PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 155 



No two anglers ever cast exactly alike. One gets 

 out his eighty feet of line by a perfectly straight 

 backward and forward movement of his rod. This 

 is the most natural movement, the most simple, and 

 generally the most effective. But in this move- 

 ment, without a slight deviation from a straight 

 line somewhere, there is always danger that your 

 line or leader may, at some point in their journey, 

 overlap. This danger is always imminent with a 

 brisk breeze at your back. I do not, of course, 

 invariably adhere to this movement, never when 

 the necessities of the case require a side cast ; but 

 where no material divergence from a straight line 

 is necessary, I find it the most effective. Others 

 give the rod its backward movement over the left 

 shoulder and its forward movement over the right, 

 or vice versa. This gives the line a graceful sweep 

 which is not only artistic but avoids the danger of 

 lapping. To make an equally long cast with this 

 movement, however, requires greater skill than 

 with the other ; for, without the very nicest appre- 

 ciation of time and distance, the curved sweep of 

 the line will prevent it from acquiring the direct 

 position indispensable to a perfect forward projec- 

 tion. But those who adopt this movement gene- 

 rally know what they are about. Indeed, the very- 

 best anglers of my acquaintance (notably Gen. 

 ARTHUR) practice it altogether. Others invariably 



