1 8 FRESH-WATER TROUT. 



weight of trout, so that where they are very nume- 

 rous they are not large, and vice versa. Hence pro- 

 prietors of ponds sometimes drag them with a net, 

 and take out the small fish to improve the size of 

 the remainder. 



Of the opposite class from those just mentioned 

 are very rapid and hard- bottomed streams. Of this 

 kind are most Highland streams, a few in the hilly 

 parts of the Lowlands, and numerous hill-burns. 

 The rapidity with which their waters run, and the 

 smoothness and solidity of their channels, prevent 

 any accumulations taking p]ace which could yield 

 sustenance to the trout, which, in the very height 

 of the season, are poor and soft, and weigh miser- 

 ably in proportion to their length. 



Between the slow-running streams on the one 

 hand, and the very rapid on the other, there is a 

 wide range, comprising all degrees of swiftness ; 

 and every angler may get a river in which the 

 variation of stream and pool will be exactly suited 

 to his taste. Like the streams, the trout are of a 

 medium quality, sometimes red in the flesh and 

 sometimes white depending on the quality and 

 quantity of food they obtain. Of this description 

 are Tweed and its tributaries with few exceptions, 

 most of the streams in the south of Scotland, and a 

 few in the Highlands. In Tweed, trout are occa- 

 sionally caught six and seven pounds in weight ; 

 and we have heard of one being taken from this 

 river of the great weight of twelve pounds, which 



