SNAPPING. 25 



fish of that weight without a landing net. KILL 



THE FISH DIRECTLY YOU SHALL HAVE CAUGHT HIM. 



Be provided with a staff, about a foot long, 

 which you can carry in your side pocket; with 

 this smite the fish with a smart blow on the back 

 of his head, close to the neck, and he will be dead 

 in an instant. You may then take the hooks out 

 of his mouth, but not before would you follow 

 the merciful directions given in the present work. 

 Besides, he might bite your fingers if not dead, 

 from the pain you would give him in extracting 

 the hooks ; and it is the hearty wish of the author 

 that he may, if you are so cruel as to torture him 

 unnecessarily. By killing your fish at once, you 

 not only curtail his suffering, but you secure to 

 yourself a better fish. For fish killed on the 

 instant they are caught eat firmer than when 

 left to die a lingering death. Should you wish to 

 know why, I will tell you. And may the infor- 

 mation work on the feelings of those merciless 

 fishermen who leave their fish, when caught, to 

 die by slow degrees, either half smothered in their 

 panniers, or strung on a stick, with their torn and 

 bleeding gills hanging down their tormentors' 

 sides. A fish which dies by degrees, wastes itself; 

 and why ? FROM PAIN AND SUFFERING ! 



If you observe them, they seem to sigh, their 



