THE LIGHT 107 



from the hills, or were dissolved. In 

 spring and the beginning of summer, 

 mornings such as that are frequent in 

 the Highlands ; and, observing carefully, 

 I have never known the gillie's rule to fail. 

 In England, too, I have often had testi- 

 mony to its truth. There the symptom 

 of the peculiar weather is not so easily 

 discoverable ; but usually, even in Hamp- 

 shire, which is comparatively flat, there is 

 not far away from the water some ground 

 that rises high enough to show it ; and in 

 England, as in Scotland, the trout keep 

 down when the misty clouds hang low. 

 The explanation is beyond me ; but most 

 anglers, I think, will agree that it cannot 

 lie in the quality of the light. 



The second of our indisputable facts 

 is much more pleasant to contemplate. 

 Who does not recall many a morning on 

 which the fish, in lake or stream, rose well 

 while the blue water, under the south-west 

 breeze, twinkled in the unclouded sun- 

 shine ? Usually on such days I myself, 

 at least, expect good sport ; and nearly 



