A Fig/it with a Trout. 829 



and, a couple of hours before sundown, reached the lake. If I live 

 to my dying day I never shall forget its appearance. The lake is 

 almost an exact circle, about a quarter of a mile in diameter. The 

 forest about it was untouched by axe and unkilled by artificial flood- 

 ing. The azure water had a perfect setting of evergreens, in which 

 all the shades of the fir, the balsam, the pine, and the spruce were 

 perfectly blended; and at intervals, on the shore in the emerald 

 rim, blazed the ruby of the cardinal-flower. It was at once evi- 

 dent that the unruffled waters had never been vexed by the keel 

 of a boat. But what chiefly attracted my attention and amused 

 me was the boiling of the water, bubbling and breaking, as if the 

 lake were a vast kettle, with a fire underneath. A tyro would 

 have been astonished at this common phenomenon; but sportsmen 

 will at once understand me when I say that the water boiled 

 with the breaking trout. I studied the surface for some time to see 

 upon what sort of flies they were feeding, in order to suit my cast to 

 their appetites ; but they seemed to be at play rather than feeding, 

 leaping high in the air in graceful curves, and tumbling about each 

 other as we see them in the Adirondack pictures. 



It is well known that no person who regards his reputation will 

 ever kill a trout with anything but a fly. It requires some training on 

 the part of the trout to take to this method. The uncultivated, unso- 

 phiscated trout in unfrequented waters prefers the bait ; and the rural 

 people, whose sole object in going a-fishing appears to be to catch fish, 

 indulge them in their primitive taste for the worm. No sportsman, 

 however, will use anything but a fly, except he happens to be alone. 



While Luke launched my boat, and arranged his seat in the stern, 

 I prepared my rod and line. The rod is a bamboo, weighing seven 

 ounces, which has to be spliced with a winding of silk thread every 

 time it is used. This is a tedious process ; but by fastening the 

 joints in this way, a uniform spring is secured in the rod. No one 

 devoted to high art would think of using a socket-joint. My line 

 was forty yards of untwisted silk upon a multiplying reel. The 

 " leader" (I am very particular about my leaders) had been made to 

 order from a domestic animal with which I had been acquainted. 

 The fisherman requires as good a catgut as the violinist. The inte- 

 rior of the house-cat, it is well known, is exceedingly sensitive ; but 

 it may not be so well known that the reason why some cats leave 



