AND ANGLING SONGS. 3OI 



the more extraordinary, and demonstrative of the fact -that our 

 friend lucius must especially esteem this delicate little morceau, 

 and hunt it down, when his appetite and tastes are so inclined, 

 with great pertinacity. The descent of the pike of Till into 

 Tweed in pursuit of the sraolts, which I have made mention of 

 in the course of these chapters, affords another instance of the 

 preferences of our fresh- water shark, and his power of discri- 

 mination, an instinct so frequently questioned by anglers. 



But I return to our investigation of the lake with net and 

 coble, under the conduct of Dr. Scott and his assistants. The 

 first haul was an unpromising one, consisting of a few roach and 

 small bream, a perch, and some sticklebacks. It was taken, 

 however, on besten ground, so to call it, in front of the cottage. 

 The next capture (a circuit, as far as it could be accomplished, 

 of the loch, in successive sweeps of the net, forming the pro- 

 gramme usually followed on such occasions) discovered a decided 

 improvement in point of numbers. This improvement continued 

 as we advanced, and reached its height at a haul taken near the 

 mouth of the principal feeder. The contents of the net, in this 

 instance, amounted, taking a rough guess, to nearly a thousand 

 fish, nineteen-twentieths of which were bream (Abramis brama), 

 the remaining twentieth consisting principally of roach. There 

 were also four or five pike, the largest not exceeding five pounds, 

 and about half a score of small perch. Among the bream were 

 some fair-sized specimens, running from half a pound up to two 

 pounds, but the generality of them were not more than three 

 ounces in weight. Subsequent hauls, taken on the north side of 

 the loch, discovered still larger specimens of this insipid fish. 

 Of these we retained the pick, setting the others at liberty. 



As to the vendace, to procure which was our main object, we 

 failed to obtain a single specimen. At no time, it appears, is it 

 abundant, at least it has not been so of late years. On the 

 occasion of the Vendace Club meetings, held two or three 



