WHEN GRAYLING ARE IN SEASON. 333 



they emit a smell of thyme, I think they do not. 

 They smell rather of cucumber than of any other 

 vegetable. Mr. Elaine says, " The name of 

 umbra which this fish bears has a far better deri- 

 vation than that of thymallus> for it is so swift a 

 swimmer as to disappear like a passing shadow. 

 Graylings are in great esteem, and their flesh is 

 white and palatable nearly all the year. They 

 are in season from September to January, (some 

 say they are best in October, others in December,) 

 and they cannot be dressed too soon after they 

 are caught. They lurk close all the winter, and 

 begin to be very active and to spawn in April, or 

 early in May ; at which time, and during the 

 summer, near the sides and at the tails of sharp 

 streams, they will take all the flies that trout are 

 fond of. They rise better than the trout, and if 

 missed several times, will still pursue ; yet, 

 although they are so sportive after the fly, they 

 are an inanimate fish when hooked, and the sides 

 of the mouth are so very tender, that unless 

 nicely treated, when struck, the hold will fre- 

 quently be broken. In September they retire 

 in shoals to the lower end of still holes." 



I have lately received a very good account of 

 the grayling from Mr. Henry George, of Wor- 

 cester, the very efficient secretary of an association 

 established in that city for the preservation of the 

 fish of the Severn and its tributaries, and I here 



