16 An Angler's Paradise. 
and an inspection of his rods and tackle, which were something 
numerous and formed an enticingly interesting collection, and 
promising, all being well, to meet again another day, we bade adieu. 
But more about Loch Kinder and its trout. The loch has 
long been famous for them, and tradition tells us they were 
originally brought from Loch Leven by the monks of the abbey 
close by. Be this as it may, the fish are excellent, and some of 
them which I have seen bear a resemblance to some forms of 
Salmo Levenensis. But this latter fish is found to occur in great 
variety, and according to the testimony of Dr. Francis Day and 
others, it soon assumes in some waters an ordinary farzo type, 
‘shewing more or less of red on the adipose fin and having red 
spots. I have made a careful study of this trait in the character 
of the Loch Leven trout, and I find that even if fish are bred 
from a pair of typical Loch Levens, or, as we call them on a fish 
farm, “thoroughbreds,” that some, it may be only a few, show 
these variations, which are looked upon as typical of the ordinary 
fario form of trout. It is only by careful study that these peculi- 
arities can be followed up, but those who are accustomed to 
handle, year after year, large numbers of these fish of all ages and 
sizes have an opportunity of noting changes and differences which 
few others possess. 
Much has been done but much yet remains to be done in 
tracing the development of new types, the result it may be of 
artificial cultivation, and in tracing out the reversion in the case. 
of some individuals, to an origin from which they may possibly 
have sprung. It is not my province to go into these matters here, 
but I cannot pass by a subject of such deeply fascinating interest 
without a brief allusion to it. 
Wherever these Loch Kinder trout originally came from, they 
are good fish. There seem to be three varieties in the loch, due 
no doubt to the different portions the fish inhabit, a feature 
noticeable in many other lochs. The weakest point about this 
piece of water is its great want of accessible spawning ground. 
At present it is entirely inadequate to the requirements of the 
loch, and beset with natural difficulties, which if removed would 
make it one of the finest lochs in the south of Scotland, and it 
‘could be quite easily done. 
