154 CHAR 



Thames, anglers for the homely chub and languid 

 roach are likely to be in for some lively passages. 



The beautiful brook trout of North America (Salvc- 

 linus fontinalis) is another true char, and bright were 

 the hopes of British trout-fishers when it was intro- 

 duced to this country in the last quarter of the 

 nineteenth century. It was reared in hatcheries by 

 hundreds of thousands, and distributed so widely that 

 probably there is not a county in Great Britain where 

 some attempt has not been made to establish so 

 desirable a species. But all has proved in vain. The 

 young fish grow bravely for a year, or perhaps two 

 years, after being liberated. The lovely dark marbling 

 on the olive-green back and sides and the vermilion 

 flush overspreading the belly and flanks towards the 

 end of summer, combined with the faultless symmetry 

 of the shapely body and small head, make our native 

 brook trout seem almost shabby in comparison with 

 the foreigners. But these dainty aliens have refused 

 all offers of naturalisation. They invariably disappear 

 in a mysterious manner in the second or third year 

 after being turned loose. 



Of the European char, Scandinavian ichthyologists, 

 who are far from prone to admit multiplicity of species, 

 recognise two kinds as distinct the northern char (S. 

 alpinus) and the Sselbling (S. umbla). l No doubt those 

 two diverged from a common ancestry, but the northern 

 char differs from all others in its migratory habit, living 

 part of the year as a raider in the sea, clothed in the silver 



1 History of Scandinavian Fishes, by Messrs. Fries, Ekstrcm, aud 

 Sundevall, vol. ii. p. 835. (English translation, 1895.) 



