88 THE ACCLIMATISATION 



of the five hundred smolts liberated in that 

 river in 1869 by Mr. Dav,'bin. 



DiflBcult as it is to distinguish between 

 the migratory species of the salmon family 

 at an early age, there are now many gentle- 

 men in the colonies quite as competent to 

 give a trustworthy opinion, from the distin- 

 guishing anatomical characters, as any but 

 the most expert of our home naturalists, 

 and their judgment may be accepted with 

 some confidence. 



Eighteen years have now elapsed since 

 the first trout was born in Austrahan waters, 

 and many facts point to an extraordinary 

 rate of growth in these fish. In 1874 a 

 splendid fellow of over 16 lbs. was taken by 

 the rod in the Derwent, and the trout of 

 9^ lbs., which could not have been four 

 years old at the utmost, has already been 

 mentioned. The rods have had a good time 

 of it in the rivers now open to the angler, 

 and there are numbers besides where the 

 fish are awaiting him. A beauty of 5^ lbs. 

 fell to the fly in the Clyde, where the fry 

 had been turned in little more than three 



