THE RIVER- TROUT. 
*J5 
Uyndivi, a lake of South Wales , are trouts marked with 
red and black fpots, as large as fixpences- In Loch 
Neagh in Ireland , and Hulfe Water in Cumberland , there 
are trouts taken which weigh about thirty pounds. 
Thefe are probably of the fame fpecies with the. celebrat- 
ed trout of the lake of Geneva. The fize alone of thefe 
fiultes can recommend them ; foe in tide and flavour they 
are all inferior to our common river-trout. 
It is remarkable that neither the Greek uor Roman 
authors make any mention of this filh, and that a fpecies 
of l'uch delicacy fhould never have become a fafhionable 
difli. In the Italian rivers the trout abounds, and in all 
probability did fo at the time when the Romans were 
tranfporting oyfters from Sandwich *, and the livers of 
the fcari from the coall of A/rica f . But it was per- 
haps owing to its proximity of fituation, and to the eafe 
with which it might be procured, that the trout was de- 
fpifed by the votaries of Epicurus , who fcrupled not to 
lavifli a large fortune on a dilli of flammingo’s tongues, 
and other infipid rarities J. 
It is the voracity of the trout that leads the way to 
its deftru&ion, and makes it a prey to the inventions of 
the angler. The paffion for angling is fo great, that in 
the neighbourhood of London, ten pounds a year is the 
fum paid for the liberty of filling in fome of the adjacent 
rivers. 
But there is a fmaller fifli in fome parts more plentiful 
than the trout, which affords fuperior diverfion to the 
fportfman, and that is the parr, a filh of remarkable 
beauty, and elegant proportions. This beautiful fpecies 
i5 
* Juvcn. Sat. iv. 141. f Suetonius in Vita Vitellii. 
1 Martial, Lib. xii. Epig, 71. 
