OLD JOHN, TIM, & OTHERS 157 



involves, as the first step, an argument 

 into it. 



It matters not whether we view the 

 subject in the light of the old orthodoxy, 

 that of Genesis regarded literally, or in 

 the light of the new, that of Evolution : 

 thinkers of both schools agree that species 

 were created not to be destroyed, but to 

 be perpetuated. Well, if there is any 

 species in marvellous harmony both with 

 its own environment and with the desires 

 of man, it is the favourite fish of our 

 streams and lakes. 



By a critical process of exhaustion, we 

 have learned a good deal touching the life 

 of the trout. We have seen that it is 

 neither the wind nor the want of wind, 

 neither the glare nor the gloom, neither 

 the heat nor the cold, that puts him in 

 the mood wherein, as a rule, he is safe 

 against the assaults of his chief enemy, 

 who is man ; yet we realise that, when all 

 is said that can be said, there remains 

 some undiscovered provision of nature 

 protecting him against his own voracity. 



