152 A SCOTTISH FLY-FISHER 



fed trout contained in it were too indolent to rise to 

 anything smaller than a Mayfly. On an object less in 

 size they turned a slow, uninterested eye ; it was un- 

 worthy of an effort more demonstrative. When, in the 

 course of years, the fishing changed hands, it was dis- 

 covered with surprise that the fish possessed more 

 energy and were less discriminating in their choice 

 of food than had been thought. The new tenants, 

 ignorant of, or indifferent to, the traditional reputation 

 of the trout, fished the loch with small flies and had 

 every reason to be pleased with their reception. 



The conviction that the trout were to be taken only 

 with large flies had endured for years, but, as it was en- 

 tirely without foundation, it failed to survive the simplest 

 test. It, of course, received no new adherents, but those 

 by whom it had been held were loth to give it up ; they 

 clung to it with great tenacity, and listened, incredulous, 

 to tales of giant trout accepting readily the most 

 diminutive of lures. They refused to acknowledge the 

 evidence while they could, and only when it was no 

 longer possible to doubt, did they grudgingly consent 

 to modify their views. They would not frankly admit 

 their error, but weakly sought to evade the difficulty by 

 assuming that the tastes and habits of the trout had 

 undergone a sudden change. We are all slow to part 



