PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 221 



more than a score of years long before my locks 

 were frosted or my vision dimmed ; recollections 

 of shady nooks, where rays of sunlight came down 

 through the rustling leaves like lines of silver ; of 

 huge masses of gray rock, imbedded in thick moss, 

 softer and more inviting than the luxurious divans 

 of the drawing-room ; of the " expressive silence " 

 of the old woods, when, after the ascent of some 

 rugged hill, we sat down to rest, indifferent, amid 

 such surroundings, to the admonitions of prudence 

 or the march of time. Enveloped in a golden sun- 

 set, with the forest birds making the woods vocal 

 with their sweet melody, and with my own heart 

 in unison with all these harmonies of nature, I 

 have often found myself, with no other feelings 

 than those of devout reverence and gratitude, re- 

 peating the words of the Psalmist: "How excel- 

 lent is thy loving kindness, O God ! therefore the 

 children of men put their trust under the shadow 

 of thy wing." 



It is, as I have said, in the spring time that I 

 make these diversions from the beaten path, and 

 I have more than once thus discovered unfished 

 waters, where, since " the morning stars sang to- 

 gether," no line had been cast or trout captured. 

 They remain as sunny places upon the map of my 

 memory, and are often revisited, although now up- 

 on the borders of some of them may be seen the 

 hunter's camp and the fisherman's shanty. 



