CH. XXXII. TROUT AND SALMON. 185 



stones on which they are accustomed to lie. Few 

 Highland streams contain very large trout : the 

 feeding is not abundant enough, the cold waters 

 not being sufficiently productive of animalcula and 

 small insects. Fish are as dependent on the 

 nature of the soil through which a stream runs, 

 as oxen are on the richness of the meadows on 

 which they pasture. The reason is obvious : a 

 river which runs through a fertile country always 

 abounds in flies, worms, snails, &c., on which its 

 inhabitants feed ; whilst a mountain stream, which 

 flows rapidly through a barren and rocky country, 

 has not the same supply. 



I will not pretend to give a descriptive list of all 

 the rivers, streams, and lakes in Scotland, where the 

 angler may find employment for rod and line : they 

 are too numerous for me to do so ; nor is my know- 

 ledge of them sufficiently complete. 



There are few districts, from Ayrshire to Caith- 

 ness, where trout and salmon are not to be found in 

 tolerable abundance. Many streams run into the 

 Solway Firth which are plentifully supplied with 

 good trout, fed on the insect population of the 

 fertile fields of Ayrshire, Kirkcudbright, &c. Many 

 fine lakes, abounding in trout, char, and pike, are 

 also to be found in that district. But mines, and 

 other similar works, are already beginning to fill 



