dung from their hind quarters, as the greasy tar is 

 not incorporated with the water, but floats, like a 

 rainbow-coloured film, on the surface; and a third 

 says they are gorged with the ticks and vermin 

 which are dislodged from the fleece in the washing. 

 To this last opinion I am inclined to give very little 

 credit ; but I think the trout may be disordered by 

 the joint effects of the greasy tar and dang, and 

 alarmed by the disturbance in different parts of the 

 stream. I have seen the scum of the tar by the 

 side of a stream, in considerable quantity, ten days 

 after the sheep-washing was over. A good spate, 

 however, seldom fails to cure the trout and restore 

 their appetite. I saw an instance of sick trout this 

 year, but not in consequence of sheep-washing. It 

 was in a stream which was much swollen from a 

 heavy rain the day before, and the water was very 

 much discoloured and thick, as if a newly-ploughed 

 field had been overflowed and the soil washed away, 

 oc as if a bank of earth had fallen in. The water 

 was by no means so high as I have frequently seen 

 it, but in mid-channel it was almost black; and 

 shoals of small trout crowded to the sides, so weak 

 and helpless, wabbling about as if they were fud- 

 dled, that you might take them out with your 

 hands. 



SIMPSON. I do not think that this has been a 

 very good season for fly-fishing anywhere. A friend 

 of mine, in Herefordshire, informs me that there has 

 been a deficiency of sport in that part of the country, 



