82 CURIOUS PHENOMENA. 



not got digested his nightly or early meals, or had 

 merely felt lazy from some oppressive feeling, allied 

 to an indigestive state, such as is frequent with our- 

 selves, is not understood ; but I rather suspect that 

 the real cause is from the electric state of the atmos- 

 phere, disinclining him to motion, as well as pro- 

 moting a dulness of appetite. 



Again, in the case of the trout. "We have a fine 

 middle April day, we go out say at ten o'clock, the 

 glass at 50, a medium state, having been pretty 

 steadily so for days past. Everything looks favour- 

 able the river just beautiful, not too much cleared- 

 down from the browning of a recent flood the 

 atmosphere neither spiringiy dry, nor drowsily heavy. 

 Fit up, lay on your flies, be ready for the first move- 

 ment (and be alert while the movement continues), 

 for they cannot choose, but he all in a stir in a little. 

 Well, you go on, throwing out softly and dexterously, 

 till you have gone over a hundred, or may be three 

 hundred yards, up or down, of the finest water you 

 ever cast line on, yet not a bell or small circle ever 

 forms on the beautiful surface, except what the 

 soft falling of your own flies and line occasion. 

 You look up and see the light clouds hardly moving 

 on sunwards, and scarcely even whitened on the 

 sunny side, the least indicative sign of frost every- 



