22 EQUIPPED FOR THE FRAY. 



fast, as in iron gyves, by the unexpected strength of the 

 mimic insect ! 



Every angler can tell you a greater or less number 

 of stories connected with his exploits in salmon-fishing ; 

 of the big fish he has caught, of the address displayed in 

 catching them, of the runs they have given him, of mar- 

 vellous adventures in pool and rapid, and of hair-breadth 

 'scapes and romantic incidents. Brightly-coloured pic- 

 tures of incidents such as these enliven the pages of 

 almost every book devoted to the art of angling. With- 

 out borrowing from any personal experiences, we shall 

 appropriate a description from the pen of Christopher 

 North, which seems to us pre-eminent in accuracy of 

 detail and picturesqueness of language. We do not 

 doubt but that many anglers have enjoyed sport as good, 

 and killed their fish under circumstances as exciting ; but 

 we are confident that none have ever related their doings 

 with half as much effect.* 



The angler is equipped, let us suppose, with a twenty- 

 feet rod of Phin's, all ring rustling, and a-glitter with the 

 preserving varnish, and lithe to its topmost tenuity as 

 the elephant's proboscis, the hickory and the horn with- 

 out twist, knot, or flaw from butt to fly a faultless 

 taper, " fine by degrees and beautifully less," the beau- 

 ideal of a rod by the skill of cunning craftsmen to the 

 senses materialized ! A fish fat, fair, and forty ! " She 

 is a salmon, therefore to be wooed she is a salmon, 

 therefore to be won;" but shy, timid, capricious, head- 

 strong, now wrathful and now full of fear, like any other 

 female whom the cruel artist has hooked by lip or heart, 



Professor AVilson, " Recreations of Christopher North," ii. 5, 6. 



