118 A SCOTTISH FLY-FISHER 



passing friend afford him social intercourse enough. 

 When trout are apathetic and his unrequited industry 

 begins to pall, the presence of a congenial companion 

 may help to dissipate his gloom, but when sport is good 

 he is independent of other entertainment. 



Circumstances sometimes compel the angler to share 

 a boat with another, but the arrangement is one that it 

 is always wise to avoid. Little can be said in its favour, 

 and it has many disadvantages. It constrains the angler 

 to regulate his actions by those of his companion, and, 

 however mild in temper, he cannot help feeling and in- 

 wardly resenting the restraint it imposes on his liberty. 

 And it necessitates drifting broadside to the wind, a 

 disposition of the boat most unfavourable to success, 

 since it prevents the angler from exhausting the pos- 

 sibilities of the water on which he is fishing. While 

 he is engaged with a fish, the boat pursues her course 

 to leeward, probably passing over many more quite 

 prepared to accept the fly were it placed within the 

 circle of their vision. 



It is true that while one angler is manoeuvring a 

 trout towards the net, the other is not necessarily de- 

 barred from fishing ; circumstances may, possibly, per- 

 mit him to continue casting, but he casts with divided 

 interests, one eye on his companion's movements, the 



