32 ROD AND RIVER 



for the time of year, and very brilliant in colour, 

 such was believed to be due to the fact of their 

 having availed themselves of such food, which is 

 of an albuminous nature. In the previous chapter 

 I made mention of the fact of some few brown 

 trout being annually taken in the lower Test by 

 salmon fishermen early in March, and of their 

 invariably being in good condition ; whereas in 

 the upper portions of the same river it is not until 

 many weeks later on that the fish are in any con- 

 dition at all Now, as the lower Test is a salmon 

 river, and a well-stocked one, the reason is not far 

 to seek why these trout are so forward in their 

 condition. It is my belief that it is because they 

 have been fattening themselves on the salmon- 

 spawn.* Since, as I have observed, but very few 

 salmon ever ascend the Test above Romsey, by 

 reason of the mills there, the fish in the upper 

 portion of the river, not obtaining the same free 

 living as their brethren of the lower waters, are 

 longer in recovering their strength. Very beau- 

 tiful and sporting, too, are these brown trout of 

 the lower Test ; and no wonder, when they have 

 the advantage of such aldermanic fare. They are 

 unfortunately by no means as plentiful as they 

 might and used to be, for since the salmon fishing 

 has been better preserved and more generally 



* My friend Mr. Kendle will not allow that this is the case. 

 He may be right ; I only state my own ideas on the subject. 



