178 WILD SPAIN. 



that aegis of kindly protection that has been so advan- 

 tageously (for thein, and others) extended to their British 

 and Scandinavian congeners. 



Another drawback — which, though common to most 

 lands, is specially pronounced in metalliferous Spain — lies 

 in the noxious effusions from mines, which are freely dis- 

 charged, for private profit, into public waters. This evil 

 was forcibly brought home by our first day's experience in 

 Cantabria. Hour after hour we had plied most lovely water 

 without success — fly, worm, and phantom alike failed to 

 elicit a single response. On returning with empty creel to 

 the posada, to us our host, " Hombre, have you been 

 fishing the Tesarco? Que disparate! there is a copper- 

 mine two leagues further up : there have been no fish in 

 that river for years." Considering that we had employed 

 a local guide, furnished by the said host, the occasion 

 appeared to justify a protest of not unmeasured wrath. 

 But there is no use losing one's temper in Spain : no 

 quality there so valuable as patience : and the reward of 

 a modicum of reasoned restraint was that the rough, 

 but kind-hearted Asturian insisted next morning on accom- 

 panying us himself to another river, seven miles away, 

 where we enjoyed, for Spain, excellent sport. 



Under the adverse conditions above outlined, it would 

 be irrational to look for any very great measure of success 

 in Spanish trouting — though, were it possible (which it is 

 not) to secure fair play for the Salmonidae, there is no 

 physical or other reason why the Basque and Biscayan 

 provinces might not rival either Scotch or Scandinavian 

 waters. The following brief records of a few experiences 

 in Northern Spain will serve to illustrate what may be 

 expected, in a sporting sense, of the Cantabrian trout. 



