1 8 THE TROUT ARE RISING 



waters most glorious scenery provides compen- 

 sation ; and the wild flowers on Table Mountain 

 are indeed worth seeing. 



Soldiering gives a true measure of the popu- 

 larity of a pastime. On active service the thoughts 

 of the Imperial and Colonial rank and file, as soon 

 as they are off duty, turn at once to such amuse- 

 ments as conditions allow, cricket or football, or 

 sometimes golf. And if there be water containing 

 fish at hand then the enthusiasts soon get to work. 

 During the Anglo-Boer War of 1 899-1 902 fishing- 

 tackle seemed to conjure itself up by magic. On 

 the Klip river near Ladysmith after the raising 

 of the siege (1900) bottom-fishing for native 

 fish was a favourite occupation. So too on the 

 Transvaal Klip (not the same river), miles away 

 from town or dorp when the camp was an isolated 

 one at Wittkopjes, near Meyerton men off 

 duty were constantly fishing, and good catches 

 of the native yellow fish, which has some of the 

 characteristics of the Indian mahseer, were made. 

 Superior breakfasts were a satisfactory result. 

 That was in the early part of 1901. There were 

 no trout in the Transvaal then, and it was a 

 peculiar pleasure in or about 1904 to witness at 

 nearly the same spot a distribution of trout fry 

 under the auspices of the Transvaal Trout 

 Acclimatization Society. An officer of the 2nd 

 Lincolnshire Regiment stationed, during the Anglo- 

 Boer War, on the banks of the Crocodile River 

 near Pretoria, wrote in the Field (Oct. 5, 1901) : 

 " Being quite alone, I often used to pass the days 



