GROWTH AND SIZE. 19 



having the desirable shelter and accommodation. The 

 trout associated with them are consequently not abun- 

 dant ; but, generally speaking, of large size. They vary 

 in point of weight from one and a-half up to ten or 

 twelve pounds weight. 



It may be remarked, however, that lochs containing 

 few or no pike, and where small trout, averaging from a 

 quarter to one pound weight are found in great abun- 

 dance, not unfrequently, along with these, possess large 

 individuals of the species, chiefly predatory in their habits, 

 and which unquestionably commit havoc to a great 

 extent among the others. Such fish have frequently 

 been taken by trolling in Lochs Laggan, Tay, Ness, 

 and Earn, where the trout captured with the fly seldom 

 exceed a pound in weight, and are generally not so 

 heavy. These monsters, I may observe, are quite 

 different in character from the Salmo ferox of Lochs 

 Awe and Shin ; they are merely over-grown loch trout, 

 of the same variety as the general stock of the lake 

 they inhabit, or one or other of its tributaries. They 

 have been captured, I am told, weighing 201bs., and 

 upwards ; nor shall I dispute the accuracy of this state- 

 ment, but feel inclined to give it full credence. 



In July, 1835, at Fort Augustus, I remember seeing 

 a fish of the above description captured from the boat 

 with trolling-tackle in Loch Ness its weight being 

 fourteen pounds. This, with the exception of several 

 stuffed specimens of the Salmoferox of Loch Awe, is the 

 largest fresh-water trout I recollect ever to have seen. 

 In point of shape, I may state, it was, to my eye, sym- 

 metrically faultless, being deep in the flank, small- 

 headed, and beautifully curved in the back and shoul- 

 der properties not always possessed by the description 

 of trout I am alluding to, which, as overgrown indi- 





