FEBEUARY 



word ' former,' else what might not the present House 

 of Commons become on occasions ! 



VII 



Passing a London fishmonger's shop one day in 

 February 1908, my attention was drawn to a Rainbow 

 beautiful rainbow trout, between two and three Trout 

 pounds in weight, in the pink of condition. Upon 

 inquiring whence it had come, I was assured by an 

 intelligent young man in charge that it had been taken 

 in the nets from the tidal waters of the Aberdeenshire 

 Dee. This goes to confirm the evasive character 

 earned by these lovely fish. When rainbow trout were 

 first introduced into this country a few years ago, we 

 anglers thought that we had done with the old British 

 brown trout for first-class sport. The newcomers grew 

 so fast, and so far outshone the native race in lustre 

 and excelled them in grace as to make them look quite 

 shabby by comparison. But, as time went on, the fair 

 promise was belied. True that rainbows reach a weight 

 of two or three pounds in as many seasons, taking the 

 fly boldly, and fighting most gamely when hooked ; but 

 after attaining that size they vanish. Their destina- 

 tion is now becoming known; they go to the sea. 

 American icthyologists have long suspected that rain- 

 bows are not an adult species, but young specimens of 

 the steel-head salmon, a regular sea-going creature. 

 Quite consistent with this idea is the capture of these 

 fish in salt water, which has happened in more than 



