TROUT FISHING IN S. AFRICA 209 



If English people decide on the trip to South 

 Africa, with trout-fishing as one of the main 

 objects, their best plan would be to leave the 

 United Kingdom, say, in August. The sea journey 

 by the Union Castle mail boat from Southampton 

 to Capetown ordinarily takes seventeen days, and 

 from Southampton to Durban twenty-two days. 

 By leaving at the right time in August, the Cape 

 and Durban would be made in September. The 

 trout would be rising by then. The trout fishing 

 would have begun, and it goes on until or nearly 

 until the end of April. As the South African 

 trout-fishing season closes generally in April (the 

 Eerste river, Stellenbosch district, is an exception, 

 ending 3ist January), the visitor, if he be leaving 

 the country about April, could easily arrange to 

 get back to the United Kingdom in time for the 

 May-fly. And he would have plenty to tell his 

 friends at his club. For South Africa is a won- 

 derful country. It is a land of surprises. Sun- 

 shine is over everything and the atmosphere is 

 buoyant. The rarefied air is a tonic. 



Railway travelling, by the way, is good. The 

 railways come under the Government. The third 

 class is used practically exclusively by natives. 



The trout fishing must not be regarded as 

 wholly free. Here and there land bordering the 

 river may be equivalent to commonage ; but, as 

 a general rule, inquiries should always be made 

 and if necessary (as it generally is) permission 

 must be sought. It is only fair to landowners to 

 say that permission tor a visitor to fish from their 



