

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 



WHILE the sporting instincts will be aroused by the 

 difficulties and thrilled by the triumphs of fly fishing, 

 the artistic and poetic side of the fisherman's tempera- 

 ment will be as strongly appealed to and affected by 

 the surroundings of the salmon rivers and trout streams 

 on which his fly may be cast. 



The salmon river will inspire the soul with the 

 strength and force of its beauty, and invigorate the 

 body with the health-giving scent of its pine forests 

 and heather ; the trout stream will charm the mind, 

 and lull the senses into delicious content, as the rippling 

 note of its liquid harmony soothes the listener, and the 

 delicate perfume of its thousand surrounding flowers 

 is inhaled. 



The pride of place as regards the very pink of 

 Nature's charms must be given to our trout streams. 

 The lavish profusion of their summer beauty and the 

 ambrosial essence of their woodland delights will 

 efface the cares and stress of modern life, and refresh 

 our jaded senses with the delights of their never- 

 ending variety of delicate beauties. These haunts 

 of the trout will soothe our wearied eyes with the 

 delicate shades of their leafy surroundings and with 

 the exquisite pictures reflected in their limpid depths, 



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