FRESHWATER TROUT 17 



any accumulations taking place which could yield 

 sustenance to the trout, which, in the very height of 

 the season, are poor and soft, and weigh miserably in 

 proportion to their length. 



Between the slow-running streams on the one 

 hand, and the very rapid on the other, there is a 

 wide range, comprising all degrees of swiftness ; and 

 every angler may get a river in which the variation 

 of stream and pool will be exactly suited to his 

 taste. Like the streams, the trout are of a medium 

 quality, sometimes red in the flesh and sometimes 

 white depending on the quality and quantity of 

 food they obtain. Of this description are Tweed 

 and its tributaries with few exceptions, most of the 

 streams in the south of Scotland, and a few in the 

 Highlands. In Tweed, trout are occasionally caught 

 six and seven pounds in weight ; and we have heard 

 of one being taken from this river of the great weight 

 of twelve pounds, which is the largest river trout we 

 have heard of being caught in Scotland ; but they are 

 not of such fine quality as those taken from our smaller 

 streams. 



We have mentioned the size of trout as almost 

 entirely depending upon the quantity of their food, 

 without reference to age ; indeed this has but little 

 to do with the question, and there being no mark 

 by which their age may be known, any opinion upon 

 this point must be in a great measure conjectured, 

 and cannot well be tested by experiment, as trout 

 will hardly increase in size at all unless free to seek 

 their food and range the water as they please. We 



B 



