130 FISHING GOSSIP. 
purposes of sun-spearing. The free-and-easy style of 
the dress of the great Guerilla will oppose the 
least possible resistance to the use of the “thews and 
sinews ” in air or water. 
The time and place for this form of one of the 
Wild Sports of the West, which would seem to have 
escaped the graphic pen of Maxwell, are all-important. 
It is highly creditable to the good taste of the lake eel 
that he selects the best month of the twelve for his 
Whitsuntide revels. Generally between the first of 
June and the middle of July, days of calm and sun- 
shine occur which faintly remind us of the brilliancy 
and serenity of a southern clime, even in these humid 
islands, in which the sun, alas! too often shines 
“ With smiles that might as well be tears, 
So faint, so sad their beaming.” 
During this month or six weeks, however, the eel, 
like Mr. Curran’s emancipated slave, “ walks abroad 
in his own majesty,” and displays himself in all his 
léngth and strength to the admiring eyes of those 
who know where to look for him. For this purpose 
the eel-hunter must be wide-awake and up early. If 
the tyro lies abed “till the sun burns a hole in the 
blanket,” as Pat has it, or waits the breakfast-bell to 
chase away the phantoms of an empty stomach, he 
had better at once forego the pleasures of this amuse- 
ment. The pursuit is not exactly suited to the “inner 
man,” being strongly opposed to punctual hours of 
