RIVER-TKOUTING. 401 



Spring came round again, and I resolved to watch the first 

 appearance of these trout. Accordingly, as soon as I noticed 

 fish rising in the streams, I went to the pond several times 

 a-day. It was not, however, till the beginning of April that I 

 perceived the largest trout looking very heavy and dull, but 

 making no attempt to feed. I watched it for a quarter of an 

 hour, when, contrary to its usual custom of darting among the 

 bushes at the opposite side for a hiding-place, it sank down 

 among the leaves and mud, head foremost, like an eel. The 

 manner of its passing the winter was now evident, and as the 

 evening was chilly, it had again sought the warmth of its 

 muddy quarters. 



A third inmate of this little pool excited my curiosity and 

 interest more than either of the others. During the warm 

 summer nights several large eels were constantly disporting 

 among the soft mud, particularly after rain. Each had its 

 corner of the pond, and they seldom invaded the other's ter- 

 ritories. They were five in number ; two rather larger than 

 the others, one of them a yellowish green, the other a dark 

 brown ; indeed they were all of different hues, and the shade 

 of their colour was my first distinguishing mark. This leads 

 me to suppose that fish do not always take their colour from 

 that of the water, or from the quality of the bottom. I know 

 it is often the case, especially with trout ; and I have seen 

 fish caught on a mossy soil, nearly black, while those taken 

 on a clear golden sand were bright yellow, though in the same 

 loch. 



But to return to my friends the eels. It was nothing un- 

 common to see several of them peeping out of a separate retreat 

 in their own premises. The head of one, perhaps, from behind 

 a decayed leaf the whole body of another laid alongside a 

 piece of stick, which it so nearly resembled as to be scarcely 

 distinguishable. Indeed it required some practice to perceive 

 them at all, and I have been nearly a minute before discover- 

 ing one, though several were in sight. Having some curiosity 



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