100 TALES OF THE TURF AND THE CHASE. 



man accustomed to find his way to or from hounds, in spite of 

 every opposition and difficulty, will make use of the power which 

 he has acquired, and be superior to the man who has not had 

 similar advantages. 



Finally, fox-hunting encourages energ>^ and 'go.' The 

 sluggard or lazy man never succeeds as a fox-hunter, and he 

 who adopts the chase as an amusement soon finds that he must 

 lay aside all listlessness and inertness if he would enjoy to the 

 full the pleasures which he seeks. A man who thinks a long ride 

 to cover, or a jog home in a chill dank evening in November, a 

 bore, will not do as a fox-hunter. The activity which considers 

 no distance too great, no day too bad for hunting, will contribute 

 first to the success of the sportsman, and ultimately to the forma- 

 tion of the charcter of the man. 



Fishing teaches perseverance. The man in Punch, who on 

 Friday did not know whether he had had good sport, because he 

 only began on Wednesday morning, is a caricature ; but, like all 

 caricatures, has an element of truth in it. To succeed as a 

 fisher, whether of the kingly salmon, or the diminutive gudgeon, 

 an ardour is necessary which is not damped by repeated v/ant of 

 success ; and he who is hopeless because he has no sport at first 

 will never fully appreciate fishing. The skilled angler does not 

 abuse the weather or the water in impotent despair, but makes 

 the most of the resources which he has, and patiently hopes an 

 improvement therein. 



Delicacy and gentleness are also taught by fishing. It is 

 here especially that 



' Vis consili expers mole ruit sua, 

 Vini temperatam di quoque prorchunt in majus.' 



Look at the thin link of gut and slight rod with which the 

 huge trout or 'never ending monster of a salmon' is to be caught. 

 No brute force will do there ; every struggle of the prey must be 

 met by judicious yielding on the part of the captor, who watches 

 carefully every motion, and treats its weight by giving line, 

 knowing at the same time — none better — when the full force of 

 the butt is to be unflinchingly applied. Does not this sort of 

 training have an effect on character ? Will not a man educated 

 in fly-fishing find developed in him the tendency to be patient, 

 to be persevering, and to know how to adapt himself to circum- 

 stances ? Whatever be the fish he is playing, whatever be his 

 line, will he not know when to yield and when to hold fast ? 



Read the works of those who write on fishing — Scrope, 



