134 THE COMPLETE ANGLEE. [PART. I, 



And you may take notice, some say that camphire put into 

 your bag with your moss and worms, gives them a strong and 

 so tempting a smell, that the fish fare the worse, and you the 

 better for it. 1 



And now I shall show you how to bait your hook with a 

 worm, so as shall prevent you from much trouble, and the 

 loss of many a hook too, when you fish for a trout with a 

 running line ; 2 that is to say, when you fish for him by hand 

 at the ground. I will direct you in this, as plainly as I can, 

 that you may not mistake. 



Suppose it be a big lob-worm : put your hook into him 



Lau. There are earth-worms everywhere to be had. Barth. So there are, 

 if they would but creep out of the ground to you. Lau. I will make a 

 great many thousands jump out presently. Barth. How ? by witchcraft ? 

 Lau. You shall see the art. Fill this bucket with water : break these 

 green shells of walnuts to pieces, and put them into it ; wet the ground 

 with the water : now mind a little ; do you see them coming out ? Barth. 

 I see a miracle ; I believe the armed men started out of the earth after this 

 manner, from the serpent's teeth that were sown." The above exclamation 

 is clearly an allusion to the fable in the second book of Ovid's ' ' Meta- 

 morphoses ; " where Cadmus, by scattering the serpent's teeth on the 

 ground, causes armed men to spring out of it. H. 



1 Walton's notion of scenting his bait is common to many anglers. The 

 oil of ivy, when genuine, is the best ; some use assqfoetida, and others are 

 loud in praise of cinque-foil. This practice was known to the ancients, as 

 appears from the "Greoponica," xx., where several recipes are given. 

 Oppian's favourite for river fishing was veal minced and kept in calf s 

 blood for ten days. AM. ED. There is great diversity of opinion about 

 the effectiveness of scented baits. Ephemera thinks they do neither good 

 nor harm. We are however aware of more than one positive instance of 

 the effectiveness of the oil of ivy. ED. 



2 The running-line, so called because it runs along the ground, is made 

 of strong silk, which you may buy at the fishing-tackle shops : but I prefer 

 hair, as being less apt to tangle, and is thus fitted up. About ten inches 

 from the end, fasten a small cleft shot ; then make a hole through a pistol 

 or musket bullet, according to the swiftness of the stream you fish in ; and 

 put the line through it, and draw the bullet down to the shot : to the end 

 of your line fasten an Indian grass, or silk-worm-gut, with a large hook : 

 or you may, instead of a bullet, fix four large shot, at the distance of eight 

 inches from the hook. The running-line is used for trout, grayling, and 

 salmon-smelts ; and is proper only for streams and rapid waters. See Part 

 ii. chap. xi. H. Another experienced way is to take two lob-worms: put 

 the first on the hook with the head foremost, and let it slip a little up the 

 line to make room : then put on the second worm with the tail foremost ; 

 and draw them close together in a knot. They often drop in this manner 

 from the banks into the river and are snapped up by the Trout. BROWNE. 



