xiv A SUBURBAN FISHERY 249 



of imagination without the cold restraint of 

 hard fact. 



Notwithstanding all this I firmly believe 

 that there are ten and even twelve-pounders 

 in the mill-pool, and but we will leave 

 this subject and go down-stream ; I am but 

 human myself. So far I have spoken only 

 of the trout in our river, but the other fish 

 claim attention quite as deservedly. The 

 stream used to be noted for the size and 

 number of its dace ; fish of three-quarters 

 of a pound were common, and pounders 

 were not unknown. The numbers have not 

 fallen off. On a fine warm evening you may 

 see them rising all over the river ; but the 

 average size of those caught has curiously 

 deteriorated. It is an exceptional thing now 

 to catch a dace of half a pound. 



I hear that this phenomenon has been 

 observed in other parts of the river as well 

 as ours, but what the reason of it may be it 

 is difficult to surmise. Possibly it is due to 

 the decreasing volume of the stream, which, 

 like all streams near London, is gradually 

 shrinking in obedience to the insatiable 

 demands of the water companies. But this 

 explanation is not wholly satisfactory. The 



