1 82 How I Became a Sportsman. 



I had some capital trout-fishing one season, 

 when staying at a country-house about nine 

 miles from that well-known fishing locality, 

 Hungerford. The fish did not run very large, 

 but I caught several over a pound, and saw 

 one fish of quite four pounds. I was told 

 a curious circumstance about this stream. 

 Two years before I was there, it, being on 

 the chalk, had entirely disappeared and re- 

 mained quite dry for many months. Now, 

 where did this big trout come from ? as he 

 must have been at least four years old. I have 

 always understood that fish do not go far 

 from the place where they are bred, and I 

 know that fish have homes, and stick to them ; 

 for if you know a trout to go to a certain 

 place when disturbed, he invariably makes 

 for the same place, what country people call 

 his " hoult," and if you kill him, within a very 

 short time his late residence is sure to be 

 occupied by another, but not quite so big a 

 fish, seeming to bear out the old lines — 



" They shall take who have the power, 

 And they shall keep who can." 



As long as the larger and more powerful fish 

 was in existence, he held his castle against all 



