THE VALLEY OF THE KEN 63 



beaten. Driving in the morning to the junction 

 of the two rivers, we fished our way back to Dairy 

 — another fine warm day, with the water still in 

 good condition. This time it was with over eighty 

 fish, weighing twenty-three pounds, that we returned 

 in triumph to the hotel — many of them half- 

 pounders, while the two largest each turned the 

 scale at three-quarters of a pound. Ah ! those were 

 red-letter days in the annals of our boyhood I 



These takes are mentioned to show what may 

 be done, under propitious conditions, in the way 

 of trout fishing on the Ken. Although not large, 

 even these small fish give good fun ; and the 

 surroundings, always beautiful and varied, greatly 

 add to the charm of a day's sport. Since those 

 days, I have been several times lucky enough to 

 secure very good baskets on the river — forty or 

 fifty fish, many of them larger than the ones 

 enumerated ; in fact the heaviest taken was a fine 

 specimen, close upon two pounds in weight, caught 

 just above where the Polharrow joins the main 

 stream, and a capital bit of sport it gave. 



There was at one time a large trout, a three 

 or four pounder, I should think, which had its 

 home in the narrow gorge below the Earlston 



