CHAPTER IV 



" I in these flowery meads would be ; 

 These crystal streams shall solace me." 



MUCH has been said by various humane 

 persons about the cruelty of fishing ; 

 but setting aside that, according to 

 the authority of the eminent author of 

 Salmonia, and of Dr. Gillespie also, who, by-the-by, 

 is professor of humanity at St. Andrew's, fish 

 seldom feel any pain from the hook. Let us see 

 how the case stands. I take a little wool and 

 feather, and, tying it in a particular manner upon 

 a hook, make an imitation of a fly ; then I throw it 

 across the river, and let it sweep round the stream 

 with a lively motion. This I have an undoubted 

 right to do, for the river belongs to me or my friend ; 

 but mark what follows. Up starts a monster fish 

 with his murderous jaws, and makes a dash at my 

 little Andromeda. Thus he is the aggressor, not I ; 

 his intention is evidently to commit murder. He 

 is caught in the act of putting that intention into 

 execution. Having wantonly intruded himself on 

 my hook, which I contend he had no right to do, 

 he darts about in various directions, evidently 

 surprised to find that the fly, which he hoped to 

 make an easy conquest of, is much stronger than 



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