24 ROD AND RIVER 



river, neither variety is in a condition fit to take 

 before the first or second week in April, nor even 

 then are they any too forward or strong. 



The very term, * a trout stream,' conjures up ail 

 sorts of pleasant thoughts and fancies. How 

 many streams there are which are falsely so called, 

 and must be numbered with the 'have beens'! 

 A trout-stream devoid of trout is, like an empty 

 stable, an altogether sad affair. In former days 

 every stream suitable for the habitation of trout 

 was doubtless more or less well stocked with fish. 

 Apart from the depressing picture presented by 

 a stream denuded of its natural tenants, from 

 the fisherman's point of view, much of the charm 

 which such a river would otherwise possess for 

 everyone must be wanting. The life and soul of 

 the water is dead and gone ; here and there, 

 perhaps, some slimy eel may send a few bubbles 

 to the surface, but the latter is no longer, as of 

 yore, broken with the circles made by rising fish. 

 The very kingfishers, those (I grieve to say) 

 lovely pests to a trout-stream, have also deserted 

 it, and the water itself, instead of being clear and 

 sparkling, wears an unpleasant tinge ; the stones, 

 too, on the shallows look dull and lustreless. If 

 the pools are in any way disturbed, the water is at 

 once blackened, and a foul stench arises. Yet 

 this was, and not so long ago either, a well-known 

 trout-stream. It is hard to believe it, but such 



