THE ANGLER 147 



the passages leading up to them the preliminaries of 

 the contest with this trout and that we cannot 

 directly feel, think of, watch Nature outside the foot 

 of space where the trout lies. The actual angling 

 absorbs the active and contemplative parts of us. 

 What is its secret power ? It is pleasant to take 

 home or to the angling inn good trout. There is a 

 little pride in the exploit sometimes, the pride of 

 successful competition where there are friendly but 

 rival anglers. But it is not this that makes the sport 

 such a thrall. Nor is it that we greatly want the 

 trout to eat or give away. Nor is it that dry fly- 

 fishing yields large bags. The bags are small. A 

 brace of good trout from the Test is a day's sport 

 enough for the keenest of us. After getting two 

 brace I begin to feel I have had enough. A day 

 that yields a very heavy bag of trout is apt to pall. 

 The fish have been too eager, too easy. I suggest 

 four reasons why the art of dry fly-fishing for trout in 

 a clear chalk stream should be so curiously attractive. 

 First, the angler is quite free of outside distraction. 

 He is alone with his sport to be in these rich water 

 meadows in the deepest, fullest green of the summer 

 is to be intensely alone, sometimes for many hours 

 at a stretch. He can and does concentrate on the 

 sport. 



Second, he so often strives definitely and solely, 

 for perhaps half an hour or an hour, to take a trout 

 which he sees, owing to the clearness of the chalk 



