314 THE FRESH- WATEE FISHES ()F EUROPE. 



only by a slight line and tapering 1 rod, is one moment deep down, boring his 

 head to the bottom of the lake, with every yard of line run out, and the rod 

 bent into the water; the next he takes a new freak, and goes off near the 

 surface like a steamboat, and before you can wind in, is right under your boat, 

 and close to the bottom of it, your line being you know not where. Again the 

 reel is whirring round so rapidly that you feel your line must break in spite of 

 all your fancied skill. But no ! he stops suddenly, and again seems inclined 

 to wind your line round and round the boat ; or, by Jove ! to upset you if he 

 can, by running against its keel. If there is a projecting nail or notch in the 

 wood he manages to get the line fixed in it. After you have cleared your 

 tackle from this danger, off he darts again. Your Highland boatman swears 

 in Gaelic; you, perhaps, follow his example in English at least, to a certainty, 

 you blame him for rowing too fast or too slow, and begin to think that you 

 would give a guinea to be honourably rid of the fish without discredit to your 

 skill as an angler. At last your enemy appears exhausted you have been 

 long exhausted yourself and floats quietly near the surface. But at the 

 critical moment of placing the gaff in a position to secure him, he flaps his 

 tail, and darts off again as strong as ever, taking good care to go right under 

 the boat again. At last, however, patience and good tackle and skill begin to 

 tell, and, after two or three more feeble efforts to escape, your noble-looking 

 fellow of a Trout is safely lodged in the bottom of the landing-net." 



Salmo bailloni (CuviER AND VALENCIENNES). 

 D. 13, A. 10, P. 12, V. 9, C. 23. 



Dr. Giinther mentions this fish as found in the Somme. It is believed to 

 be a migratory Trout. He states that it should be compared with Salino 

 cambricus, but the description is insufficient to elucidate its affinities. Moreau 

 says it is distinct from 8. cambricus, and Blanchard identifies it with the com- 

 mon Salmon Trout. The small number of rays in the anal and pectoral fins 

 appears to define it as a good species. 



There are about one hundred and twenty scales in the lateral line. At 

 spawning-tirne the back is lead-coloured, with violet reflections, and purple 

 spots. The sides are silvery. The caudal fin is grey. The anal and pectoral 

 fins are yellow, and the ventral is white. 



