whose company is never dull. There are no harsh or discordant sounds 

 on the stream — nothing to offend the eye or ear. Even the kingfisher's 

 rattle, the caw of the crow, the tinkle of the cow-hell, the bark of the 

 squirrel are softened and subdued and harmonized by the ripple of the 

 stream and the rustle of the overhanging trees. All is joy and gladness, 

 peace and contentment, by the merry shallows and quiet pools of the flow- 

 ing, rushing stream. The swish of the rod, the hum of the reel, the cut- 

 ting of the line through the water, the leap of the bass, seem somehow to 

 blend with the voices of the stream and the trees on its banks, and to speak 

 to the angler in louder, though sweeter, tones than on open waters ; such 

 sounds seem to be more intensified or heightened in their effect by some 

 mysterious acoustic property of the stream and its surroundings. And the 

 occasional 'pipe of peace' in some shady nook or sequestered spot, where, 

 stretched at full length, the angler watches the nicotine incense assuming 

 all manner of weird shapes as it ascends toward the tree-tops, while he 

 indulges in fanciful day-dreams, with the cool breeze fanning his heated 

 brow — the soft ferns resting his tired limbs! Yea, verily, this is the fish- 

 ing beyond compare." 



ffr^^ — V' (f :-^i^ 



