INTRODUCTION 45 



is "thunder in the air," the peculiarly 

 oppressive feeling in the atmosphere 

 which precedes a storm apparently spoil- 

 ing their appetites. This reluctance on 

 their part to take a fly or bait immediately 

 before the gathering of the storm does 

 not, however, extend to the period when 

 it is actually in progress, for Chapter V. 

 will be found to contain frequent allusions 

 to good sport during the most violent dis- 

 plays of lightning. Mr. Bagot on the 

 North Tyne, Sir Ford North on the Irish 

 Erne, Colonel Moore on the Slaney, 

 General O'Callaghan on the Wansbeck 

 (Northumberland), Mr. Gallichari in the 

 Ardennes, Colonel Malcolm of Poltalloch 

 on the Add, Mr. Coleridge on the Torri- 

 don, Mr. Dodd in the Black Forest, Mr. 

 Noble on the Blackadder, and others, 

 chronicle good catches of salmon or trout 

 during storms of greater or less severity, 

 and Mr. Wheeley caught one of his best 

 Thames trout under similar conditions. 

 The common eel is not a fish calculated 

 to attract many sportsmen to the water- 



