NO. VI. APPENDIX. 375 



XIV. Never be tempted in the pursuit of your recrea- 

 tion to wade, at least not as I have seen some do, to the 

 waist. This indiscreet practice has been known to bring 

 on fevers that have terminated in abscesses, and endan- 

 gered the loss of a limb. 



XV. Never, to preserve the character of an expert 

 Angler, be guilty of that mean practice of buying fish * 

 of such of ycur fellow sportsmen as have had better suc- 

 cess than yourself; thereby giving occasion for that bitter 

 sarcasm, the more bitter for being true, "They were 

 caught with a silver hook." 



XVI. Remember that the wit and invention of mankind 

 were bestowed for other purposes than to deceive silly 

 fish ; and that however delightful angling may have been 

 made to appear by the foregoing pages, it ceases to be 

 innocent when used otherwise than as a mere recreation. 



XVII. Lastly, when seated under a shady tree, on the 

 side of a pleasant river, or moving about on the banks of 

 it, thou art otherwise pursuing thy recreation ; when the 

 gliding of waters, the singing of birds, the bleating of 

 flocks, the lowing of cattle, and the view of delightful 

 prospects, and the various occupations of rural industry, 

 shall dispose thee to thought and reflection ; let the beau- 

 ties of nature, the power, wisdom, and goodness of the 

 Almighty, as manifested in the production of his crea- 

 tures, the order and course of his providence in their pre- 

 servation, the rewards of a good life, and the certainty of 

 thy end, be the subjects of thy meditation. 



(1) There are others to whom this caution against buying fish may be useful. 

 One of the greatest temptations to the fishing with unlawful nets in the Thames 

 wear London, is the high price which by an artifice some of the scaly kinds of 

 fish, that is to >ay, roach and dace, are made to fetch ; for the takers of such 

 first scrape off the scales, and sell them by the pound to the necklace-makers 

 (who make thereof a kind of amalgama, with which they cover wax beads, and 

 thereby imitate pearls;) and having so done, they cry the smallest and very re- 

 fuse of the fish about the streets, and sell them to ignorant housekeepers for 

 gudgeons. 



