178 WILD LIFE AND THE CAMERA 



excuse for being out in the open, out among the 

 mountains, the streams and the innumerable de- 

 lights which nature offers us with such a bountiful 

 hand. If it were the fish alone we wanted, why 

 leave the sea with its endless varieties of fish, big 

 and small, gamey and sluggish ? No stream offers 

 such " catches," but so few get much real pleasure 

 from simply hooking and pulling up fish. 



The pleasure is largely in the surroundings. All 

 our senses are thrilled and the blood dances in our 

 veins ; we listen to the sound of the bubbling water, 

 a fitting accompaniment to the delicious music of 

 the birds as they sing their love songs, or watch the 

 busy little feathered housekeepers, some gathering 

 material for their nests, others with hungry young 

 at home, eagerly darting after the incautious insects 

 that frequent the waterways. Along the banks are 

 flowers nodding their heads to the passing breeze 

 as they nestle among the rich green moss. Every- 

 thing interests, for to the healthy man everything 

 out of doors is beautiful, nowhere more so than 

 along dancing rock-strewn streams, where life in so 

 many forms is concentrated. The fish you may 

 catch are an incident only, a delightful incident, 

 which adds immeasurably to your satisfaction and 

 pleasure and makes the day a complete success. 

 It is well enough for the man who does not fish to 

 say that he gets just as much fun out of a day's 

 outing, that he can enjoy the birds and the flowers 

 even more because his mind is not distracted. I 

 doubt it. Complete pleasure is seldom obtained 

 by one thing alone, it is more usually the blending 

 of many, often totally different, sensations which 



