CURIOSITIES OF ANGLING LITERATURE. 265 
in Ude, Francatelli, or Soyer :-—“ Pastes are a species 
of artificial baits, to be angled with at ground, or 
within the water. There are, or may be, as many 
distinct sorts of them as the luxuriancy of every fancy 
will suggest.” Lucullian—is it not? ‘Could a Bel- 
gravian Gunter, throwing open his ‘doors to the 
aristocratic lovers of all that is gustatory, have ex- 
pressed himself in a more comprehensive or enticin 
manner? Then follows the query—Did the fish of 
the period appreciate this “luxuriance of fancy?” 
—and have they, just in an inverse ratio to the 
civilisation of man, eschewed the high feeding of a 
past age to content themselves with the simple fare 
of plain bread and water in this? It would seem so, 
if we are to believe the modern fisherman, who may 
be here inclined to deny that these piscatorial desires 
ever had an existence, excepting in the imagination 
of men living in a benighted age—insinuating that 
even modern cooks have been known to ask for 
champagne, as an addendum to stewed kidneys, 
which never reached beyond the neck of the bottle 
(unless it was to run down the throat of the chef), 
and hint at a cuisine whose sauce was encouraged 
by burnt brandies obtained under the excuse of 
requirements of mince-pies and plum-puddings. 
Those cynics who are inclined to take this view 
of the great masters of piscicultwre, must be pre- 
pared to back their slanders with something better 
