18 THB TROUT 



At the same time, without attempting to dispute the fact that 

 the fish we call the parr is the legitimate offspring of the salmon, 

 still it is certain that even in their parr-like form, they are distin- 

 guished into two sexes, and as such capable of propagating a 

 species like themselves. Dr. Heysham, of Carlisle, ^whose autho- 

 rity there seems no reason to doubt, who at different times opened 

 and examined three hundred and ninety-five of them, found one 

 hundred and ninety-nine males, and one hundred and ninety-six 

 females. Mr. Yarrell also mentions that in a specimen of one 

 that was sent to him about the middle of February, the lobes of 

 the roe were in a forward state, but he does not state the size of 

 the eggs ; and in one very large fish of the kind caught by 

 myself with a worm in the Walden, in Devonshire on the 8th of 

 March, 1838, and in which I chanced to discover a hard roe, the 

 eggs were about the size of No. 2 shot, so that it is probable this 

 fish was on the eve of spawning ; which agrees with Mr. Yarrell's 

 account of the state of the specimen examined by him, and shews 

 that these fish shed their spawn some considerable time after both 

 the trout and the salmon. And so now for a season I take my 

 leave of the parr, observing by the way that he is the best eating 

 fish the fresh water contains, and until the veil of mystery that 

 hangs over his birth be more fully withdrawn, I shall not fail to 

 make a meal of him whenever I can catch him. 



And now having returned to our primary subject the trout, it 

 must be observed that the age at which he lives does not appear to 

 be satisfactorily determined, though doubtless, unless their days 

 were prematurely cut short, they would attain a great age. Mr. 

 Oliver mentions one that lived for upwards of twenty years in a 

 well in Dumbarton Castle, though it never increased in size, which 

 was about a pound, after it^was first put in, owing probably to its 

 confined dwelling ; as it is a remarkable fact, that few fish when 

 restrained to very narrow limits, increase very considerably in 

 bulk. 



Mr. Yarrell also states that in August, 1826, the Westmoreland 

 Advertizer contained a paragraph stating, that a trout had lived 

 fifty-three years in a well in the orchard of Mr. William Mossop, 

 of Board Hall, near Broughton, in Furness. 



As my fishing excursions have not as yet extended to the Sister 

 kingdom, I am reluctantly compelled to pass by the famed gillaroo 

 trout ; but which Mr. Yarrell seems to think, from a specimen he 



