THE LIGHT 103 



the " lane of light " in itself, not in itself 

 the glare on the water, that keeps the 

 trout down, when it does have that effect : 

 it is some atmospherical condition of 

 which the " lane of light " or the glare is 

 a symptom or a casual incident. That 

 conclusion is forced upon us by considera- 

 tions which no observant angler can call 

 in question. Apart from times when the 

 whole sky is overcast with a heavy and 

 unbroken cloud, there is not a single day 

 in the year when, if we looked upon the 

 water in the direction of the sun, we 

 should find to be missing all the objection- 

 able phenomena of light. One of them, 

 or some of them, or all of them, would be 

 before our astonished eyes. It follows 

 that if the phenomena were really as 

 objectionable as they are supposed to be 

 there could never be a good day's sport 

 at all. As there is many a good day in 

 the season, it is clear that the taboos are 

 unwarranted. 



It may be that the lane of light or the 

 glare has been witnessed on a day, or on 



