DAYS AND NIGHTS OF 



SALMON FISHING 



CHAPTER I 



CITIZEN ANGLERS 



" John Gilpin was a citizen 

 Of credit and renown." COWPER. 



SALMON fishers do not fall from the clouds 

 all perfection at once, but generally acquire 

 some skill in river angling for trout, and 

 such like pigmies, before they aspire to the 

 nobler spoil ; pretty work, indeed, would they 

 make of it, if they began at the wrong end : nemo 

 repente fuit fishissimus. We will venture to say, 

 that many beginners have been frightened out of 

 their wits by the sprightliness of a decent-sized 

 trout : would they then have the presumption to 

 encounter a salmon without fortifying their nerves 

 with previous practice of some sort or another ? I 

 would advise each, one and all, to try their hands at 

 something less powerful, before they throw their 

 gauntlet at Entellus. In short, we ourselves, ex- 

 perienced as we are, stand in perfect awe of a salmon 



