118 FISH CULTUEE. 



in another, very similar in appearance, and perhaps 

 only a bare half-mile distant from the other, they 

 will be long, black, and lean, with heads out of all 

 proportion to the thickness of the body. In another, 

 probably but a similar distance from the first two, 

 the trout will be abundant, but very small, though 

 bright and well coloured. These varieties, I have 

 every reason to believe, are caused partty by "a differ* 

 encQ of water, produced by the absence or presence 

 of certaia plants, these of course giving a difference 

 of food. To exemplify this : I remember some years 

 since, while fishing in a wild part of Donegal, near ' 

 the little village of Ardara, coming upon a cluster of 

 small lakes. The trout in some of these lakes were 

 small, bright, and very plentiful ; in others, they 

 were of a good size, but not handsome. But in one 

 of the lakes, a small one — a mere pool, of perhaps a 

 couple or three acres in extent — my attendant in- 

 formed me that the trout, though of a dark colour, 

 owing to the peat colour and depth of the water, 

 were large and well-shaped, and of good flavour, 

 often running up to five and six, and even seven or 

 eight pounds' weight. But the lake was what is 

 termed among anglers "a sulky lake," that is, the 

 fish very rarely rose well at the fly, and probably 

 it might be fished a dozen times without producing 



