HALCYON, 



OE BOD-FISHING IN CLEAE WATEE. 

 CHAPTEE I. 



INTRODUCTION. 



: Fishing is an art, or at least it is an art to catch fish." 



ISAAC WALTON. 



" Then let him go to river, brook, or lake, 



That loves the sport, where store of fish abound, 

 And through the pleasant fields his journey make, 



Amidst sweet pastures, meadows, fresh and sound, 

 Where he may best his choice of pastime take, 

 While swift Hyperion runs his circle round ; 

 And as the place shall to his liking prove, 

 There still remain or further else remove." 



The Secrets of Angling, by J. DENNYS, 1613. 



NGLING, like most other pursuits, origi- 

 nated in necessity. The art owes its gradual 

 improvement to the genius which has ac- 

 companied the successive developments of 

 society. Mention is made of it in the Old 

 Testament,* and it is not without notice in the records 

 of Egypt and Assyria, as testified by the sepulchral and 

 architectural remains of these ancient nations. Greece 



* Job xli. 1, 2, 7. Isaiah xxxvii. 29 ; xix. 8. Habakkuk i. 15. 

 B 



