138 SALMO FEROX 



which these fish attain. These lakes are the profound 

 abysses among the Highland hills, and the great trout 

 which lurk in their depths have been distinguished as 

 a separate species by some naturalists, under the title 

 of Salmo ferox. But there is no reason to believe that 

 they are anything but overgrown specimens of the 

 common brook or loch trout; in fact, I once took in 

 Loch Arkaig five fish in an afternoon's trolling, ranging 

 from seventeen and a half pounds to two and a half 

 pounds, of which all were reckoned ferox, because of 

 the method of their capture ; but the smaller ones 

 might have come out of a club water in Hampshire. 

 On the other hand, I have seen trout of ten and twelve 

 pounds taken with prawn and minnow out of the pool 

 below Romsey Bridge on the Test ; nobody thought of 

 calling them ferox, though they presented all the out- 

 ward characteristics of that so-called species, except 

 that, from living in shallower water, they had not 

 acquired the dark purple and black complexion of the 

 northern monsters. This peculiar dark tint disappears 

 after the fish has been out of the water for some hours 

 in a cool place. 



However, Salmo ferox is a really good descriptive 

 name for a class of trout taken in deep and extensive 

 lakes, for these are the fiercest of all British fresh-water 

 fishes. The pike compares with a typical ferox as a 

 Southdown sheep-dog does with a grey wolf. The pike 

 has a Pecksniffian air, as of one who should say ' It is 

 true, my friends, that there is a pound trout inside me ; 

 it is quite extraordinary how valuable articles get mis- 



