io8 LITERATURE OF SEA AND RIVER FISHING. 



courtesy ? — on the ledges of Parnassus ; the rest are 

 innocent of all altitudes whatsoever, except those of Grub 

 Street garrets, or the stilts of an absurd vanity." Many of 

 them have taken admirable advantage of what may be 

 called the " surroundings " of angling, and have dressed up 

 the art itself, which, at the best, only offers a limited field 

 for description, with true and beautiful pictures of the 

 scenes amid which it is followed. One of the great charms 

 of angling is that, of all sports, it affords the best oppor- 

 tunities of enjoying the wonders and beauties of nature ; 

 while, at the same time, it develops a love of nature, and 

 creates a taste for the study of various celestial and terres- 

 trial phenomena. This sentence may sound like an introduc- 

 tion to a heavy essay ; but it is true that whatever be the 

 season of the year, whether the angler be casting his fly on 

 the early rivers of the west of England or northern Caledonia, 

 mid the cold winds and storms of February and March, or 

 later on beneath the more genial skies of April and May, 

 or basking in the summer's sun on the bosom of the 

 Thames, as he is lazily indifferent whether his bait tempts 

 the fish or not, or pursuing his pastime during the soft 

 autumn days, or the chill and short daylight hours of winter, 

 whether he be strolling along the margin of the swift-rushing 

 streams of Wales and Scotland, with mountain and moor- 

 land round him, or of the more gently flowing rivers of the 

 South, which meander through the rich water-meadows 

 curtained by hanging woods, or angling patiently on lonely 

 loch or by side of sedgy pool— the sights and sounds of 

 nature are ever present to him, as she reveals herself 

 in her various moods and phases. It is not, of course, 

 meant that all anglers are keen lovers of nature, or observant 

 of natural phenomena ; but the great majority certainly are 

 so, and become more and more interested every year in all 



