FLY-FISHING. 257 



genuity in selecting new flies to suit their capricious 

 tastes, I had settled upon one of bright yellow, which, 

 if the gentlemen did not wish to eat, they did seem 

 to enjoy inspecting ; they rose to it freely, and after 

 I had tried in vain to strike them, curiosity in- 

 duced me to keep count of their number. 



Fourteen times had they risen and disappeared 

 uninjured ; fourteen times had my nerves tingled, 

 and my blood started; fourteen times had sudden 

 hope turned to bitter disappointment, till anticipa- 

 tion settled down into dull despair. Only those who 

 have themselves had such painful experiences can 

 appreciate my feelings ; the continual tantalizing 

 approximation to success, to be followed by agoniz- 

 ing failure ; the renewed hope that the next rise 

 would result in the capture of a fish ever to remain 

 unfulfilled ; the desperate effort to strike quicker or 

 to cast more attractively ; all these and many other 

 feelings swarmed through my heart, as fish after fish 

 approached his fate, and invariably escaped. 



They seemed to be feeding, as it is called, and when 

 the fly passed they rose, and turning over like a 

 porpoise chasing mossbunkers, seemed to take it in 

 their mouths. They did not spring out of water in 

 the gaiety of reckless play, but acted as they would 

 have done if swallowing the natural insect. Not 

 that it is certain that salmon feed on flies ; but while 

 they can rarely be taken while playing, they often 

 can be when acting in a manner resembling feeding. 



My patience not exhausted, for it never is while 

 fish will rise, I directed the canoe to be dropped 



