92 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING 



in the horizon. Then, as shades of night set in, and 

 as she fades in the general gloom, I meditate on the 

 perils of storm and battle, and all the adventurous 

 scenes her crew may encounter, for good or for evil- 

 far, far away from the land of their affections.* 



" Nos patriam fugimus, nos dulcia linquimus arva : 

 Nos patriam fugimus." 



No ; the wild main I trust not. Rather let me 

 wander beside the banks of the tranquil streams of 

 the warm South, " in yellow meads of asphodel," 

 when the young spring comes forth, and all nature 

 is glad ; or if a wilder mood comes over me, let 

 me clamber among the steeps of the North, beneath 

 the shaggy mountains, where the river comes raging 

 and foaming everlastingly, wedging its way through 

 the secret glen, whilst the eagle, but dimly seen, 

 cleaves the winds and the clouds, and the dun deer 

 gaze from the mosses above. There, amongst 

 gigantic rocks, and the din of mountain torrents, 

 let me do battle with the lusty salmon, till I drag 

 him into day, rejoicing in his bulk, voluminous and 

 vast. 



But, alas ! we run riot. Let me now set forth 

 by what chance I became a fisher for salmon. 

 Dining one auspicious day with a friend in London, 



* Sea angling has become a very different thing since Scrope 

 wrote thus coolly of it, and nowadays it is almost as highly specialised 

 as fresh-water fishing. The capture of fish like grey mullet, bass 

 and black bream can be a very pretty art and it calls for both 

 delicacy and skill. What is known as " big game " fishing is a 

 further development. Tuna, sword fish, big sea bass and other 

 monsters afford very exciting sport in various parts of the world, 



(ED.) 



