PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 91 



trout waters on our northern border. This was so 

 long since that it is like sprinkling snow-flakes upon 

 my frosted locks to think of it. My companions 

 were James Cook, Alfred Clark and Duncan Pell. 

 They have all crossed the dark river ; but the recol- 

 lection of then- virtues and good fellowship remains 

 as a pleasant memory. During that excursion I 

 remember that Gen. Cook wagered Mr. Pell that 

 a three-pound-and-a-quarter brook trout I had taken 

 in the inlet could not be beaten. As Mr. Pell had 

 just captured one which weighed five pounds and 

 a quarter, of course the General lost the wager. 

 Both fish, within twenty-four hours, were served 

 up as the crowning dish of a sumptuous dinner 

 given to a select party of friends by Hamilton Fish, 

 then the chief executive of the State as he is now 

 the honored head of the Washington cabinet. It 

 is rare indeed that two such brook trout are ever 

 taken from any of the rivers in our own State. 

 They are common in the Rangely waters, but no- 

 where else within our own territory this side the 

 Rocky Mountains. 



And this " leader " has its history. I bought it 

 in Montreal, years ago, when I found myself too 

 late for a pleasure trip to the Saguenay for salmon. 

 Falling in with an expert, he proposed that we 

 should try the streams intersecting the railroad be- 

 tween Montreal and Portland. The suggestion was 



