318 1kin00 of tbe 1Rofc, IRifle, anO (Bun 



of Lucullus and Apicius water, and wines over which 

 the Prince Regent and " Old Q. " would have smacked 

 their lips. And then the sport ! How can one 

 condescend even distantly to hint at the contents 

 of poor Izaak's humble creel in the presence of 

 philosophers whose quarry is the King of Fish, the 

 Royal Salmon ! 



The characters in " Salmonia " are four in number : 

 Hali&us, an accomplished fly-fisher ; Ornither, who 

 is " fond of field sports, but not a finished angler " ; 

 Poietes, " an enthusiastic lover of Nature, partially 

 acquainted with the mysteries of fly-fishing " ; Physicns> 

 " uninitiated as an angler, but a person fond of inquiries 

 in natural history and philosophy." 



I shall best convey an idea of the sort of conver- 

 sation in which the quartet indulge by a few extracts. 

 Haliceus, referring to Byron's libel on Izaak Walton 

 remarks : 



" And if you require a poetical authority against that 

 of Lord Byron, I mention the philosophical poet of the 

 lakes, and the author of 



An Orphic tale, indeed 



A tale divine, of high and passionate thoughts, 

 To their own music chanted ; 



who is a lover both of fly-fishing and fly-fishermen 

 Gay's poem you know, and his passionate fondness for 

 the amusement, which was his principal occupation in 

 the summer at Amesbury ; and the late excellent John 

 Tobin, author of the Honey-Moon, was an ardent 

 angler. 



