248 ANGLERS' EVENINGS. 



peculiar to each season, these lines, as rendered by 

 Dryden — 



Then toils for beasts, and lime for birds were found, 

 And deep-mouthed dogs did forest walks surround — 

 And casting-nets were spread in shallow brooks ; 

 Drags in the deep, and baits were hung on hooks. 



In Ovid's works (9 A.D.) we find the next mention 

 made of angling. He says for instance, (Ars Aniatoria, 

 Dryden's translation) : — 



The wary angler in the winding brook 



Knows what the fish and where to bait his hook. 



Again he shows a knowledge of the rod proper, for the 

 literal translation of another part says : — 



^Vhile he is angling for fish vith his quivering \o^. 



As another example of the freedom taken by versifiers 

 with both letter and spirit of the original, I may quote 

 the literal translation of one of the many angling 

 metaphors to be found in Ovid's works. Ovid says : — 



The wounded fish can be held by the hook it has seized. 



Dryden's versification is as follows : — 



The fish, once pricked, avoids the bearded hook. 

 And spoils the sport of all the neighbouring brook. 



^lian (117 A.D.) is the first writer of antiquity who 

 makes mention of the use of the artificial fly in fishing ; 

 and it is remarkable that for many centuries later, the use 

 of the artificial fly appears to have been totally forgotten. 

 In his De Natura Aninialiuin, fifteenth book, this 

 writer says : — 



The Macedonians who live on the banks of the river Aslreus, which 

 Hows between Berea and Thessalonica, are in the habit of catching a 



