250 ROD AND RIVER 



former is a truly sporting fish, being quite as 

 difficult to catch as, if not even more so than, a 

 trout ; but also because it is sooner in condition 

 after spawning, affords sport for a longer period 

 of the year, and is an equally good fish when 

 cooked. 



Now this, coming from such an authority, is 

 worth a good deal. I cannot say that I prefer 

 grayling-fishing to trout-fishing, because I do 

 not ; nor do I think a grayling is as good to 

 eat as a trout. Nevertheless, there are many 

 people who consider it a greater delicacy. It 

 has a peculiar flavour, unlike that of any other 

 of the Salmonidae. It perhaps approaches nearer 

 to the smelt in this respect. Anyhow, it justly 

 deserves a very high reputation not only by 

 reason of the sport it affords, but also for its 

 edible qualities. 



It has been asserted that there were no grayling 

 in this country until brought hither by the monks 

 of old. This statement appears to me to be 

 hardly warrantable, for, considering how great 

 care is necessary to transport fish or ova from one 

 part of Great Britain to another, even in these 

 days of rapid travelling, I do not see how, when 

 locomotion was slow and difficult, as was the case 

 in the days when monks were many, it could have 

 been possible to convey fish alive, in any stage, 

 from the Continent, whence they are said to have 



