TROUT-STALKING 143 



quite so well versed in the angler's wiles or so 

 able to distinguish the signs of his dangerous 

 presence. 



At times, as in the chalk-stream so in the dis- 

 tant burns, the headwaters of rivers such as Clyde 

 and Tweed, and in their lesser tributaries, fished 

 the whole season through by appalling numbers 

 of accomplished anglers, trout must be carefully 

 stalked if they are ultimately to find their way 

 into the creel. 



A more interesting or pleasant sport than trout- 

 stalking has never been devised. Not only must 

 the angler's presence be concealed from the fish, 

 those referred to above being alone excepted, but 

 his purpose must likewise always and everywhere 

 be unsuspected. The inherent shyness of the 

 quarry, their power to read unerringly the mean- 

 ing of a wave across the pool, and determine the 

 cause of any vibration of the bank, their ability 

 to see with excessive clearness within a field which, 

 though somewhat circumscribed, is still all too 

 large in the angler's estimation, all combine in their 

 defence and render a successful attack a matter 

 of supreme difficulty. 



Nor does the attractiveness of the sport end 

 there. It is conducted under summer skies blue 

 and bright, amid the riotous confusion of the water's 

 edge where every living thing is happy. The 

 cuckoo may mock at our defeats, but the curlew's 

 lonely call cheers and bids us try again ; the sand- 

 piper runs along the gravel, as if to give warning 

 of our coming ; the kingfisher flashes past, a sun- 

 lit jewel. We have but one enemy among the 

 birds, the tantalising water-hen, who from among 



