ANGLING. 167 



elaborate tent, and eats dainties with a silver fork. A 

 middle course between these extremes commends itself 

 most to me. A man wants a dry bed and wholesome 

 food. Luxuries appear to me to be a mistake on these 

 occasions. Exercise and fresh air give health and appetite 

 for simple fare, and the man who lives well at home is all 

 the better for abstinence from luxuries when camping out. 

 The most luxurious anglers are the Americans ; they are 

 generally good fellows, but indifferent fishermen. They 

 can talk for hours most sagaciously on the theory of 

 angling, but they fall off in the practice of it. Their rods, 

 their reels, their flies are all works of art, expensive ones 

 too, as they take care to inform you. They are always 

 self-satisfied, always droll, always hospitable. They never 

 go anywhere without pistols and champagne, and have 

 altogether too much excitement and froth for genuine 

 anglers. I know no man who goes in for sport like the 

 Englishman ; he goes in for sport and sport alone. The 

 American, on the contrary, looks for a " good time." He 

 enjoys a little sport well enough when it comes, but as a 

 rule he will not work hard for it, or perhaps I should say 

 he cannot ; he lacks the stamina necessary for prolonged 

 physical exertion. 



The season for Margaree is from June 20th to about 

 July 20th. I have known one rod kill fifty salmon in 

 that time. Fish average about 15 Ibs. The river is 

 greatly over-netted at the mouth, and there is very little 

 attempt made to enforce the fishery laws in Cape Breton. 

 The law itself is satisfactory enough ; several of the clauses 

 struck me as being particularly good ; for instance : " Any 

 person finding a net or other machine illegally set, can 



