THE SALMON: 129 



fisherman ; but the tiro will undoubtedly be better 

 able to profit by the lessons which he will at first 

 be perhaps somewhat roughly taught, if he bear in 

 mind some hints which I am endeavouring to im- 

 plant ; at any rate, he will not, or should not, be 

 entirely taken by surprise at the manoeuvres of a 

 hooked fish, if he has had patience to wade through 

 these pages. 



There is nothing more wonderful in nature than 

 the similarity, nay, the identity, of the means 

 adopted, under similar circumstances, by all ani- 

 mals to escape the danger which immediately 

 threatens them. 



" When the hound 's in the green wood, 



The deer keeps the hill ; 

 When the gled's in the blue sky, 

 The laverock lies still." 



When the mole disturbs the ground, the worm 

 rushes into the light of day ; when the hedgehog 

 is assailed, it curls itself up ; the squirrel, under 

 like circumstances, seeks the tree ; the rabbit, its 

 hole ; while the hare scuds across the country 

 trusting to show her pursuer a fair pair of heels. 

 These are the natural modes of escape from natu- 

 ral enemies ; but how is it that a salmon, nay, a 

 grilse, under similar circumstances, almost invari- 

 ably practises similar, and by no means simple, 



9 



