550 Tfcings of tbe 1Rofc t IRifle, anfc (Bun 



in salmon-fishing, but even in that department the 

 requirements of trout-fishing are more rigid. The 

 knowledge required for salmon-angling is chiefly local 

 the knowledge of the very spot, never to be inferred 

 certainly from mere appearances, where the fish is lying 

 if he is lying anywhere ; whilst the knowledge required 

 for trout is chiefly a knowledge of the whole habits 

 and instincts of the race. Again, salmon being few 

 but ignorant, and trout numerous but knowing, the 

 capture of that is largely a matter of chance of this 

 almost purely a matter of skill." 



And as a bit of picturesque writing, showing that 

 the author had a true, poetic sympathy with Nature, 

 I submit this sample : 



" At Scourie, if the angler, slightly sated by diligence 

 in his proper vocation, desires to seek variety of interest, 

 he has it at hand. There is the island of Handa, 

 probably the most stupendous cliff scenery in the 

 British Islands. No description or expectation is felt 

 as adequate, when, after the slow ascent from the land- 

 ward side of the island, you at one step stand on a 

 wall of rock seven hundred feet sheer above the Atlantic, 

 which chafes and thunders eternally against that mighty 

 battlement. Here the front presented to the assailing 

 surges is without ledge or cleft that would give footing 

 to a bird or hiding to an insect. There, you see it 

 rent and worn by the storms of ages, and look down 

 upon the fallen ruins and isolated, fantastic turrets 

 and upon the savage and half-enroofed bays within 

 which the wild waters are, one moment lying in grim 

 repose, the next roaring and leaping in fierce im- 



