Let the clear bottom shining Gravel show,

And gently murm'ring o'er smooth Pebbles flow.

This situation always grateful proves,

For still the Trout a murm'ring Current loves,

And still the same desires her bosom warm,

Nor has she chang'd her Manner with her Form*:

*The following Extract from a modern Poem disguised with antique Semblance, is too appropriate to the History of the Trout to be omitted.

"When atop the hoary western Hill,
The ruddie Sun appears to rest his chin,
When not a breeze disturbs the murmuring Rill,
And mildlie warm the falling Dewes begin,

The gamesome Trout then shows her silverie skin,

As wantonly beneath the wave she glides,

Watching the buzzing Flies, that never blin,

Then, dropt with pearle and golde, displays her sides,
While she with frequent Leape the ruffled streame divides.

On the green bank a truant School-boy stands;
Well has this Urchin markt her mery play,

And ashen rod obeys his guileful hands,

And leads the mimick Fly across her way;
Askaunce, with listly look and coy delay,
The hungrie Trout the glitteraund treachor eyes,
Semblant of life, with speckled wings so gay;
Then, slyly nibbling, prudish from it flies, 1
'Till with a bouncing Start she bites the truthless Prize.

Ah, then the Younker gives the fatefull twitch;
Struck with amaze she feels the hook ypright
Deepe in her gills, and, plonging where the Beech
Shaddows the Poole, she runs in dread affright;
In vain the deepest rocke her late delight,
In vain the sedgy nook for help she tries;

The laughing Elfe now curbs, now aids her flight,
The more entangled still the more she flies,

And soon amid the Grass the panting Captive lies.

For once she liv'd a Nymph of spotless fame
In an obscure retreat, and TRUTA was her name.
It chanc'd that in a flow'ry path she stray'd,
Where a clear River with the pebble play'd,
And just disturb'd the Silence of the Shade.
TRUTA now seated near the spreading Trees,
Enjoys the coolness of the passing Breeze;
In the clear stream she casts her modest Eyes,
And in a fillet her fair Tresses lies.

While in this Solitude she thus remains,

And dies her beauteous Face with various stains;
It chanc'd the robber LUCIUS, thro' the shade,
With eager eyes perceived the lonely maid;

He saw and lov'd her Riches, on her Face,

For both her Dress and Form appear'd with equal Grace.
The Nymph now heard the rustling with affright;

She saw a Man, and trembled at the sight;

Swiftly along the winding shore she fled,

And cry'd, and vow'd, and call'd the Gods to aid.
TRUTA despairing sought, with trembling Speed,
A rock that overlooked the wat'ry mead;
Hither she bent her Course, the Summit gain'd,
And thought her Virtue now might be maintain'd
Cheaply with loss of Life: while here she stood,
And just prepar❜d to leap into the Flood,
LUCIUS approach'd, and while he held behind
Her flow'ry Vest, that flutter'd in the Wind,
Chang'd into Fish an equal Fate they bore,
And though transform'd in Shape, yet, as before,

Where now, ah pity! where the sprightly play,

That wanton bounding, and exulting joy,

That lately welcom'd the retourning Ray,
When by the riv'lets banks, with blushes coy,
April walk'd forth-ah! never more to toy

In purling Streams, she pants, she gasps and dies!"

MICKLE'S Syr Martyn, Can. 1.

The Pike of Slaughter fond and fierce appears,
And still the Trout retains her female Fears!
Beauty and virgin Modesty remains,
Diversify'd with crimson tinted Stains;

And, once the fairest Nymph that trod the Plain,
Swims fairest Fish of all the finny Train *.

Not Pikes alone defile the Streams with blood,
But over all the Brethren of the flood,
Perpetual discord bears tyrannic Sway,
And all the stronger on the weaker prey.
As among Men, the great, the small, oppress,
So still the same Confusion and Distress,
Which in the City, and the Forest Reign,
Distract the Tenants of the wat❜ry Plain.
Banish'd from Earth, Peace could not find a place
Beneath the Streams, among the finny Race;
But, since for Want they otherwise would die,
Regard this Fury with Indulgency.

Why need I mention here, of Blood, the Waste,
With which the Otter daily palls his taste;

Among the Willows secretly he lies,

And from the shore surveys, with eager Eyes,

The sportive battles of the watʼry breed,

And swiftly swimming makes the Warriors bleed.

Then heaps in secret Caverns on the shore,
The Fish half eaten and besmear'd with gore.
Snares for this Beast, and gins, let others lay,
Or into Traps by tempting Baits betray;

* "To observe the ravenous disposition of the Pike, the sociable condition of the Trout, the various discolouring of the Polypus, the strong digestion of the Porpoise, would beget in the curious surveyors of Nature, much admiration. And then to compare the natures of these water Inhabitants with ourselves, who follow, for most part, the bent of our Desires, as if we were estranged from that beauty which incomparably most adorns us, and drenched in the leas of our owne Corruptions, which makes Man most unlike himselfe, by idolatrizing that which gives the greatest Blemish to his Excellence."

BRAITHWAIT'S Nursery for Gentry, 1638.

But you with missive Weapons in your hand,
Conceal'd from view behind a Thicket stand;
The Felon slay, and throw into the flood,
His wounded body for your Fishes food:
But first tear off the Skin (for fear your Fry
Should from the dead, as from the living fly,)
Which some rich Matron will rejoice to buy.
If you should find the young Ones, steal away,
In th' absence of the Dam, the tender prey,
They from their Age yet pliant, may be made
Your prompt Assistants in the Fishing Trade;
For when suspended in the Stream you place
Your flaxen Snares, to catch the finny Race,
The Otter will explore each close Retreat,
Will rouse the Fish, and hunt them to the Net*:
As Dogs drive trembling Stags into the snare,
Or by the Scent pursue the fleeting Hare+.

* "It is a very crafty and subtill Beast, yet it is sometimes tamed, and vsed in the Northern parts of the World, especially in Scandinauia to driue the Fishes into the Fishermen's Nets : for so great is the sagacity and scence of Smeling in this Beast, that he can directly winde the Fishes in the waters a Mile or two off, and therefore the Fishers make great aduantage of them, yet do they forbeare his Use because he deuoureth more than needeth, for he is neuer so trained that he forgeteth his old Rauening; being tamed, on the Land he is very full of sport and game.-The Flesh of this Beast is both cold and filthy, because it feedeth vpon stinking Fish, and therefore not fit to be eaten. Tragus writeth that this notwithstanding is dressed to bee eaten in many Places of Germany. And I hear that the Carthusian Fryers, or Monks (whether you wil,) which are forbidden to touch al manner of Flesh, of other foure footed Beasts, yet are they not prohibited the eating of Otters."

EDWARD TOPSELL'S Historie of foore-footed beasts. 1607.

+ The Otter is a cunning and at the same time an exceedingly ferocious Animal. Whenever it is attacked it will defend itself with Courage and Vigour to the last. An Otter passed near a Gentleman who was Angling for Trout in the River Wandle, he struck it with all his force with the Butt-end of the fishing Rod upon the Head; the Otter in a moment turned upon him and fought with the greatest Fierceness, nor was it at length killed without considerable Danger.

This is a Mistake, for the Otter, unless pressed by Extreme Hunger, will Eat no Fish unless it be perfectly fresh, and what he takes himself.

ance.

In April 1809, at Hoxford-bridge, near Morpeth, a poor Woman was put in terrible Consternation by the appearance of an Otter deliberately walking across the floor. Never having seen one before, she gave repeated Screams, which brought a female Neighbour to her assistWhen this Amazon saw the Object of her terror, she seized a Spade and dispatched it; she then looked under the bed, and discovered another of the same Species, which she also killed. The two Skins are now in the possession of a Butcher in North Shields, who purchased them of the Woman. It is supposed they entered the House the preceding Evening, as the door had been then left open for some time.

Dr. JOHNSON mentions one killed in the Isle of SKY by Mr. M'LEAN, Heir of COL (a Man of middle Stature), of which the Tail reached the Ground, when he held up the Head to a level with his own. White Otters, the Doctor adds, are sometimes seen.

An Otter in the Possession of a Gentleman Farmer near Cupar Angus, in Forfarshire, was quite domesticated, it was as tame as a Dog, and every Night slept with one of the Farmer's Sons. He still retained his natural Love of Fish, and in the Day time, regularly frequented a Loch in the Neighbourhood, for the purpose of procuring this Food, but would always come out of the Water, when called by any Person of the Family, and which was very often ascertained in order to satisfy the Curiosity of Strangers who were desirous of seeing this animal.

In 1807, a young Man, at LOCHSIDE, in the Parish of BLAIR GOWRIE, having shot at and wounded a young Otter, carried it home, where it speedily recovered, and is now as tame as a Lap-dog. It follows his Master where he desires, obeys his Command, accompanying him to the Locks and Rivers in the Vicinity, where it dives for Fish, brings them to land to his Keeper, and returns in search of more.

Otters differ from the Seals, with respect to their amphibious Nature, in the Foramen Ovale of the Heart: this is closed at the Birth, and no Vestige of it is afterwards to be observed. The Lungs of the Otter are larger and more deep than that of most other Quadrupeds. From this Conformation he is enabled to remain so long under Water. Mr. STACKHOUSE, who has minutely attended to the manners of the Otter, is of Opinion, that one in perfect Health might continue submersed twenty Minutes, without Injury.

In WALES, Otters have the Name of Dyfrgi: in France, Lentre: in Italy, Lodra, Lodria, Lentra: in Spain, Nutria: in Germany, Otter, fisch Otter: in Holland, Otter: in Hungary, Njescht: in Sweden, Utter, Witer: in Denmark, Odder: in Poland, Wydra: in Savoy, Leur: in Norway, Otter, Slauter: in Lapland, Zhievres: in Russia, Wydra.