PRE-EMINENCE OF FLY-FISHING. 53 



nothing to break the solitude save the plaintive 

 bleating of the sheep or the cry of the moorcock. 

 As the angler descends, the music of the song-bird 

 meets his ear from every bush, and the groves 

 resound with the cooing of the wood-pigeon or tl^e 

 soft notes of the cuckoo. And now he approaches 

 the scene of his anticipated triumph. There are the 

 deep rocky pool and racing shallow, the whirling 

 eddy and rippling stream. Now it pauses as if to 

 enjoy the glory of the prospect, then rushes impetu- 

 ously forward, as if eager to drink in the grandeur 

 of some new scene. Now it foams over rocks, and 

 then meanders slowly between green banks. Every- 

 thing seems endowed with life to welcome the return 

 of summer. The very river is alive with leaping 

 trout. Everything tends to cheer the angler's heart 

 and encourage his hopes. No wonder that with Sir 

 Henry Wotton he finds " fly-fishing " a " cheerer of 

 the spirits, a tranquilliser of the mind, a calmer of 

 unquiet thoughts, a diverter of sadness." 



And then the art itself is lively and graceful. 

 Look at the angler as he approaches some favourite 

 spot. See him as he observes the monarch of the 

 pool regaling himself on the incautious insect that 

 sports in fancied security upon the surface. In 

 wardly he vows that it shall be avenged. Cautiously 

 he approaches, concealing himself by kneeling or 

 keeping behind some bush, lest by any chance his 

 expected prey should discover him and so be warned. 

 Gracefully wheeling his long line behind, he lays 



