Ill THE LAKE DISTRICT 77 



a rather stunted growth of Eucalyptus, stretch 

 away into the distance, alternating with marshy 

 plains, and nowhere rising into significant peaks 

 or salient ridges to give boldness and distinction 

 to the scene. For here we are actually on the 

 roof of the island, and it is a matter of some 

 difficulty to understand the source from which 

 the waters of this vast lake are derived ; certainly 

 the drainage from the low surrounding hills is 

 hardly sufficient, and one must suppose that there 

 are considerable springs supplying the lake from 

 below. Moreover, two large rivers flow out of 

 the lake at the southern end, the Shannon and 

 the Ouse, which further south become tributaries 

 of the Derwent. 



I spent a fortnight at the south of the Great 

 Lake, making dredging expeditions from a boat 

 and along the shore, and, occasionally, accompanied 

 by a shepherd and his dogs, making incursions 

 into the bush after what native animals we could 

 find. The Great Lake has earned a considerable 

 reputation among fishermen for the size and 

 number of the Trout which it contains ; the 

 largest Trout which has been caught in these 

 waters scaling twenty-five pounds. All kinds of 

 theories are held to account for these gigantic fish, 

 but there can be no doubt that they are the 

 ordinary English Brown Trout, which live and 

 grow to their great size in the lake, favoured by 

 the absence of predatory fish such as Pike, and 

 by the superabundance of ground food of which 



