173 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

 TROUT AND TEOUTING IN SPAIN. 



A LAND without Trout labours, in our eyes, under grave 

 physical disadvantages ; its currenc}' is, metaphorically, 

 below par, its stocks at a discount. The absence of many 

 modern luxuries in Spain — say, manhood suffrage, school- 

 boards, and the like — we can survive ; the absence of trout, 

 never. Not even the presence on mountain, moor, or 

 marsh, of such noble denizens as Spain can boast — the 

 ibex, bustard, and boar, the Ij^nx and lammergeyer — can 

 wholly, from an angler's point of view, fill the void, or 

 atone for the absence of sparkling streams and that 

 gamest of fresh-water game, the trout. The reproach, 

 however, does not apply ; for, to her many s^jorting 

 treasures, Spain can claim, in addition, this gem of the 

 subaqueous world. No one, however, it should be added, 

 who has other lands open to him, should ever go to Spain 

 expressly for trout-fishing. 



Subject to the provisoes that follow (fairly extensive 

 ones, too), trout may be said to exist sporadically all over 

 the Iberian Peninsula ; but, in the south, they are limited 

 to the alpine streams of the sierras, and seldom descend 

 below the 2,000 feet level. Troutlets abound in the 

 mountain-torrents of the loftiest southern sierras (Nevada, 

 Morena, Pionda, and all their infinite ramifications), the 

 larger fish seeking rather lower levels and deeper pools. 

 Three-pounders grace the classic streams of Genii and 

 Darro, and deserve attention from angling visitors to the 

 famed IMoorish fortress of Boabdil and his dark-eyed 

 houris. The Guadiarro, also, and some others of the 



