GLORIOUS INTELLECTUAL MUSINGS. 



191 



CHAPTER IV. 



LESSON BY "JOSH BILLINGS." 







ANGLERS with bait 

 are a more queer, 

 quaint, peculiar class 

 of sportsmen than are 

 the devotees of the 

 fly, and they include 

 in their class students 

 deeply read in nature 

 and books. If you de- 

 sire to find an original 

 genius, you will most 

 readily succeed among 

 anglers with bait, who 

 use primitive rods and 

 tackle, and follow the 

 streams solitary and 

 silent, in a meditative 

 mood, enjoying the 

 sights and sounds, of 

 nature unmolested by. the presence of the less contemplative 

 fly-fisher, or the worshiper of dog and gun. Such a one Josh 

 Billings appears to be, with his coat buttoned on the wrong 

 side, if his writings are any index to the man. His lesson is 

 included in the following original verse : 



' ' Whare the dul stream 

 Haz fatted tew a pulp 

 The sooty arth, 



Go seek the dark-skinned alder 

 (A tiny forest), 



And from the crowded growth 

 Selekt a slender wand, 



