FISTTING AND PHILOSOPHY 123 



cruel business, cruel to both worm and fish, as he 

 continues : 



Which, by predaceous hunger swallowed deep 

 Gives, as you tear it from the bleeding breast 



Of the weak, helpless, uncomplaining wretch, 

 Harsh pain and horror to the tender hand. 



I believe it was Byron who characterised fishing 

 as a solitary vice, and severely criticised Walton 

 for upholding the use of live bait ; but apparently 

 he had a poor opinion of all fishermen, as he says : 

 "They may talk about beauties of nature, but the 

 angler merely thinks of his dish of fish. He has 

 no leisure to take his eyes off the streams, and 

 a single bite is to him worth more than all the 

 scenery around." As for cruelty, I suggest it is 

 somewhat hypocritical to discuss the subject, for 

 there is no sport in the nature of hunting in which 

 there is not a spice of cruelty. 



But the laws of Nature as regards livinq; animals 

 are not free from what we call cruelty. A cat with 

 a mouse is an example. There is no species of 

 living creature that does not in some way or other 

 destroy life to support its own. Even sheep kill 

 countless numbers of snails, etc., as they graze, and 

 as no one knows to what degree a worm and a fish 

 are capable of feeling, and some experts believe 

 their sense of feeling is poor indeed, it is absurd to 

 apply the term "cruelty" even to worm fishing. 



