CHAPTER XXIX 



THE RAINBOW AT SEA (THE STEELHEAD) 



' The blessing of St. Peter's, master, be upon all that hate contentions, 

 and love quietnesse, and virtue, and go a-angling.' 



Izaak Walton. 



THE magic of the deep-blue ocean finds no better example 

 of the wonders of its touch than in the rainbow trout of 

 the Pacific Coast, that when robed in vestments of striking and 

 singular beauty, they go down to the sea and return so changed 

 in colour and form that for years anglers have fought the battle 

 of their identity. Columns have been written in attempts to prove 

 that an Atlantic sea-trout is what the fortunate angler woidd 

 wish it to be. What the sea-trout is to the Atlantic the 

 steelhead is to the Pacific coast of N'orth America : a big lusty 

 spendidly proportioned fish fuU of life and vigour and fight. 



He is longer than the rest of the trout tribe with finer lines, 

 and he is a Silver King, either silver or steely, and when you see 

 him go up into the air three, four, or even five feet in the centre 

 of some Uttle laguna behind the sand dunes, the real joy of living 

 is yours, particularly if he does not get away. 



I fancy that you may caU him sea-trout, or even salmon- 

 trout if you wish, but if you speak by the card you must 

 caU him a sea-going rainbow, as your steelhead goes down to 

 the sea, not in ships, but with them. He starts high up in 

 the Sierras or Cascades as a rainbow with aU its pristine glory 

 of colour, but, when he comes back his dearest and best friend 

 would not know him, as he is long, slender,[^Iithe and tigerish ; a 

 silver knight, painted in the depths of the sea, dipped ia molten 

 silver by Neptune. He returns masquerading in a totally new 

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