16 



WHITEBAIT IN THE FIETH OF FORTH. 



seen of greater length than five inches. In appearance it is 

 pale and silvery, with a greenish back, and should be cooked 

 immediately after being caught ; indeed if, like Lord Lovat's 

 salmon, whitebait could leap from the water into the frying-pan, 

 it would be a decided advantage to those dining upon it, for if 



WHITEBAIT GROUND NEAR QUBEKSPERRY. 



kept even for a few hours it becomes greatly deteriorated, and, 

 in consequence, requires careful cooking to bring the flavour 

 up to the proper pitch of gastronomic excellence. Perhaps, 

 as aU fish are chameleon-like in reflecting not only the colour of 

 their abode, but what they feed on as well, the supposed flne 

 flavour of whitebstit, so far as not conferred upon, that fish 

 by the cook, may arise from matters held in solution in the 

 Thames water, and so the result from the corrupt source of 

 supply may be a quicker than ordinary decay. The waters of 

 the Forth at the whitebait ground, a little way above Inch- 

 garvie, of which I have given a slight sketch, where the sprat- 

 fishing is usually carried on, are clean and clear, and the fish 

 taken there are in consequence slightly different in colour, and 



