THE TEMPERATURE 79 



derived from daily observation from the 

 opening of a season. Well-filled baskets 

 were the rule all through March and the 

 first half of April, and these w^ere the 

 fruits of fishing either from the banks or 

 from a boat drifting along the banks ; but 

 suddenly this good fortune was at an end. 

 It became as difficult to catch a brace of 

 trout as it had been to catch a score. 

 One morning when, there being no wind, 

 the lake was placid, I noticed that, while 

 a strip of water extending outwards at 

 least thirty yards from the shore was 

 undisturbed by rises, beyond that trout 

 were moving everywhere. Seeing that 

 the fly on the water was a small insect 

 with grayish -white wings and a black 

 body, I put on a cast of midgets, rowed 

 out into the middle of the loch, and had 

 very good sport indeed. The spell was 

 broken. The manner of the breach was 

 rather surprising to myself as well as to 

 the hospitable household with whom I 

 was staying on a holiday. There, as 

 throughout Scotland and England gener- 



