1 86 THE SALMON 



drawbacks, but as a mere question of comfort, which 

 is all with which I am dealing at present, how far 

 preferable is the state of the salmon-fisher, supposing 

 him to be pursuing his craft under like conditions of 

 wind and rain ? With mackintosh and waders he 

 laughs at the elements. Even on the coldest and 

 wettest day of early spring fishing he can keep him- 

 self warm and dry, if he has but taken the common- 

 sense precaution to suit his clothing to the require- 

 ments of the season indeed, I am not sure that 

 there is not a satisfaction in the sensation that the 

 tempest is beating upon you in vain. Let me briefly 

 state a few more points in which Piscator has an 

 advantage over Venator. He is independent ; he 

 need not, if he knows his river, take even a. gillie with 

 him ; at any rate he can pursue his own bent, and does 

 do so if he has had any considerable experience, with- 

 out further deference to his attendant than a friendly 

 consultation as to flies, the best places to fish, and 

 the like. But in the forest, in ninety-nine cases out 

 of a hundred, you are a mere automaton in the hands 

 of a stalker. He it is who conceives the plan of 

 campaign, and executes it from start to finish, some- 

 times not even communicating to the novice the 

 reasons for the movements he has blindly imitated to 

 the best of his ability, until he withdraws the rifle 



