DIES PISCATORI^J. 499 



is ten inches long, give it ten minutes, and so on. When 

 you uncover them, they can be removed from the ashes 

 by inserting the forked end of a long stick beneath, and 

 drawing them out. When you take them out of the paper, 

 unroll them carefully on a flat hot stone, open and butter 

 them to your liking, and, above all, regard the head as a 

 precious morsel ; it contains much that is glutinous and fatty ; 

 in the language of Father "Izaak," "they are too good for 

 any but honest anglers." 



Of course it will occur to the diner-out that a larger fire is 

 necessary in baking than in roasting, and that it should burn 

 down well, in order to produce the requisite quantity of coals 

 and ashes. Trout of nine to twelve inches are best cooked 

 in this manner. Though there are other ways of cooking 

 them on the stream, as frying on flat stones which have been 

 heated in the fire, or " planking" large Trout, none can com- 

 pare with this mode ; if there is an objection to it, it is that 

 one is never satisfied afterwards with the taste of Trout 

 cooked indoors. Old anglers have confessed, after a roast or 

 bake, that they had missed much by not before adopting this 

 simple way of providing a sumptuous dinner ; and that all 

 indoor methods, with their epicurean appliances, were not to 

 be compared with roasting or baking under the ashes. The 

 latter is the surest mode of retaining the natural flavor and 

 sweet juices of the fish. 



There is also a good-humored dash of vagabondism accom- 

 panying a dinner of tins kind ; and as you light your pipe 

 from a coal, and kick the smouldering chunks and impromptu 

 cooking utensils aside, there is a quiet trust in a bountiful 

 Providence and your own skill, for as sumptuous a meal and 

 hot plates of the same kind on the morrow. 



And now, if you have dined to your satisfaction by these 

 simple directions, take that small piece of India-rubber from 

 your vest pocket, and rub the frayed fibres from the gut of 



