100 PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 



I have been beguiled to such sluggish streams by 

 glowing representations of large fish and plenty of 

 them. But I could never be tempted to repeat my 

 visit. Half the pleasure, and more, of camp-life 

 depends upon where you pitch your tent. "Who- 

 ever has imbibed the gentle and poetic spirit of 

 the old masters must have pleasant surroundings 

 or he soon wearies of the sport. To enjoy the 

 pastime in full measure there must be rapid and 

 cascade, rock and mountain, forest and flower, song- 

 bird and murmuring waters. The rise and strike 

 and play of a mammoth trout or salmon is to the 

 angler what the stir and bustle and push of com- 

 merce is to the man of business. They give buoy- 

 ancy to the spirits, elasticity to the step, activity 

 to the brain and a quicker flow to the life-currents 

 of the whole system. But this season of busy 

 activity finds delightful relief in the quiet repose 

 of a pleasant home. The tug and swirl and lusty 

 play of a twenty-pound salmon thrills the nerves 

 like an electric current, makes every muscle tingle 

 with ecstacy, and sends the blood coursing through 

 the body as if each particular vein was the high- 

 way of an aurora borealis. But even in the midst 

 of the fierce struggle, his eye takes in the scenic 

 beauties with which he is encompassed. He sees 

 the deep pool encircled by the white foam of the 

 swift moving waters ; the ponderous bowlders 



