DISTRIBUTION. 201 



One practical observation of the subject is 

 worth any number of theories evolved from 

 preconceived and erroneous notions. The flood 

 of November, 1894, was the highest recorded 

 on South-country rivers for over forty years. 

 Banks were over-flowed in all directions, and 

 acres and acres of water meadows were covered, 

 until the country for miles around had the 

 appearance of a huge lake. It was suggested 

 that all the trouble and expense of systematic 

 stocking in the Upper Kennet had been thrown 

 away. It was said that the irresistible force of 

 the stream at so abnormal a height must have 

 washed away all the yearlings and two-year-olds 

 turned into the river. The fish, we were 

 assured, had been carried away in great 

 numbers. And some went so far as to express 

 grave doubts as to the safety even of the larger 

 trout indigenous to the river. On one point, 

 and one point only, all agreed, viz., that when 

 the floods subsided we should find hundreds of 

 fish dead on the meadows, and that many more 

 would have been carried down to the waters 

 immediately below. 



Of course, as to whether one's neighbours Fish in 

 lower down the river had been benefited at our flood?" * 

 expense it was impossible to do more than con- 

 jecture. After the river had fallen, however, to 

 something approaching its normal level, an 



