64 ANGLING 



much earlier than if there had been long sharp frosts 

 and heavy falls of snow. We have in some rivers, such 

 as the Tweed and Coquet, caught trout in tolerable con- 

 dition in the months of February and March. In 1851 

 we caught burn-trout in the Esk, Haddingtonshire, as 

 red as crimson, in the last day of January. In the 

 months of June and July, trout are generally, in all 

 the rivers of Europe, supposed to arrive at their 

 highest degree of perfection in strength, richness, and 

 flavour. 



This fish varies in size in different rivers and different 

 countries, from the small Welsh trout of a few ounces 

 to the giants of some foreign rivers, which occasionally 

 reach a weight of twenty or thirty pounds; but the 

 general run of fish in trout - streams averages from 

 half a pound to a pound and a half. In waters where 

 they are very numerous, the number caught below half 

 a pound will, in ordinary cases, far exceed those caught 

 above that weight. It is almost a universal rule, or 

 condition of existence, that where trout are large they 

 are scarce. 



The age which trout generally attain has been a long 

 disputed, and is as yet an undecided question among 

 naturalists and anglers. Experiments have been made 

 in ponds to settle this point ; but such tests are not quite 

 satisfactory, inasmuch as they are, in some degree, arti- 

 ficial contrivances, and place the fish out of their usual 

 haunts, habits, and modes of life. There can be little 

 doubt, we apprehend, that the longevity of the trout 

 varies with the country, and the nature of the stream it 

 inhabits. 



We shall here recite two instances relative to the age 

 of this fish, which have been noticed in other works 

 on fishing. The first is the statement that a trout died 

 in August 1809, which had been in Dumbarton Castle 

 for eight-and-twenty years ; the other account is taken 

 from the Westvioi'eland Advertiser of some years ago. 



"Fifty years since, the proprietor of Bond Hall, near 

 Brougliton, in Furness, when a boy, placed a male Fellbeck trout 

 in » well in the orchard belonging to the family, where it re- 



