inn, kept by an Englishman, whose civility and attention are undeniable. Having mentioned these particulars for the guidance of travellers, I shall now proceed to give a short description of the Salmo-ferox and the mode of fishing for him. The spostsman can be furnished by the landlord of the inn with a good boat, free of any charge, and one or two boatmen, at the very moderate charge of half-a-crown a day each. The mode of fishing for the large trout is entirely by trolling from a boat, rowed at the rate of three or four miles an hour, as the fish very seldom rise to the fly. A short, powerful, rod, with a strong line, of which you must have at least 100 yards, and very large hooks tied on gimp, back to back, are generally used, and the bait is a pretty large par. Not having any tackle of this description, I made use of what gives much better sport, viz. a small salmon rod eighteen feet long with a minnow top, the usual salmon line, and pike tackle, consisting of six hooks dressed on gimp, which I baited with a par about five inches long, and to which a pretty heavy sinker was attached. A friend accompanied me in the boat, who was similarly provided, and we had each a small trout rod with which we occasionally took a cast for the common trout of the Loch, which are of very fine quality, and commonly about a pound weight, but they are not often found in the deep water where the large trout lie, but in shallow water amongst the islands. We saw nothing of the far-famed Salmo-ferox till about two o'clock, when the reel of my large rod, which was lying at the stern of the boat with about eighty yards of line out, suddenly whirled round with great velocity. I immediately seized it, and handed my small rod to the boatman; my companion at the same time took in his trolling line to prevent it getting foul of mine. We at once perceived that I had hooked a very large fish, although he did not show himself for some time. Indeed he kept about twenty feet under water for a considerable time, but at last he rose to the surface, and seemed so clear in the colour that the boatman and my friend all exclaimed at once it was a beautiful salmon. I endeavoured to get him into the boat by gaffing or clipping him, but he refused to approach it, and being fearful of losing him, I resolved, after working him for about a quarter of an hour from the boat, to land and finish the job from the shore. I succeeded in getting him on the bank in twenty-five minutes from the time I hooked him, but with the ordinary tackle used in the country, I should have done so in half the time. His extreme length was thirty inches, and his weight considerably over ten pounds, and he was admitted to be the finest specimen caught this season. It must be admitted, however, that in beauty the salmo-ferox is greatly inferior either to the salmon, or the yellow trout. The head is in general, large in proportion to the body. The colours are deep purplish brown on the upper parts, changing into reddish grey, and thence into fine orange yellow on the breast and belly. The colours, however, although at first beautiful, change rapidly as the fish dies, and after death it becomes extremely dark in the colour. The fins and tail are very muscular, broad and powerful, and the fish is proportionally much stronger, though not so lively as the salmon. The mouth is armed with an immense number of teeth. The fish is of a very ravenous nature, as a proof of which I may mention that the one I killed had broken a hook in its mouth, which had evidently been there a very short time; and a gentleman whom I met at Innistimich mentioned having hooked a very large fish the day before near the place where I killed mine, which broke his tackle, and there can be no doubt it was the identical fish, as the broken hook in its mouth corresponded with the remainder of his tackle. The landlord at Dalmally rents the salmon fishing in the river Orchy, and persons living at his house have permission to fish there. I had a very good day's sport and killed a fine salmon. The river Arne is a very fine salmon river, but difficult to fish on account of the precipitous nature of its banks; and as two guineas were demanded for liberty to angle, I confined myself to the lake and the river Orchy. The best season for the salmo-ferox is from March to the beginning of August. After the middle of that month they retire into the deep banks of the lake, for the purpose of spawning, in which they are engaged for about two months, and during that period little sport is to be expected. Your sporting friends would be well repaid for their trouble by making a trip to Loch-Arne, and as it is within a day's journey of Edinburgh there is no difficulty in accomplishing it. Should you think this letter worthy of a place in your magazine it may perhaps be the means of leading some brother of the angle to the mode of obtaining a few days' sport, and if so I shall be amply repaid. I am, Sir, Edinburgh, 11th. December, 1838. Your most obedient Servant, P. S. I omitted to mention that in two days our party killed either five or six of the large trout, weighing 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10lbs. each. THE SPORTING LOOKER-ON AND REFLECTOR. ALFRED SELBORNE'S JOURNAL. Continued. WOMBWELL AGAIN! This delectable keeper and puffer of wild beasts did bring his collection out at the St. James's Theatre according to my prophecy; and I sadly fear that the public press will not be anti-zoological for some time to come. Acting is not exactly the forte of these beasts, but what they want in taming they make up in tearing. The tiger (no doubt the one that passed his sabbath so irregularly in the Commercial road), has within the last ten days put up with a panther's nonsense no longer, and accordingly the panther's murder, under very aggravated circumstances, has been duly announced. Would any one let slip the chance of seeing the bloody murderer?—No! This leopard-who has thus prematurely, as I may say, been gnawed off from this world— is probably the one that has occasioned a recent pleasantry.—A boy was asked, "Does the leopard ever change his spots ?"—" Oh yes— when he is tired of one spot, he goes to another." But for my last Wombwell accident;-here it is! "A few days ago a fine young man, named Henry Haynes, was admitted an in patient of the London Hospital in consequence of severe injuries inflicted on him by a leopard belonging to Mr. Wombwell, while preparing him for exhibition at the St. James's Theatre. From the statement of the unfortunate sufferer it appears that, on the Friday previous to the exhibition of the beasts, and during the rehearsal at the theatre, the leopard, on seeing a leopardess, became very violent and ungovernable, and being about to attack the other animal within its reach, Haynes (who was to have enacted the part of Van Amburgh to the collection) rushed forward to check its violence. Instead of submitting to his bidding, the infuriated animal instantly pounced upon and seized him by his right knee, passing his teeth to a considerable depth on each side under the cap, and it was with some difficulty the beast could be restrained from further mischief. On returning to the house of his parents, Robinhood-lane, Poplar, on that night, Haynes did not wish to alarm them by stating the nature of the injury, and accounted for his lameness by saying he had hurt his knee on getting out of an omnibus. Poultices were applied to the injured part, and he was treated according to the advice of a medical practitioner in the neighbourhood who attended him. The limb, however, assumed a very dangerous appearance, and the friends of the patient sent expressly for Mr. Andrews, one of the senior surgeons at the London Hospital, to see him. That gentleman, perceiving the serious extent of the injury, and being informed of the manner in which it had been inflicted, recommended his immediate removal to the London Hospital, and he was accordingly removed to that institution, where he still remains in a very dangerous and precarious state." Oh Mr. Hooper !-oh Mr. Wombwell!-oh Mr. Spring Rice-(the gentleman interested in the Stamp Duty on advertisements)-where is all this to end? I can only appeal to Mr. Wombwell and Mr. Hooper, the modern Brute-us and Cash-ius, in the words of Mark Anthony,"I know not, gentlemen, what you intend, Who else must be let blood!" As David says in the Rivals," The Lard presarve us!" EXTREME DISTRESS. A friend handed to me a song the other day which amused me. It appears that a certain number of considerate ladies, under the guidance of printed rules, meet at each other's houses, in some country-city, to take tea, and make tippets, trousers, cravats, purses, pinafores, nightdresses, frocks, and other indispensible articles, to lend to the penniless in the hour of sickness or hunger. Of course while the work of charity goes on with the fingers, the neighbourly history is not neglected by the tongue ;-and they sit, like Macbeth," in double trust”—to do fine work, for the poor,—and with the rich. I am informed that the cases of relief are beyond belief. The following is one of the rules copied verbatim from the printed edition now before me :-The effect of this rule has been worked out by my friend in a song for the use of the society at its occasional convivial meetings;-and I am credibly informed that Mrs. Gunter, who has a masterly voice, sings it to perfection; the rest of the members yielding a very handsome allowance of chorus. RULE IV.—“ The visitors are not to give immediate relief on behalf of the Society, but must refer all distressed cases to the Committee. In cases of extreme distress, at the representation of the Visitor,-the Treasurer, or the Secretary, may, with the concurrence of another member of the Committee,-" lend a bag of linen !” SONG--THE SUPERIOR WORKING CLASSES. AIR. Any one that will fit the words. Despite of the weather-We're all met together,— Tow'rds clothing the back, when the belly wants bread; So a fig for all trouble, to single and double, Come, come, from the City-Ye working committee,— Mrs. Gunter, Miss Oates ;-Come! we want all your votes,― So a fig, &c. Come in person,-or, I know, you'll send in the rhino, If you do not like bending o'er charity thread; Bring some sarsnet or satin-(poh! 'dont think of bread), And arrow-root loans to the poor in a mess; You must make a report, of each alley and court, Or who'll know how we visit in "extreme distress." Report. "I've call'd in a cottage.-A wife in her dotage,- Bags of shirts and a light dress, are lent as a night dress, To get the loan sanctioned by Treasurer or Sec.- LORD BARRYMORE. Who, in the following paragraph about the young gentleman, would suppose that it alluded to the Lord Barrymore,-to him who first invented the tiger, that indispensable zoological appendage to the onehorse conveyance,-who figured about so publicly for years in old age, and a buggy-and who died at last a voluptuary cripple and a pauper. |