to the most favourable situation, and then be secured, 

 cither by an anchor, or by a pole and tie, if the depth 

 permits. But the vessel must be kept very quiet, as any 

 agitation therein would infallibly alarm the fishes, and 

 cause them to retire. 



The generality of fishes in ponds take the bait best near 

 the bottom -, they will, however, take at the very sur- 

 face, provided you can contrive to make your bait appear 

 to fall gently oft' a dock- leaf, or place it so that only a 

 small portion of it hangs down from one. I have often 

 been highly successful in this way, especially among 

 carp, which are remarkably shy when they can see the 

 line, though of the finest gut ; yet they will lay hold of 

 a fine worm thus dangling, and slip it down before they 

 are aware of the deception. 



In some situations, pond-fishes will take the fly 

 readily j but, in my opinion, not with that very marked 

 alertness which fishes in rapid streams evince. This is^ 

 no doubt, owing to the stagnation of the water, which 

 does not aid the deception so much as a brisk current. 

 In windy weather, however, when the surface is ruffled, 

 the case alters materially, and pond-fishes then, at inter- 

 vals, dart with great keenness at the lure. 



This I conjecture to be attributable to their being very 

 numerous, and to the variety of competitors, urging each 

 other on to destruction. The moralist may, perhaps, in 

 this find a comparison not very favourable to mankind ; 

 or, at least, applicable in the strictest sense to the too 

 numerous tribe of speculators ! 



