PREFACE. Vll 



initiated as an angler, but as a person fond of 

 inquiries in natural history and philosophy. 



These personages are of course imaginary, 

 though the sentiments attributed to them, the 

 Author may sometimes have gained from re- 

 collections of real conversations with friends, 

 from whose society much of the happiness of 

 his early life has been derived ; and in the 

 portrait of the character of Halieus, given 

 in the last dialogue, a likeness, he thinks, 

 will not fail to be recognised to that of the 

 character of a most estimable Physician, ar- 

 dently beloved by his friends, and esteemed 

 and venerated by the public. 



He has limited his description of fish to 

 the varieties of the Salmo most usual in the 

 fresh waters of Europe, and which may be 

 A 4 



