TREATISE ON FLY-FISHING. 33 



river belongs to me or my friend, but mark what 

 follows. Up starts a monster fish, with his mur- 

 derous jaws, and makes a dash at my little 

 Andromeda. Thus he is the aggressor, not I ; 

 his intention is evidently to commit murder. He 

 is caught in the act of putting that intention into 

 execution. Having wantonly intruded himself on 

 my hook, which I contend he had no right to do, 

 he darts about in various directions, evidently 

 surprised to find that the fly, which he hoped to 

 make an easy conquest of, is much stronger than 

 himself. I naturally attempt to regain this fly, 

 unjustly withheld from me. The fish gets tired 

 and weak, in his lawless attempts to deprive me 

 of it. I take advantage of his weakness, I own, 

 and drag him, somewhat loth, to the shore ; 

 where one rap at the back of the head ends him 

 in an instant. If he is a trout, I find his stomach 

 distended with flies. That beautiful one called 

 the May fly, who is by nature almost ephemeral 

 who rises up from the bottom of the shallows, 



