104 Natural History of the Sea Trout. 



from the Pacific Ocean by a strip of high sand hills 

 varying in breadth, but a few years ago one lake 

 used to have communication with the sea, which 

 fully accounts for the salmon in them. But the 

 foolish people who have formed themselves into a 

 company have stopped up this gap, and conse- 

 quently the salmon cannot get down to the sea. 

 Now where we caught the most of our fish was at 

 the foot of a high sand bank, where the sand was 

 always sifting into the water, and as no doubt the 

 wind is always blowing up fresh sand from the 

 ocean, bringing with it a certain amount of salt, and 

 as I saw millions of the small salt water shrimps — 

 sand-hoppers {Talitriis loctcsta) — these are no 

 doubt the reasons why these salmon are in such 

 good condition. Not only are they in good con- 

 dition, but they fight splendidly. There is only one 

 objection about this fishing, and that is, they don't 

 rise at the fly, and you fish with a float and hook 

 baited with worm, cat-fish, or shrimp. The salmon 

 never run larger than four pounds ; the trout of 

 the lake larger. I caught one 34^ lbs., and they 

 run up to ten or twelve pounds. These trout are 

 quite different to any I have ever seen before ; they 

 have a pink stripe on each side of them from their 

 mouth to their tail, and this large one I caught had 

 a couple of things that looked like warts, or beauty 

 spots, on each cheek, about the size of a threepenny 

 piece." 



