FISHING AND PHILOSOPHY 131 



all outdoor sports, such as hunting and fishing, 

 must have the gift of " intuition," a difficult word 

 to define, but perhaps "constructive imagination," 

 or " a natural readiness in perception," comes near 

 enough. 



Intuition is a sine qua non in many matters besides 

 sport. A professional medical man or a veterinary 

 surgeon without the gift of intuition will be apt 

 to make mistakes in diagnosing diseases ; and this 

 faculty, inherited from our primitive ancestors, is 

 gradually becoming suppressed or inactive in the 

 vast majority of mankind. Another definition of 

 intuition is "a quick and comprehensive per- 

 ception of a situation or of circumstances which 

 must be acted on at once." Intuition, I venture 

 to suggest, is the key which opens the door of 

 success, provided that the situation, having been 

 grasped, is followed up by action. 



During the last thirty years the number of trout 

 fishers has increased twentyfold and a very large 

 number of fishing clubs have been instituted, with 

 the result that the sport at present obtainable is 

 nothing like so good as was formerly the case, 

 except, of course, in private waters. Trout, it is 

 said, have become educated and are shy of the 

 artificial fly. Some people say that this shyness 

 is the result of evolution — i.e. a breed of fish has 

 been produced in which the instinct of caution 



