A DAY ON THE ITCHEN 87 



away from it. ... Most of us endeavour to divide our 

 lives into three parts work, rest and recreation ; and it 

 is with the management of the third part, and the place 

 of angling with regard to it, that this is concerned. 



With us lesser folk it may be that the nobility 

 and worthiness of our work is a less con- 

 spicuous feature, but to get the utmost enjoy- 

 ment out of a dry-fly day, it must be preceded 

 by a long spell of hard labour in some town or 

 city. Let it be in early summer, when we have 

 been pining for country sights and smells, and 

 only the mental alertness and human interests 

 of the town have inspired us to suppress such 

 longings and to " stick it out." We probably 

 arrive at the London terminus with brain and 

 body weary and nerves overstrained, and we 

 doze during the journey, waking up at times 

 and recognizing familiar scenes passed on the 

 line. We get out of the train with all our 

 powers reviving with the change from town to 

 country air. We feel fit for anything. If we 

 are wise, we realize that we are not. The 

 fullest enjoyment of many a dry-fly day is 

 lost by over-keenness, by attempting exertion 

 beyond one's physical powers when out of 

 training, and I confess to the weaknessby 

 failing to accept philosophically such incidents 

 as the catching of a hook in one's clothing, or 



