DERWENTWATER 113 



vendace taken with rod-and-line. The fact of the 

 extreme scarcity of this fish is at variance with 

 the statements contained in the appended note by 

 Dr. Davy, although allowance must be made for 

 the time which has elapsed since it was written. 



"-PiSCATOR. As to your second inquiry, the fish of Der- 

 wentwater they are of several kinds trout, pike, perch, eel, 

 vendace, minnow, thornback. Is not this an ample list? I 

 was about to add, salmon and sea-trout ; but I remembered 

 that these are now become so rare as not to deserve being 

 mentioned, the capture of one or the other having become 

 the merest accident. The same remark applies to the 

 capture of the vendace ; not because it is so rare, but 

 because it is contrary to the habits of this fish to take the fly, 

 or any of the baits commonly used here in angling. I have 

 heard of one instance only of its having been taken with the 

 artificial fly, and that by an old fisherman of long experience, 

 and likewise of one only of its having been captured with the 

 worm. The fish on which the angler must chiefly depend 

 for sport is the trout, and next to the trout, the pike and 

 perch. The trout is pretty abundant, especially since more 

 care has been taken of the fishing, through the meritorious 

 exertions of an angling association, and since the use of the 

 base lath or otter has been prohibited. 



" AMICUS. I am surprised to hear you say that the ven- 

 dace is found here, and moreover, that it is not rare. I had 

 always supposed that it is confined to Lochmaben, in Dum- 

 friesshire, and the adjoining lakes. 



" PISCATOR. That is still the general belief, indeed ; it is 

 only recently that it has been ascertained, in a satisfactory 

 manner, to have a larger range of localities. In this lake, 

 within the last eight years, a good many have been taken 

 by the net, and many also in the same way in Bassenthwaite 

 Lake, that which receives the Derwent, and is distant from 

 this only about three or four miles. That it is not a scarce 

 fish here may, I think, be inferred from the circumstances of 

 two lately having been killed by a stroke of an oar ; and 

 that the fish is a true vendace I am satisfied, having com- 

 pared a specimen from Lochmaben with one from Derwent- 

 water, and also with one from Bassenthwaite Lake, and 



I 



