THE COOKERY OF THE TROUT 255 



down to broil. Some connoisseurs used to dress them 

 with a sprinkling of gunpowder, but that was matter 

 of taste. 



That was merely the freak of a sated Apicius or 

 Cambaceres, for there were cold game and other 

 dainties in the panniers. But how often have anglers 

 camping out in the wilds relied on their rods for what 

 the worthy Mrs. Bertram of Ellangowan would have 

 called the best part of their dinner ? In Scandinavia, 

 the Canadian Dominion or British Columbia, the 

 piece de resistance should have been bear-meat, reindeer- 

 haunch or saddle of bighorn, as the case might be. The 

 hunter might often come back to camp empty-handed, 

 and the place of the joint was a melancholy blank ; but 

 the angler had filled possible-sack and pockets, and 

 trout, fried or boiled, figured conspicuously in the 

 menu. Those roving sportsmen should have said 

 grace with heartfelt gratitude over the fish which agree- 

 ably varied their diet, yet after all, if reduced to short 

 commons, they had only to turn and go back. But 

 the trout have played no insignificant part in the 

 daring exploration of the North American continent. 

 They saved many a valuable life, with others which, 

 perhaps, were scarce 1 } 7 worth the saving. Lewis and 

 Clarke, Fremont and other official adventurers were 

 followed through the passes of the Rockies and the 



