260 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK 



Grayling, which loves the gentle current, and is generally 

 found at the tail of a rift or " stream," as English anglers 

 call it. This naturalist, and keen angler he must have 

 been also says : " In the autumn of 1820 we obtained many 

 by angling in a rapid of the Winter Eiver, opposite Fort 

 Enterprise. The sport was excellent ; for the Grayling gene- 

 rally springs entirely out of water, when first struck by the 

 hook, and tugs strongly at the line, requiring as much dex- 

 terity to land it safely, as it would to secure a Trout of six 

 times the size." 



My experience in Trout-fishing is that large fish of any 

 species are sluggish in comparison with those of an ordinary 

 size ; but I am not inclined to concede the superiority claimed 

 by this author for the Grayling over the Brook Trout. 

 Making all allowance, however, for the ardor of the angler, 

 the " Hewlook-Powak" must have given such sport as the 

 fly-fisher seldom has the happiness to enjoy. 



It is often a source of regret to the angler, that the natu- 

 ralist, in describing new species of game-fish, is indifferent or 

 silent as to the sport they may furnish ; and the fisher reads 

 a scientific description as a story that is half told ; and is apt 

 to set the ichthyologist down as a humdrum bookman, more 

 interested in specific distinctions than in the pleasure of 

 catching fish. It is a great relief to find such an exception 

 to the general rule in Dr. Richardson. 



There is a smaller species of Grayling (Thymallus tliymal- 

 faides) described by the same writer, which does not grow 

 above eight inches in length ; he says they are taken in 

 company with the larger. 



The Grayling being a fish in the capture of which the 

 American angler cannot participate, we give no account of 

 the manner of angling for them ; but refer the reader who 

 may have interest or curiosity on that score to English 

 authors. 



