FISH DIFFICULT TO DISCERN 



species must have been struck with the capability 

 which they possess of assimilating their colour 

 to that of the mud or sand upon which they may 

 be lying. Hence, for this reason, it is often 

 difficult for a person, who is unaccustomed to it, 

 to discern the fish in a river, even though they 

 may be pointed out to him, and it requires no 

 little practice to do so, more especially, of course, 

 in deep water. I have myself often failed for a 

 long time to perceive a salmon lying in a pool, 

 although the keeper has done his utmost to 

 point it out to me, while he, being accustomed to 

 the colour of the water, instantly detected its 

 presence. 



Once, when fishing in North Wales, near to 

 Dolgelly, I had, in order to reach a higher por- 

 tion of the river, to walk for some distance along 

 a path at a considerable height above the latter. 

 The day was hot and bright, and looking down 

 on the river below me, it was curious to note the 

 salmon, which from that height were plainly 

 visible, and in considerable numbers. There they 

 lay, motionless, nor in such weather would the 

 most alluring salmon-fly have succeeded in moving 

 one of them. I quite forget how many I counted 

 in one reach, but I remember that they were 

 very plentiful, and that the water, though deep, 

 appeared from the high ground above too shallow 

 for such large fish to lie in. 



