THE SALMON, CHAR, AND VENDACE. 81 



so in as far as the ignorance of anglers as to the method 

 of taking it renders it no subject for their sport ; for, 

 as we are informed, it exists in very many of our north- 

 ern lochs, and, indeed, is taken in some quantities with 

 the net from Lochs Tay and Laggan,, especially the lat- 

 ter, where it acquires a larger size, and is altogether 

 a finer fish than we meet with in other parts of Scot- 

 land. Our char, however, is in general by no means 

 equal in weight to that of Windermere, seldom equal- 

 ling a pound, and averaging only a few ounces. It is 

 known to take the fly, which should be well sunk, 

 and leisurely angled with. On Loch Achilty, in Ross- 

 shire, we lately captured with the fly no less than eight- 

 een of these fish during a forenoon in July, besides nu- 

 merous trout. These measured in general, with one 

 marked exception, about eight inches; they were thick 

 in proportion to their breadth, very red in the belly 

 and fins ; and although rising dully to the fly, yet, when 

 hooked, lively and active. The one excepted was 

 nearly double the weight of the rest, and we have no 

 doubt that much larger ones exist in the loch. The wa- 

 ter of Loch Achilty is very unlike that of the neighbouring 

 lakes, being particularly clear and deep, and, although 

 fed by several small streams, possessing no visible out- 

 let. Its bottom, which seems covered with old wood, 

 is rich and slimy, and contains a very sparing propor- 

 tion of rock and large stones. Loch Bruiach, in In- 

 verness-shire, also possesses char ; but here they are 

 shy of the fly, and, except during the month of Sep- 

 tember, are only to be captured by means of the net. 



The char of the English lakes, although occasionally 

 slaughtered with the minnow, abstains, we believe, al- 

 together from insects. One of the great drawbacks to 

 the capture of this delicate fish is its predilection for 

 deep water, where neither net nor angler's tackle can 



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