mere in Westmoreland,
Buttermere and Cromackwater in Cumberland, and, I believe, in Ulswater. My
observations are confined to Windermere. Windermere is fed by two streams,
which unite at the head of the lake, named the Brathy and the Rothay: the
bottom of the former is rocky, and that of the latter sandy. On the first
sharp weather that occurs in November, the char makes up the Brathy, in
large shoals, for the purpose of spawning, preferring that river to the
Rothay, probably owing to the bottom being rocky, and resembling more the
bottom of the lake; and it is singular that those fish which ascend the
Rothay invariably return and spawn in the Brathy; they remain in this
stream, and in the shallow parts of the lake, until the end of March.
While spawning, their colour and spots are much darker than when in season;
the mouth and fins being of a deep yellow colour; and they are covered
with a thick slime at this time. In the water before Brathy Hall, at
Clappersgate, hundreds may be seen rubbing and rooting at the bottom,
endeavouring to free themselves from the slime, and probably insects that
annoy them. Great quantities are caught during the spawning time, by the
netters, for potting, and some are sent up fresh for the London market;
but those only who have eaten char in summer, on the spot, when they are
in season, can tell how superior they are to those eaten in London in the
winter. About the beginning of April, when the warm weather comes in, they
retire into the deep parts of the lake; where their principal food is the
minnow ( _C_yprinus _P_hoxinus, _L_.), of which they are very fond. At
this time, they are angled for by spinning a minnow; but, in a general way,
the sport is indifferent, and the persevering angler is well rewarded if
he succeed in killing two brace a day. A more successful mode of taking
them is by fastening a long and heavily leaded line, and hook baited with
a minnow, to the stern of a boat, which is slowly and silently rowed along:
in this way they are taken during the early summer months; but when the
hot weather comes in, they are seldom seen. They feed, probably, at night;
and although they never leave the lake, except during the period of
spawning, nothing is more uncommon than taking a char in July and August.
When in season, they are strong and vigorous fish, and afford the angler
excellent sport. They differ little in size, three fish generally weighing
about 2lbs.: occasionally, one is ca