44 The Course^ the Camp, the Chase 



on the principle of a syphon, kept up a constant drip. 

 Some more lamp-wick at the other end of the dish 

 carried off the overflow into a tumbler below. The 

 whole of the apparatus was balanced on nails driven 

 into the wall. 



A considerable number of the ova hatched out suc- 

 cessfully ; and about the time when the umbilical bag 

 was absorbed, they were transferred to a water-tight 

 fern-case, placed on the window-sill. A more pretentious 

 current was now required, which was effected by placing 

 a tin bath on the top of the bed, to act as a reservoir, 

 and " a stream " was obtained by adding some india- 

 rubber tubing, with a tap to control the supply; some 

 more tubing carried the waste water out of the window. 

 The fern-case was made to resemble a natural pool, with 

 little grottoes of stone, a gravel bed, and a few water 

 plants, and very healthy the troutlings were. It was 

 wonderful at what a pace they grew — but then we 

 stuffed them with food ! As the fish increased in size, 

 they had to be weeded out, until at last only about 

 twelve or sixteen were left ; the largest of them being 

 at the end of the half as long as a " middle finger," and 

 all being beautifully marked with crimson spots. 



They were an endless source of amusement to us, 

 and a great deal of knowledge of the habits of trout 

 was gained by watching their movements. It was inter- 

 esting to see how they came out into the current from 

 their hiding-places as soon as ever the tap was turned on, 

 just for all the world as, when a mill is set going, their 

 bigger relatives sail out into the mill-stream, and com- 

 mence to feed. In their earliest days they were chiefly 

 supplied with the roe of soles, obtained from the fish- 



