AKE GRAYLING INDIGENOUS? 299 



lateral evidence is worth nothing. First, it is assumed 

 that they were so introduced by the monks because on or 

 near every river containing grayling there are the remains 

 of monastic institutions. I am not quite sure that this is 

 invariably so ; but if it were, one might easily ask whether 

 in the first place the monks came to the grayling with 

 that perspicacity they were so remarkable for, or whether 

 the grayling came to them. Again, it might be asked 

 how many rivers of any note are there in the country on 

 or near which, in some sort, institutions of monastic origin 

 have always been absent ? I am not at all convinced, 

 clever though the monks were in fish matters, that they 

 introduced grayling ; and I am rather inclined to think 

 that if they had introduced them, the introduction would 

 scarcely be so partial as it is. Grayling abound in many 

 of the Scandinavian rivers and lakes, and are found in 

 very many of the German and Swiss rivers ; and that they 

 should also be found in some of the English rivers is per- 

 haps not much more surprising than that the trout or 

 other fish common alike to England and the Continent 

 should be found in both. However, it is not a matter of 

 much consequence to us. The matter that is of conse- 

 quence is, that the fish suits many of our streams, and 

 would suit many more if it were introduced to them. It 

 is found in the Teme, the Lugg, the Wye, and their tribu- 

 taries, wherever they are found to suit it. It is found in 

 many of the Yorkshire rivers, the Ure and the Swale 

 especially. It is found in the Derbyshire streams, as the 

 Wye, the Derwent, and the Dove. It is found in the 

 Hampshire rivers, the Avon, Itchin, and Test, where they 

 run to a large size. I have caught them in both Itchin 

 and Test up to 4 Ib. weight ; but here we know that it has 

 been introduced. They were formerly few in the Test ; but 

 at the Houghton fishery, formerly belonging to the cele- 

 brated Stockbridge Club, thanks to the encouragement ex- 



