76 THE TROUT 



to those which would have environed them had a 

 Scottish stream been their fate. 



For a couple of years all went well. They 

 rose more freely than did the home-bred trout, 

 and were very * cheerful ' fish, easily distinguishable 

 from their Derbyshire brethren by the different 

 arrangement of spots on their bodies. Shortly after, 

 however, the keeper remarked that they did not 

 appear to ' come on ' at all ; but rather that they 

 seemed to be growing only in length, while in depth 

 and thickness little or no improvement was noticeable. 

 He informed me of this, and I found on careful 

 investigation that such was undoubtedly the case ; 

 with the result that I have had to give orders that 

 every 'Scotchman,' however small, when caught, is to 

 be killed. For it is certain that hardly any of these 

 imported trout, after having reached a weight of a 

 third of a pound or thereabouts, flourished or grew 

 healthily. They seemed simply to elongate : the 

 three-quarters of a pound and pound fish consisted 

 of nothing but lank discoloured bodies, and huge, 

 hideous heads. They appeared never to attain any 

 sort of condition, and from their feeble state afforded 

 no sport at all. It was curious to look into a pool 

 and see a * Scotchman ' lying side by side with native 

 Derbyshire-born trouts. The one black, feeble, and 



