"  Good !"  I  replied ;  **  land  him  with  great  care."
Then  he  was  laid  gently  on  the  grass,  his  scaly  sides
glistening  like  molten  silver,  while  I  enjoyed  a  certain
sensation  of  pride  which  only  he  can  ^eel  who  plays  an
cighteen-pounder  with  a  single  gut  and  brings  him  to
gaff.
Curiously  enough,  I  did  not  get  another  stir,  though
I  whipped  the  stream  until  noon.  I  had  had  sport
enough,  however,  and  felt  content  with  the  day's  work.
The  truth  is,  there  are  very  few  delicious  sensations  in
life  entirely  unalloyed  with  pain,  and  playing  a  salmon
successfully  is  one  of  them.     He  is

A  fish  of  wonderful  beauty  and  force,

That  bites  like  a  steel-trap,  and  pulls  like  a  horse ;

and  a  man  grows  taller  of  stature  and  broader  of  heart


t  f;


1 64


Starboard  and  Port.
when  he  has  safely  landed  one  of  these  glories  of  the
deep,  after  an  hour's  strategy  and  struggle.
Pray  do  not  think  me  over-enthusiastic.     I  am  not
so  fascinated  by  the  gentle  art  as  to  say  that

"  All  pleasures  but  the  angler's  bring
I'  th'  tail  repentance  like  a  sting ;"

but  I  do  delight  in  the  change  from  the  worrying
troubles  of  city  life  to  the  sweet  and  refreshing  silence
of  the  woods.
"  I  love  to  see  the  man  of  care

Take  pleasure  in  a  toy ;
I  love  to  see  him  row  or  ride,

And  tread  the  grass  with  joy,
Or  throw  the  circling  salmon-fly

As  lusty  as  a  boy.
"  The  road  of  life  is  hard  enough,

Bestrewn  with  slag  and  thorn  ;
I  would  not  mock  the  simplest  joy

That  made  it  less  forlorn.
