58 TROUT FISHING 



it after breakfast ? In England you may 

 not fish at that time of the year ; but in 

 Scotland, even under the new Act, you 

 may, for salmon. The loch just outside 

 my host's door was ice-bound ; but a mile 

 to the west there was a considerable 

 stream which would surely be open. 

 Many a time I had found excellent sport 

 among the brown trout in that stream ; 

 and it was just possible that now there 

 would be rainbows, three or four thousand 

 of which had a year before been put into 

 the loch, which the river feeds. Rainbow 

 trout, I reminded myself, spawn much 

 later than the native fish : my merry 

 friend, Mr. Douglas Hall, who has some 

 fine ponds, with a considerable stream 

 through them, at Burton Park in Sussex, 

 had assured me that there they remained 

 in good condition until the beginning of 

 March. It would be interesting to learn 

 how the strangers were faring in the 

 Highlands. 



The knowledge was not to be easily 

 gained. That became clear when I 



