JULY 165 



of the reign of law, a seer ; but he is not 

 quite correct in saying that in May half 

 of the world a bridegroom is and half of 

 the world a bride. It is no bridal glee 

 that makes the trout sportful in May. 

 It is sheer gluttony. Before the starling 

 and the nightingale are hushed, the trout 

 are gorged. That is why, in effect, they 

 say to the angler, " Owing to the pressure 

 of other matter, we are obliged to decline 

 your contribution." They cannot well 

 hold any more. They are even unable 

 to accept the offerings of what may be 

 called the regular staff, Nature. You 

 shall see this for yourself if you look 

 upon a stream. There go, fluttering or 

 floating down, alders, black spinners, grey 

 gnats, oak flies, Welshman's buttons, 

 sedge flies, willow flies, and other insects, 

 too many to be named ; and not one in 

 a thousand is taken. Here again, how- 

 ever, we must beware of generalising. 

 In fact, we must seem to contradict 

 ourselves. That is not our fault. It is 

 because the ways of the trout are not 



