40 MINNOWS AND 



beauty; close past all of whom rushed the 

 fish of prey, and gobbled up his damaged morsel 

 with great apparent gusto. 



I may say of these Water-witches, as Byron 

 does on a very different occasion — 



" 'Tis true, they are a lawless brood, 

 And rough in form." 



They are, however, very like the domestic 



man, who makes himself at home everywhere ! 



They adapt themselves to all waters and all 



states of the water, save the very dirtiest ; care 



no more for wet or dry than so many armadillos 



— no more for sunshine or shade than the under 



side of a sundial ; and, though they love not to 



sport 



" O'er the glad waters," 



yet in them they are — very Water-witches. 



But to succeed even with these, it is abso- 

 lutely necessary that you keep your temper. 

 Never swear — fish love not profanity ; besides, 

 oaths have a wonderful eflfect in deranging the 

 tackle as well as the temper. An eagle once 

 made a stoop at a kid, but, missing his prey, 



