30 SPORT IN NORTH AMERICA. 



on his fishing excursions. Thus, he not only dis- 

 charged a duty to friendship, but enjoyed an oppor- 

 tunity of satisfying a very natural vanity, by proving 

 in a practical manner his acquaintance with an art 

 in which he was really skilled. 



Line-fishing is an art. The Americans are as 

 fond of it as the English are, and it aftords them an 

 amusement which harmonises well with the culti- 

 vated regularity of the two countries, where the 

 fields are arranged in order, the country quiet, the 

 foliage bushy, but without being encumbered too 

 much by those brambly barriers which are so fatal 

 to the integrity of fishing lines. Yes, line-fishiug is 

 a charming art, and the quiet watchfulness which it 

 necessitates tempts you, without knowing it, into a 

 reverie which is interrupted only by the carol of a 

 bird, the song of a peasant, or the plash of a fish 

 jumping out of the water, and leaving a ripple for a 

 few seconds upon the surface. And then what plea- 

 sure is there in store for the angler who is also a 

 botanist, when he can take home with him his basket 

 filled with fish, and an enormous bouquet made up 

 of the variegated aquatic flora, — narcissus, orchids, 

 lilies of many colours, nympheas, purple hyacinths, 

 violets and anemones. With these, you may adorn a 

 feast, the second course of which has been provided 

 at small expense, — the salmon trout and the milky- 

 roed carp. 



When I said good-bye to Dan Tucker, I asked 



