146 Dependence on tide. Chapt. xii. 



have any chance of taking them. I have come to this 

 conclusion from watching a river from a place where I 

 had a view of a good stretch up and down. And I 

 had no rod in my hand, so that my ohservations were 

 uninterrupted by fishing. When I first came to the spot 

 all was quiet, not a fish was moving. Then the tide turned 

 to flow, and I saw all along the edge of the river, between 

 me and the sea, heavy fish rushing at smaller fish, and 

 making great swirls on the surface; when they came 

 opposite me, the place was alive with big fish striking 

 little ones; but it did not last more than a quarter of 

 an hour: with the advancing tide the swells and the 

 swirls passed upwards, and I could plainly watch their 

 course into the far distance. It was clear that the text 

 at the head of the chapter was closely applicable, and 

 it came into one's mind at once 



"There is a tide in the affairs of fish 



"Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune." 



It is not the same at the ebb tide. It is only at the com- 

 mencement of the flood tide that the fish are moving. 

 If you will accept my advice therefore, you will save 

 yourself the trouble of fishing in estuaries, till the tide 

 turns in your favor. But I do not suppose you will take 

 my word for it. "Hope springs eternal in the human 

 "breast," and like every one else you will go and try for 

 yourself, hoping for sport. I wish you may get it. I 

 know you will not, unless you are bottom fishing, and 

 then you may chance to pick up an eel or other small 



