168 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Habits Supposed term of the trout's existence. 



be mild, and approach the shallows and tails of 

 streams, where they cleanse and restore them- 

 selves. As they acquire strength they advance 

 still higher up the rivers, till they fix on their 

 summer residence, for which they generally 

 eh use an eddy hehind a stone, a log, or bank, 

 that projects into the water, and against which 

 the current drives. The also frequently get into 

 the holes under roots of trees, or into deeps that 

 are shaded by boughs and bushes. They are 

 quick swimmers, and, like salmon, leap to the 

 height of five or six feet, to surmount any ob- 

 stacles in their passage. 



Trouts in a good pond will grow faster than 

 in some rivers ; and a gentleman who kept them 

 in ponds, to ascertain the progress and duration 

 of their lives, asserts that at four or five years 

 old they were at their full growth. For three 

 years subsequent to this they continued with lit- 

 tle alteration in size ; two years after, the heads 

 seemed to be enlarged, and the body wasted, 

 and in the following winter they died. Accord- 

 ing to this computation, nine or ten years seem 

 to be the term of their existence. 



In several of the northern rivers, trouts are 

 taken as red and as well tasted as charr ; and their 

 bones, when potted, like those of charr, have 

 dissolved. These are often very large: one of 

 them was caught some time ago that measured 

 twenty-eight inches in length. A trout was 

 taken in the river Stour, in December 1797* 



