246 FISHING HOMEWARDS. 



request, was carried to the Lodge to-day ; and when the 

 difficulty of the ground, and the frequent crossing of the 

 river is considered, it was an arduous undertaking. The 

 camp-followers arranged a rude litter ; and as works of mercy 

 are highly estimated by pious Catholics, there were more 

 volunteers to assist in transporting the dying man than could 

 well find employment. 



During our progress down, we had some hours' superior 

 sport with the eagle. Pullgarrow, that inimitahle hole, has 

 more than realized what the Colonel and our kinsman have 

 said and sung in its commendation. In Christendom it could 

 not he surpassed, and of this best of pools may be said, that 

 " none but itself can be its parallel." 



In the minor streams we killed more red trout this morning 

 than we do generally. Indeed, from the character of this 

 river, I have been puzzled to account for the evident scarcity 

 of this species in a water that appears so especially adapted 

 for them. The clearness of the stream, the gravelly soil it 

 Hows over, its pools and rapids, all seem calculated to produce 

 red trout plentifully. But they are not numerous ; , and as 

 the flies we invariably use are formed for the other species, 

 it is not surprising that we find but few red trout in the 

 baskets. 



With this day's fishing our river sports terminate. Rods 

 and lines, and all the materiel of the craft, will now be laid in 

 ordinary, and till spring comes round again, other sports must 

 occupy the idle hours. I have learned more although I 

 acknowledge, with all humility, my unworthiness as an angler 

 by a few days' practical experience, than I could have 

 almost considered possible ; and I have ascertained how inade- 

 quate theory is to instruct a neophyte in the art. In angling, 

 however, like other manly exercises, men are constituted by 

 nature to succeed or fail. We know that there are persons 

 who, though born in a preserve, could never shoot even 

 tolerably, while others, with less advantages, speedily become 

 adepts. One man can never learn to ride ; and another, in a 

 short time, can v^js the country like <e a winged Mercury." 

 The same rule holds good in angling ; A. in a short period 

 becomes perfect master of the arcana of the gentle science ; 

 while B. will thresh a river to eternity, dismissing flies, break- 

 ing tops, losing foot-links, and perpetrating every enormity 

 with which a tyro is chargeable. 



