1 66 VIGNETTES FROM NATURE. 



XVII. 



A MOUNTAIN TARN. 



ONE could not find many pleasanter seats in 

 England, or Wales either, than this big dry 

 boulder, with a niche that seems intentionally 

 designed to accommodate the contour of the 

 human backbone, overlooking the calm sur- 

 face and bare craggy sides of a little mountain 

 tarn. I have come up here this morning on 

 sport intent, to find a. specimen of a peculiar 

 species of trout, which haunts this one tiny 

 sheet of water, and occurs nowhere else 

 in the whole universe. Not that I am an 

 active sportsman myself ; my portion of the 

 service is always confined to the attitude of 

 those who stand and wait ; and I don't even 



