CHAP. IV.] THE THIRD DAY. 71 



water, or near the top ; and in colder weather, nearer the bottom ; 

 and if you fish for him on the top, with a beetle, or any fly, then 

 be sure to let your line be very long, and to keep out of sight. And 

 having told you that his spawn is excellent meat, and that the 

 head of a lai-ge Cheven, the throat being well washed, is the best 

 part of him, I will say no more of this fish at the present, but 

 wish you may catch the next you fish for.s 



But, lest you may judge me too nice in urging to have the 

 Chub dressed so presently after he is taken, I will commend to 

 your consideration how 'curious former times have been in the 

 like kind. 



You shall read in Seneca, his " Natural Questions," * that the 

 ancients were so curious in the newness of their fish, that that 

 seemed not new enough that was not put alive into the guest's 

 hand ; and he says that to that end they did usually keep them 

 living in glass bottles in their dining-rooms, and they did glory 

 much in their entertaining of friends, to have that fish taken from 

 under their table alive that was instantly to be fed upon ; and he 

 says they took great pleasure to see their Mullets change to 

 several colours when they were dying. But enough of this ; for 

 I doubt .1 have stayed too long from giving you some Observations 

 of the Trout, and how to fish for him, which shall take up the 

 next of my spare time.f 



PiSCATOR. The Trout is a fish highly valued, 

 the*Nature and both In this and foreign nations. He may be 

 Breeding of the justly said, as the old poet said of wine, and we 



Trout, and how -r. i- i f • ^ -l ft 



to fish for him. English say of venison, to be a generous nsh : a 

 fish that is so like the buck, that he also has his 

 seasons ; for it is observed that he comes in and goes out of 

 , season with the stag and buck. Gesner says his name is of a 

 German offspring ; and says he is a fish that feeds clean and 

 purely, in the swiftest streams, and on the hardest gravel ; and 

 that he may justly contend with all fresh-water fish, as the Mullet 



VARIATION. 



3 the next you fish for. And now my next observation and direction shall be concern- 

 ing the Trout (which I love to angle for above any fish). But lest you, &c. — :id, yi, and 

 ^tk edit. 



* Lib. iii. cap. 17. 



t The haunts of the Chub are streams shaded with trees : in summer, deep holes, 

 where they will sometimes float near the surface of the water, and under the boughs on 

 the bide of a bank. Their spawning-time is towards the beginning of April : they are in 

 season from about the middle of May till the middle of February ; but are best in winter. 

 At mid-water, and at bottom, use a float ; at top, either dib, or, if you have room, use 

 llie fly-line, as for Trout. They are so eager, in biting, that, when they take the bait, 

 you may hear their jaws chop like those of a dog. — H. 



