The Tarpon 269 
the condemning lines in “Don Juan” he writes: 
“It would have taught him humanity at least. 
This sentimental savage, whom it is a mode to 
quote (amongst the novelists) to show their sym- 
pathy for innocent sports and old songs, teaches 
us how to sew up frogs and break their legs, by 
way of experiment, in addition to the art of 
angling — the cruelest, the coldest, and stupidest 
of pretended sports. They may talk about the 
beauties of nature, but the angler merely thinks 
of the dish of fish; he has no leisure to take his 
eyes off from the streams, and a single bite is 
worth, to him, more than all the scenery around. 
Besides, some fish bite on a rainy day. The 
whale, the shark, and the tunny fishing have some- 
what of noble and perifous in them; even net 
fishing, trawling, etc., are more Raane and use- 
ful — but angling! No angler can be a good man.” 
After writing this Byron appears to have re- 
called the fact that he had a friend addicted to 
angling, and we find the following: “ One of the 
best men I ever knew—as humane, delicate- 
minded, generous, and excellent a creature as any 
in the world, was an angler. True, he angled 
with painted flies, and would have been incapa- 
ble of the extravagance of I. Walton.” In a 
