Poiet.—You say trout are rare in Italy, yet on Ash-wednesday, a great day for the consumption of fish in Rome, I remember to have seen some large trout, which, I was told, were from the Velino, above the falls of Terni.
Hal.—I once went almost to the source of this river, above Rieti, in the hopes of catching trout, but I was unsuccessful. I saw some taken by nets, but the fish were too few, and the river too foul, from the deposition of calcareous matter, to render it a good stream for the angler. In this journey I saw some trout in brooks in the Sabine country, that I dare say might have been taken by the fly, but they were small, and like the brook trout of England. In these streams, as well as in the Velino and other torrents, I found the water-ouzel, which, as far as my knowledge extends, is always a companion of the trout, and I believe feeds much upon the same larvæ or water-flies.
Orn.—These singular little birds, as I have witnessed, walk under water. I have often watched them running beneath the surface of the sides of streams, and passing between stones. I conclude they were then in the act of searching for, or feeding upon larvæ.
Hal.—I suppose so, and I hope Ornither will shoot one to give us an opportunity of examining the contents of their stomachs, and of knowing with certainty the nature of their food.
Phys.—The char[[8]] is a most beautiful and excellent fish, and is, of course, a fish of prey. Is he not an object of sport to the angler?
Hal.—They generally haunt deep cool lakes, and are seldom found at the surface till late in the autumn. When they are at the surface, however, they will take either fly or minnow. I have known some caught in both these ways; and have myself taken a char, even in summer, in one of those beautiful, small, deep lakes in the Upper Tyrol, near Nazereit; but it was where a cool stream entered from the mountain; and the fish did not rise, but swallowed the artificial fly under water. The char is always in its colour a very brilliant fish, but in different countries there are many varieties in the tint. I do not remember ever to have seen more beautiful fish than those of Aussee, which, when in perfect season, have the lower fins and the belly of the brightest vermilion, with a white line on the outside of the pectoral, ventral, anal, and lower part of the caudal fin, and with vermilion spots, surrounded by the bright olive shade of the sides and back: the dorsal fin in the char has 11 spines, the pectoral 14, the ventral 9, the anal 10, and the caudal 20. I have fished for them in many lakes, without success, both in England and Scotland, and also amongst the Alps; and I am told the only sure way of taking them is by sinking a line with a bullet, and a hook having a live minnow attached to it, in the deep water which they usually haunt; and in this way, likewise, I have no doubt the umbla, or ombre chevalier, might be taken.
Poiet.—I have never happened to see this fish.
Hal.—It is very like char in form, but is without spots, and has a white and silvery belly. On the table, its flesh cuts white or cream-colour, and it is exceedingly like char in flavour. Feb. 11, 1827, one was brought me from the lake of Bourget, in Savoy; it was said to be small for this fish; it was 15 inches long, and 7½ in circumference. In the dorsal fin there were 12 spines, in the pectoral 9, in the ventral 8, in the anal 11, and in the caudal 24.
Poiet.—Is it found in this country?
Hal.—From some descriptions I have heard of certain species of the salmo found in the Maun See, Traun See, and Leopoldstadt See, I think it is. Bloch says, that it is peculiar to the lakes of Geneva and Neufchatel; but what I have just said must convince you of the inaccuracy of this statement, as I dare say the fish exists in other deep waters of a like character amongst the Alps. It is a fish closely allied to the char, and congenerous both in form and habits.