viii PREFACE. 



immediately suggest itself to those who take 

 no interest in them (and I am anxious, as a 

 Fisherman, to establish it ; and to vindicate 

 the appropriateness of my Title) I will briefly 

 mention the points of difference which seem 

 to me thus far to separate them. 



Far be it from me in doing this to extol 

 Fishing at the expense of Hunting or Shoot- 

 ing; I am much too fond of and grateful to 

 them to have the least inclination to do so, 

 even if it suited my purpose. It is merely 

 to accident that Fishing is indebted for the 

 auxiliary charm of this fellowship with Na- 

 tural History: that Hunting and Shooting 

 are in great measure destitute of it is not 

 their fault but their misfortune. 



In the first place, exactly as both season, and 

 the circumstances under which their several 

 pursuits are conducted tend to frustrate any 

 attempt on the part of those who hunt or 

 shoot 1 to cultivate the study of Natural 



1 It seems strange that whilst the language affords two 

 words (" Angler," and " Fisherman") descriptive of the man 

 who fishes, we should be driven to paraphrases for want of 

 corresponding words with regard to Hunting and Shooting. 



