CHAPTER XXVIII 



AN OCEAN SAPPHIRE 



NGLERS often wonder why the fishes do not 

 interest the pubHc as do the birds, as they are 

 also attractive and their habits interesting, in- 

 deed, fascinating. The reason, possibly, is, that 

 birds are always in sight, while it takes searching to find 

 the fishes. 



This is suggested in a letter from Dr. Jordan when invit- 

 ing me to join him in spinning some fish stories : " If we go 

 ahead with our book you ought to try Santa Cruz (for 

 salmon), and stop off at Stanford for refreshment, then 

 go to Plumas County (Feather River), (for rainbow trout), 

 and by good rights you ought to go over the White Pass 

 from Skagway down to the Yukon. The grayling fishing 

 is fine over there, and the great lake trout live in the White 

 Pass." 



If I had followed the trail indicated in these few words, I 

 should indeed have had material for fish stories. One can 

 sit under a tree and watch birds with a glass, or attract them 

 about him, but to really know the fishes one must travel 

 literally from Santa Cruz to Skagway, and possess himself 

 with patience, hoping to *' attain merit." 



In recalling the incidents of a long experience in angling 

 I fail to see in the vista of the years anything more interest- 

 ing or exciting than the angling, literally between the lines 

 as I write ; not particularly for the actual catch, but for the 

 remarkable scene presented by myriads of fishes and the 

 opportunity to observe them. 



As one looks over the richly colored waters of Avalon 



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