viii PREFACE. 
immediately suggest itself to those who take 
no interest in them (and I am anxious, as a 
Fisherman, to establish it, and to vindicate 
the appropriateness of my Title) I will briefly 
mention the points of difference which seem 
to me thus far to separate them. 
Far be it from me in doing this to extol 
Fishing at the expense of Hunting or Shoot- 
ing; I am much too fond of and grateful to 
them to have the least inclination to do SO, 
even if it suited my purpose. It is merely 
to accident that Fishing is indebted for the 
auxiliary charm of this fellowship with Na- 
tural History: that Hunting and Shooting 
are in great measure destitute of it is not 
their fault but their misfortune. 
In the first place, exactly as both season, and 
the circumstances under which their several 
pursuits are conducted tend to frustrate any 
attempt on the part of those who hunt or 
shoot! to cultivate the study of Natural 
1 Jt seems strange that whilst the language affords two 
words (“ Angler,” and “ Fisherman”) descriptive of the man 
who fishes, we should be driven to paraphrases for want of 
corresponding words with regard to Hunting and Shooting. 
