High and low, the steady strain maintaining;
The good rod swaying like a rush, as he
Surges through the flood.

Another leap!

Ye gods, how brave! Like a lion shaking
His shaggy mane, he dives below again.
Did you mark, my friend, his shrewd intent,
As he fell across the line? If he then
Had found it stretched and tense, his escape
Was surely made. But the tip was lowered;
And with yielding line, the hook still held him fast.

Now, truly, friend, he

Makes a gallant fight! In air, or water,

All the same, his spiny crest erect,

He struggles to the last. No sulking here;
But like a mettl'd steed, he champs the bit,
And speeds the best with firm-held, tighten'd, reia,
Now down the stream, he's off again, like shaft
From long-bow swiftly sped-his last bold spurt—
The effort cost him very dear; his strength

Is ebbing fast.

In decreasing circles

Now he swims, and labors with the tide.

As I reel the line, he slowly yields,

And now turns up his breast-plate, snowy white

A vanquish'd, conquer'd knight.

Now, my friend,

The landing-net; 'neath the surface hold it,
With firm and cautious hand. There, lift him
Gently out; and as gently lay him down.
His bright sides rival the velvet sward, in
Rich and glossy green.

See the great rent

The hook hath made! How easily 'tis withdrawn!

You marvel how I held him, safe? By the
Equal and continued strain of willowy rod,
And ever faithful reel.

Valiant, noble Bass!

Fit denizen of the brawling stream! Thy
Last fight is ended--thy last race is run!
Thy once lov'd pool 'neath the sycamore's shade,
Thy fancied stronghold 'neath its tangled roots,
Shall know thee no more.

Place him in thy creel;

Lay him tenderly on a bed of ferns,

Crisp, green and cool with sparkling, morning dew-
A warrior in repose!

[In the preface I have stated that the reader need not look for rhetorical efforts nor poetic descriptions in this book, for I make no pretense to a possession of the “divine afflatus;" it is hardly necessary, therefore, to say that the foregoing description of the "Capture of the Bass" forms no exception to that statement, for I am fully aware that it is faulty both in rhythm and measure. The description was originally written as plain prose, but it read so much like an affectation, or an attempt to be poetical, that I considered it the least evil to put it in its present form; which I did by the changing of less than a dozen words. The charitable reader will therefore please regard it, and read it, as plain prose, while the hypercritic will please consider the (poetical) feet developed rather (as in the case of the Bass) as fins, which will place it beyond the pale of critique.]

CHAPTER XXI.

FLY-FISHING.

"And now, scholar, my direction for fly-fishing is ended with this shower, for it has done raining."-IZAAK WALTON.

ARTIFICIAL FLY-FISHING is the most legitimate, scientific and gentlemanly mode of angling, and is to be greatly preferred to all other ways and means of capturing the finny tribe. It requires more address, more skill, and a better knowledge of the habits of the fish and his surroundings than any other method.

Fly-fishing holds the same relation to bait-fishing that poetry does to prose; and, while each method will ever have its enthusiastic admirers, only he who can skillfully handle the comely fly-rod, and deftly cast the delicate fly, can truly and fully enjoy the æsthetics of the gentle art. As the lover naturally "drops into poetry" to express the ardent feelings of his soul, "with a woful ballad made to his mistress' eyebrow," so the real lover of nature and the finny tribe as naturally takes to fly-fishing, and finds liquid poems in gurgling streams, and pastoral idyls in leafy woods.

A friend in Texas, to whom I sent a bass-fly (an Abbey), and who had never seen a "fly" before, enthusiastically declared it to be "a fish-hook poetized," and thought that a "Black Bass should take it through a love of the beautiful, if nothing else." Not only the fly, but every implement of the fly-fisher's outfit is a materialized poem.

Fly-fishers are usually brain-workers in society. From time immemorial the fraternity has embraced many of the most honored, intellectual and cultured members of the liberal professions and arts. Along the banks of purling streams, beneath the shadows of umbrageous trees, or in the secluded nooks of charming lakes, they have ever been found, drinking deep of the invigorating forces of nature-giving rest and tone to overtaxed brains and wearied nerves-while gracefully wielding the supple rod, the invisible leader, and the fairy-like fly.

Oh! how the sluggish pulses bound, the deadened nerves thrill, and the relaxed muscles quicken, responsive to the inspiration of the electric rise of the gamey denizens of the stream; and oh, how the buried forces of life are resurrected, renewed and strengthened by the hopes, and fears, and struggles, of the contest which follows! And when at last the brave beauty has been lovingly deposited in the creel, the restored angler feels that he has won a double victory; for, in the death of the fish, he sees renewed life for himself.

But the true fly-fisher, who practices his art con amore, does not delight in big catches, nor revel in undue and cruel slaughter. He is ever satisfied with a moderate creel, and is content with the scientific and skillful capture of a few good fish. The beauties of nature, as revealed in his surroundings-the sparkling water, the shadow and sunshine, the rustling leaves, the song of birds and hum of insects, the health-giving breeze-make up to him a measure of true enjoyment, and peace, and thankfulness, that is totally unknown to the slaughterer of the innocents, whose sole ambition is to fill his creel and record his captures by scores; and who realizes naught in his surroundings but

the hot sun, slippery rocks, baffling winds, and the annoyance of overhanging trees and bushes. The time is coming when such an angler will receive, as well as merit, the scorn and contempt of all good and true disciples of the gentle art.

RIGGING THE CAST.

By a reference to the chapters devoted to the implements of angling, the reader will obtain a full description of those used in fly-fishing, which are the fly-rod, the clickreel, the tapered fly-line, the leader, the fly, the fly-book, the creel, the landing-net, and the useful adjuncts, for stream-fishing, of wading-pants or stockings; and, by referring to the pages on knots, the following directions for rigging the cast will be rendered more intelligible:

A few snelled Sproat or O'Shaughnessy hooks should be carried in the fly-book, to use with such natural baits as grasshoppers, beetles or dragon-flies, in case the artificial fly does not prove successful. They are to be used in the same manner as artificial flies.

The beginner being now provided with all the tools, it is in order to put his rod together, attach reel, reel-line, and cast of flies, and proceed to business. In rigging the cast, if the leader is provided with loops at each end, and also loops for drop-flies, proceed as follows: To the small end of the leader attach the stretcher or tail-fly by passing the loop of the leader through the loop of the snell and over the fly, then draw together. Three or four feet from the tail-fly attach the dropper, or bob-fly, in the same manthat is, put the loop of the snell over the loop of the leader, and push the fly through the latter loop and draw tight; or, if the leader is not furnished with loops for this

ner;