CHAPTER XXVI. 



VISIT TO THE ADIRONDACK^ IN 18^3 WHEN TO 



FISH A STATE PARK FOREST MEDICINE. 



Angling is somewhat like poetry : men are to be born so 

 I mean with inclinations to it, though both may be height- 

 ened by discourse and practice. But he that hopes to be a 

 good angler must not only bring an inquiring, searching, ob- 

 serving wit, but he must bring a large measure of hope and 

 patience, and a love and propensity to the art itself. But 

 having once got and practiced it, then doubt not but that 

 angling will be so pleasant that it will prove to be, like vir- 

 tue, a reward to itself. [Sir fgaaJt Walton. 



HAVE discovered that many beside 

 experts take pleasure in reading 

 whatever is said in praise of ang- 

 ling. They have the good taste 

 to appreciate a healthful amuse- 

 ment which they have not the 

 leisure to enjoy. I made this dis- 

 discovery many years ago, when 

 I began a series of letters from 

 "The Woods," which I kept up 

 without intermission until that summer of disas- 

 ters when McClellan led so many of our brave 

 boys to defeat and death. It seemed like mockery 

 to draw pleasant pictures or speak of personal 



