IN THE BEGINNING n 



of abode deliberately picked out, how often 

 alternatives of career selected, all on account of 

 " a little bit ot fishing ! " One can imagine 

 clergymen, devoted to their calling, liking the 

 scene of their labours all the more if they can get 

 a day's fishing now and again, perchance even 

 allowing preferment to go by them for the sake 

 of it. It is the same with all men who have 

 learned to love fishing as boys. Rarely is it given 

 up deliberately, that is to say, of choice. The 

 joys and sorrows of it all have woven too strong 

 a spell for that. Even in middle age men take 

 to the craft, and some of them become not 

 only proficient, but as keen as those who began 

 in youth. In the Union or Dominion of South 

 Africa a goodly number of colonial-born farmers 

 learnt to fish with fly when trout began to thrive 

 in rivers near their homesteads. Now the world 

 holds no greater enthusiasts. Their veld-craft 

 has helped them in mastering the art of stalking 

 a trout, when cover is available. Good luck and 

 tight lines attend all anglers, at whatever age 

 they begin ! But happiest are those who become 

 angling novices not long after they can toddle, 

 and who stick to it year in, year out, progressing 

 by the natural stages of boyhood from the scramble 

 after jack-sharps in a puddle, to the thrilling 

 mysteries of float-fishing for ruffe or perch or 

 roach, to the first raptures of casting a fly and 

 landing a matchless trout, and perhaps at last to 

 the goal of ambition, battles in great rivers with 

 silver salmon. 



