MAY 137 



It flashes through your mind that it is only a wretched 

 little dace after all ; but at the same moment you 

 strike. Woe be to you if your finger is on the line, 

 for the action is followed by a mighty plunge, and 

 away goes a heavy fish tearing up stream with the 

 reel spinning merrily. 



' Now that,' you reflect, as five minutes later you 

 mark the index of your steelyard opposite the figure 

 4, ' that is a neat bit of work. I wish that fellow in 

 the club who is always bragging about his casting 

 had seen it. I believe most chaps would have pro- 

 nounced that fish impossible.' 



There is another mode of handicapping the angler 

 which was in vogue with our grandfathers, if old 

 sporting illustrations may be relied on. They always 

 went a-fishing in top hats and stiff stocks. By reviving 

 this excruciating garb man would at least be giving 

 evidence of intelligence not greatly more powerful than 

 that of the fish he is trying to deceive. 



XXXIII 



In the north, by common usage, we talk of the 

 sycamore as the plane. The true plane, 

 which, above all other trees, has endeared the syca- 

 itself to Londoners by its admirable be- 

 haviour when exposed to the excessive drought and 

 coal smoke inseparable from this metropolis, is not 

 commonly planted in Scotland, although it seems to 

 agree equally well with our cool soil and moist climate, 



