TREATISE ON FLY-FISHING. 53 



be will probably treat you with contempt, and 

 will have no intercourse with your gay deluders 

 for the rest of the day. It is some time, perhaps, 

 since he has taken up his seat in the water, without 

 ever having seen an animal like that which you 

 are so obliging as to tender him ; all of a sudden 

 come a swarm of locusts, as it were, one after 

 another over his nob, which astonish and alarm 

 him exceedingly. Thus, it is apparent that you 

 do not do justice to his sagacity, or instinct, or 

 whatever you please to call it, if you set to work 

 in such an intrusive manner." 



The preceding hints on trout fishing may with 

 some exceptions, be adopted by the salmon and 

 salmon peal fisher ; before I proceed however to 

 offer a few observations on the mode of fishing 

 for these fish, a brief notice of the natural history 

 of the trout may not be unacceptable. 



The common trout is an inhabitant of most of 

 the rivers and lakes of Great Britain. It is a 

 voracious feeder and is vigilant, cautious, and 



