16 WITH A NINE-FOOT 



a dozen or two wily mountain troutlets, 

 that have a fight and pluck unequalled for 

 their size, than the half-dozen lethargic 

 monsters of two or three pounds which 

 are as lazy as the streams they live in. 

 The very obstacles that the mountain 

 burn presents in the form of rock, bush, 

 and hard climbing, the shyness of the 

 trout, and the wind that blows in gusts 

 this way and that in the deep gorges, 

 only add zest to the sport, and make the 

 hard-earned bag the dearer. 



I can well remember one February 

 day in North Wales which afforded suf- 

 ficient incident to make what was the 

 " first" of that season a memorable one. 

 It had rained heavily throughout the 

 night, and the little stream became for 

 the time-being a murky torrent. Its 

 waters hissed and boiled as they gushed 

 between the rocky banks. Huge boul- 

 ders, water-worn and gray, that had re- 

 sisted the floods of a score of years were 



