290 FISHING GOSSIP. 



the tide-lice on them at that distance from the sea, 

 that was out of the question ; but although slightly 

 browned outside, they betrayed no great develop- 

 ment of milt or roe, and showed at table red and" 

 curdy ; nor as to their richness and fine flavour could 

 there be any dispute. Of the superiority of the sport 

 occasionally met with by the trout-fisher on the 

 Bernersyde and Old Melrose waters, some idea may be 

 formed, when I mention that on one occasion (June 

 4, 1855) I captured in the course of three hours, 

 out of the Gate-heugh streams, eighteen trout, which 

 weighed upwards of 19 Ibs. The toppers were nine 

 in number, and turned the scale at 14^ Ibs., which 

 speaks to their being on the average a pound and a 

 half apiece. They were all taken with the worm, in 

 very rapid clear water, with a fine single-gut line, well 

 shotted. Out of the lower trouting-casts, about a 

 month after, I took thirty-four trout weighing five- 

 and-twenty pounds, also with the worm, but chiefly 

 from the shallow margins and with tackle very lightly 

 weighted. A difference in temperature of about ten 

 degrees occurred on these two occasions a scorching 

 heat, which affected largely both air and water, pre- 

 vailing in the latter instance. 



T. T. S. 



