36 TROUT FISHING 



ever to be contended with, never to be forgotten, 

 and this is to avoid alarming the trout. We 

 shall find so far as our bait alone is concerned 

 that the trout is not by any means easily fright- 

 ened; but we must ever remember that the trout, 

 most mercifully to him, is endowed with a wonder- 

 fully acute sense, viz. that of vision. To what 

 extent trout hear or smell we do not pretend to 

 decide ; these senses, however much or little de- 

 veloped, will not either assist or oppose us in 

 our practice ; but the wonderful acuteness of 

 the sight of trout will be found the greatest 

 difficulty we have to contend with, and most 

 especially careful must we always be to prevent 

 the trout seeing us, not only our whole body 

 but not even a hair of our head, and to avoid 

 causing any unnatural movements of familiar 

 objects within his range of vision, as well as to 

 avoid frightening any other trout below where 

 the fish we want to catch is lying, lest he should 

 start off and in his terror tell his brethren some- 

 thing is moving, a stranger is in proximity. 



In order to prevent the trout seeing us in our 

 approach, which must be for subsequent success 

 as near to him as possible, the simple precaution 

 of fishing whenever we can, up, or against the 

 stream, will be of the greatest assistance to us. 

 The position of the trout's eye in his head, and 

 the mechanical arrangements of muscles for 

 moving the globe of the eye, are such as to be 

 best adapted for observing objects immediately 

 above, or above and in front of, the head; he 



