WAPITI-RUNNING ON THE PLAINS 91 



for they generally took the fly so well that I never 

 remember finding myself in the position of the 

 gentleman who was heard complaining to a friend 

 that he had been " slinging a five and twenty cent 

 bug,^ with a twenty foot pole, all day, and had not 

 had nary bite " ; and on the rare occasions on which 

 they did not rise freely at the artificial insect, you 

 were pretty sure to get them with a live " hopper." 

 There is another advantage also in using the last- 

 mentioned bait, namely, that it assures a double 

 amount of sport and labour, for catching grass- 

 hoppers is a great deal harder work than hooking 

 trout. But in winter we had to fish through holes 

 in the ice, and that is a somewhat peculiar proceed- 

 ing. The first time I ever fished trout through the 

 ice was in the Park. Three of us started off one 

 fine bright winter's morning, and rode about ten or 

 twelve miles up the main creek, to a place near some 

 beaver dams where trout were said to be plentiful, 

 carrying with us an axe, a sack, some twine and 

 hooks, a bit of raw pork, and of course our rifles. 

 Having dismounted, tied up my horse, and selected 



* The Americans have retained the original meaning of the word " bug," 

 and apply it to various insects : for instance, a daddy-long-legs, fire-fly, or 

 lady-bird would be called a straddle bug, a lightning bug, or a lady bug. 

 The peculiar reptile which has monopolised the term among us is dis- 

 tinguished in the States by prefixing the name of that article of furniture 

 in which he loves to lurk, and where his presence murders sweet repose. 



