AN APOLOGY FOR FISHING 47 



tribe." The sportsman who devotes himself to fish 

 ing is called a " member of the piscatorial fraternity," 

 or a " brother of the angle," or a " disciple of ' old 

 Izaak,' " or by some other roundabout and exasper- 

 ating designation. Why it is that people who write 

 on this particular subject cannot express their ideas 

 in plain English and avoid such forms of speech as 

 the above it is difficult to say ; but so it is. 



These stereotyped phrases are to be ranked among 

 the conventionalities of " piscatorial " literature. 

 Another of these is a perpetual insistence upon the 

 contemplativeness of character which this particular 

 sport tends to develope in those who engage in it. 

 The fisherman is supposed to be left by his pursuit 

 at leisure to ponder and reflect on all sorts of 

 abstract questions wholly unconnected with what he 

 is about. Fishing is called the contemplative man's 

 recreation, and seems, indeed, to be looked upon by 

 a very large section of society as a sort of excuse for 

 mooning. For my poor part I confess that it seems 

 to me that the fact is far otherwise. If there is one 

 thing more than another necessary to fishing, it is 

 that the man who engages in it should have all his 

 wits about him, and be thoroughly absorbed in what 

 he is doing. A fisherman who took to being con- 

 templative would, I fancy, stand but a poor chance 

 of catching anything, and would certainly find him- 



