THE GRAYLING. 101 



of the fish being found in no streams but those on 

 the banks of which old monasteries stood. 



I must remark that I do not recollect having my- 

 self met with grayling in Thames, or even Tweed. 



The term " thymattus" is derived from a sup- 

 posed smell of thyme emitted by the fish when 

 first taken out of the water. I confess that, 

 though I have smelt with the nose of faith, I have 

 never been able to detect it. 



" When cats is out," Sam Weller tells us, " fruit 

 is in." When trout are out of season and cease to 

 rise at the fly, grayling are in season and afford 

 most excellent sport. The mode of fishing is pre- 

 cisely the same as that adapted for trout, but the 

 flies should if possible be smaller and finer, and the 

 strike more instantaneous on the rise in fact, it is 

 impossible to strike too quickly. In deep clear 

 water the fish may be seen rising almost from the 

 bottom, and the moment you see him you must 

 strike, and when you strike you do so with a 

 tolerable certainty of hooking your fish. The 

 enormous back fin enables the grayling to rise with 

 a rapidity no other fish can : it shoots upwards, 

 seizes the fly, and descends in less time than the 

 motion of your hand can follow : the dive of the dab- 

 chick, which disappears at the flash of the gun, is 

 the only thing in nature which, within my ex- 



