 1874 I found one of the Swiss yearlings, 

 which I then had in the slate trough in the gun-room at Craig- 

 end, lying on its side, and panting. I held it up to the light, and 

 found its stomach to contain eight ova (on which I had been feeding 

 them), and which it could not digest. I put it into lukewarm 

 water; it was sick; and by 10 P.M. all right. Only a yearling, 

 barely 8 inches long, over-eating itself on ova ! What harm they 

 must do to the spawning-beds I 



On the 9th December I noticed the track of an otter at 

 Craigend dam, and set four traps for it, but did not catch it. The 

 fish in the slated trough tried constantly to jump out. I put some 

 earth into the trough to try and make them feel more at home. 



On the 12th December one of the fish injured itself by jumping 

 against the cover of the slate trough. It was a Swiss trout, hatched 

 in February 1873, that is, just ten months old. Its length was 

 4 '25 inches; depth, 0'8 inch; weight, 0'42 oz. ; not bad for 

 house work. I went to Clifton Hall to spend Christmas with my 

 father on 22d December. The weather was cold, so much so that I 

 ran through to Sauchie on the 26th (a distance of forty miles) to see 

 if all was safe. I found everything working well ; the temperature of 

 the air in the hatching-house at Middlethird only 28 F. I returned 

 to Clifton Hall the same night ; but the frost strengthened, and 

 on the 30th I returned to Craigend ; and, going at once over to 

 Middlethird, I found the slate trays frozen. The two lowest were 

 the hardest frozen. I lit a fire on the floor, and cleared the spouts 

 of ice to increase the flow. The two wooden boxes gave me no 

 trouble ; slate, being a much better conductor, is very unsafe 

 when exposed to frost. After a time it freezes from the bottom, 

 which is hopeless. Early next morning I went over to the hatch- 

 ing-house. Things were worse. I lit a fire ; it was no good. I 

 rummaged the outhouses at Sauchie ; I found an old stove in an 

 unused coach-house. The estate blacksmith was summoned, and 

 the carpenter, along with the head-keeper. We four dragged the 



