FISHING AS A SPORT. 73 



So numerous a body have anglers become in this 

 country of late years, that they no longer fear the jeers 

 and scoffs which used to be levelled at their amusement ; 

 and the cynical are almost afraid to pretend to pity them. 

 But even now there are some found who question whether 

 there is any real sport iu fishing as compared, for instance, 

 with hunting and shooting. The simplest answer to such 

 persons is the fact that thousands do find sport, and that too 

 of the most exciting and pleasurable kind, in its pursuit. 

 Because one person or another " can see nothing in it," 

 and the pastime is capable of being described in a ludi- 

 crous manner, it does not follow that it is a poor sport. 

 Some persons can see nothing in shooting, others in 

 hunting ; and certainly if any sport or pastime is capable 

 of being turned into ridicule it is modern hunting, in 

 which some twenty to thirty couple of savage hounds, 

 accompanied by hundreds of horsemen, go forth to effect 

 the capture of a poor little animal like the fox, or 

 still more feeble and timid hare, when either might be 

 easily shot, trapped, or snared ? But the truth is that, 

 to a great extent, it is unreasonable to compare one sport 

 with another, for instance, hunting or shooting with fish- 

 ing, with a view to special exaltation or depreciation. 

 The whole thing is a question de gustibus ; and further- 

 more, there is no reason why a man may not derive 

 intense pleasure in the pursuit of all the three field 

 sports most popular in this country. Indeed I know 

 many men who are equally enthusiastic as to all these 

 pastimes^ and follow each with equal zeal and enjoyment, 

 as time and opportunity give facilities for one or the 

 other. Bach has its features, and each supplies its votary 

 for the time being with the amusement and enjoyment he 



