42 SALMONIA. [SECOND DAY 



which, you see on the table, and which I caught half 

 an hour ago." 



HOST. I answer for the correctness of this anec- 

 dote, but I do not sanction its application to the case 

 of our novitiate in angling. I have seen a fish 

 under that bank where he was so unfortunate, which 

 I am sure was above 4lbs., and which I dare say was 

 the subject of his unsuccessful experiment. 



POIET. Prom what our host has just said, I con- 

 clude, Halieus, that fish do not usually change their 

 stations. 



HAL. Large trouts unquestionably do not; they 

 always hide themselves under the same bank, stone, 

 stock, or weed, as I said this morning before, and 

 come out from their permanent habitations to feed ; 

 and when they have fled to their haunt, they may be 

 taken there by the hand; and on this circumstance 

 . the practice of tickling trout is founded. A favourite 

 place for a large trout in rivers is an eddy behind a 

 rock or stone, where flies and small fishes are carried 

 by the force of the current : and such haunts are 

 rarely unoccupied ; for if a fish is taken out of one of 

 them, his place is soon supplied by another, who 

 quits for it a less convenient situation. 



PHYS. So much knowledge and practice is 

 required to become a proficient, that I am afraid it is 

 too late in life for me to begin to learn a new art. 



