120 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Observations of the Umber or Grayling, and Directions how to fish for him 



Pisc. The umber and grayling* are thought by some to differ, 

 as the herring and pilchard do. But though they may do so in 

 other nations, 1 tiiink those in England differ nothing but in their 

 names. Androvandus says, they be of a trout kind ; and Gesner 

 says, that in his country, which is Switzerland, he is accounted the 

 choicest of all fish. And in Italy, he is in the month of May so 

 highly valued, that he is sold then at a much higher rate than 

 any other fish. The French, which call the chub Un Villain, 

 call the umber of the lake Leman, Un Umble Chevalier ;f and 

 they value the umber or grayling so highly, that they say he 

 feeds on gold ; and say that many have been caught out of their 



* Grayling, Salmo Thymallus of LinnaRUS. Salter {.Angler's Guide, Ed. 

 1S41, p. 147) says that in some places " it takes the name of Umber when 

 full grown. Its popular name in France is Omhi-c de Riviire ; in It.Uy, 

 Tcmelo ; in Germany, Asch. It is called Thymollus, from its smelling 

 like the wild thyme. The derivation of Umber from umbra, a shadow, 

 attributed to Salvian, c. xxxi., is given by Ausonius, Mosella, UO. 



Effugiensc]ue oculos celeri Icvis umbra natatu. 



For the same reason the same fish was culled cKi'atvrj by the Greeks. The 

 Umbrina of Salvian, however, is not the grayling, but the Maigre of the 

 French, Sciccna aquila of Cuvier, Umbra Rondtlctii of Willoughhy, a 

 much larger fish, and greatly esteemed for its flavor at table. It is thought 

 that this was the Umbra of Ausonius. 



The gmyling is not found in America, except in the Arctic regions, 

 where swims the magnificent Thymallus Signifir, requiring as much 

 dexterity to land as a trout six times its size. (Richardson. Franklin's 

 Expedition, Appendix.) It is a very delicate fish, found only in certain 

 localities ; incapable of bearing much heat, and partial to colder waters 

 See Salmonia (Sir H. D.), 7th day.— jJm. Ed. 



t M. Agassiz considers the Ombre chevalier of the Lake of Geneva 

 identical with the Charr of the Northern English Lakes. — Yarrcll, Brit. 

 Hsh., vol. ii., 121. 



