CHAPTER IV 



LOCH-FISHING 



IVES there an angler who, when 

 he may profitably fish the 

 stream, voluntarily seeks the 

 loch? It is scarcely credible. 

 Not that loch-fishing is an evil; 

 it is only a lesser good. The 

 sacrifice of the greater good, 

 the delight of wandering rod 

 in hand by the river, is part of 

 the penalty we pay for man's 

 first disobedience ; by the sweat of our brow we still 

 laboriously earn our bread. Stream-fishing is the 

 privilege of the leisured; in its dependence on the 

 caprice of the weather, it is not for him who only at 

 long intervals enjoys a transient liberty. 



Prolonofed drought, of which our distressful climate 

 seldom gives us reason to complain, is disastrous to the 

 prospects of the stream-fisher. While it prevails he is 



