Sir twnipbn? H)at>2 3*5 



try to recover him by taking the boat up. The line 

 Is loose : he has left the link entangled in the weeds, 

 and carried your fly with him. He must have been 

 a large fish, or he could not have disentangled himself 

 from so strong a gut. Try again, there are fish now 

 rising above and below ; where the water is in motion, 

 opposite that willow, there arc two fish rising. 



Poiet. I have one of them. 



Hal. Now you are doing well. Down with the 

 boat, and drag your fish downwards. Continue to do 

 so, as there are weeds all round you. You can master 

 him now ; keep him high, and he is your own. Put 

 the net under him, and bring him into the boat ; he 

 is a well-fed fish ; but not of the proper size for a 

 victim : about 2 Ibs. Now, Physicus, try your fortune 

 with the fish above, that rises still. You have him ! 

 Now use him as Poietes did the last. Very well ; he 

 is a large fish take your time. He is landed. A 

 fish nearly of 3 Ibs., and in excellent season. 



Phys. Anche lo son Pescatore I too am a fisher- 

 man a triumph." 



On reading that passage the uninitiated greenhorn 

 might imagine that catching big trout is as easy as 

 shelling peas. But let him not be deceived Had 

 Sir Humphry chosen to tell the whole truth, which 

 no angler ever does, he would have confessed that he 

 envied his o\vn puppets the luck with which they took 

 their fish just when they pleased. 



Sometimes, however, the superior Haliceus is him- 

 self called over the coals, as in the following 

 instance : 



