30 AN ANGLER'S SEASON 



It pays no respect to the interests of 

 ordinary men. Certain literary anglers 

 may think it incredible that some others 

 unashamedly consider the trout to be 

 more important than the aspect of the 

 meadow-sweet or that of the ambient 

 air; yet that is the case. Indeed, there is 

 many a fellow-creature to whom a stroll 

 by the loveliest riverside is not a pleasure 

 unless he has a rod in hand. We are told 

 that a person of that kind is a poacher 

 by nature and probably in act. Well, I'd 

 rather be a dog and bay the moon than 

 such a Roman as the censor ; rather a 

 poacher than a prose-poet ; and I will 

 give reasons for rebellion. There is 

 urgent need for plain-speaking on the 

 subject. 



Not long ago The Times published an 

 article in praise of the Hampshire trout- 

 streams and the method of angling in 

 them. Then the writer of a letter to the 

 Editor made a strange statement. He 

 said that in Hampshire artificially-bred 

 and captive trout were fed on horse-flesh 



