SPORT AMONGST THE MOUNTAINS 241 



guns to the mountain, and a knowing old profes- 

 sional angler in long-tailed frieze coat, indescribable 

 hat, knee breeches, and black stockings, opines that 

 there is a good chance for both trout and salmon, 

 I must forego the sport for the present, and finish 

 my appointed task. The White Trout Inn is not 

 situated in a town, nor even in a village, though 

 there are a few scattered houses here and there, but 

 the place has the inestimable advantage to the 

 sportsman of being twenty miles distant from a 

 railway. Within a comfortable hour's walk of mine 

 inn is a lovely lake five miles in length, surrounded 

 by mountains as grand as artist could desire. 

 White villas nestle here and there on the wooded 

 slopes that lead down to the clear blue water, dotted 

 with sundry fishing-boats, from which anglers are 

 throwing the fly for salmon or trout, both of which 

 swarm in the lake. 



From the lake down to the sea a beautiful river 

 runs a picturesque course of about four miles, in a 

 valley with mountains on the one side and well- 

 cultivated hills and slopes on the other ; and in 

 every part of the river are to be found the noble 

 salmon, the brilliant white or sea-trout, and their 

 humble relative, the brown trout — in England a 

 prize coveted by most anglers, and esteemed by 

 most gourmcmds, but here looked upon with con- 



