ON THE THAMES. 311 
hear; can’t they, indeed? What bird may be best 
taken as the type.of the angler? Look at yon heron, 
how quietly he sits, and what a sober-coloured coat 
he wears ; but what fine sport he has! When anybody 
accomplishes difficult feats which others fail in doing, 
it is always said, and always will be said, that he 
has some charm, some scent, some hidden device. 
Rarey was stated to give his horses a drug to tame 
them ; a successful angler had his worm and bait 
boxes examined when his back was tumed, to see what 
scent he used ; and the poor heron has not escaped, 
for he is said by many, even at the present day, to 
have an oil in’his legs which attracts the fish, and I 
have heard of anglers being foolish enough to shoot 
or buy a heron, and endeavour to extract this oil from 
the bird’s legs to be applied to their own base pur- 
poses. All three cases—Rarey, the angler, and the 
heron—are alike ; there is no conjuring, no charming, 
except the charm of gentleness, patience, and quiet ; 
hence we see anglers generally silent men, not inclined 
to quarrel. Dear old gossiping Izaak Walton was of 
these, and the following might have been a part of 
one of his discourses addressed to the friend who was 
lucky enough to be in his company :— 
“ Say, canst thou tell where eels in winter hide, 
Or where the swallows’ vagrant race reside,— 
How salmon yearly quest th’ accustomed main, 
Or wintry frogs their foodless kind sustain ? 
