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GRAVITY OF FACE (AFFECted.)

Persons who assume reserve, gravity, and silence, often practise this trick to gain credit of the world for that sense and information which they are conscious that they do not possess. When I see a grave fool put on this pompous disguise, he reminds me of a poor and vain man who places strong padlocks on his trunks, so that the visitor may suppose that they contain valuable articles; though he knows himself that they are quite empty. How keenly does our great bard satirize such men

"There are a sort of men whose visages

Do cream and mantle like a standing pool,
And do a wilful stillness entertain,
toWith purpose to be dress'd in an opinion
Of Wisdom, Gravity, profound Conceit;
As who should say, I am Sir Oracle,
And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark.""

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Merchant of Venice.

HUMANITY.

This excellent quality is too often aped by a political party of a certain species, which pretends great, tenderness towards the lower ranks of society, and loads them with praises to degrade the higher ranks, and thus hides its hatred of superiors under the veil of friendship to inferiors. This political hypocrisy reminds me of the trick of the stalking horse, who appears a friendly visitor to the poor animals whose destruction is intended, and conceals the man with his fatal instrument behind him.

GENIUS.

How many in youth flourish with very early blossoms of genius, who in their more mature age drop them, and bear no fruit; adverse circumstances, ill health, &c. act upon these tender plants as the frost in March and April nights attacks our most promising fruittrees before they are set, and the hopes and the labour of the gardener are lost in one night.

THE SAME.

Men of extraordinary talents, but of desultory habits, and starting aside from all the world's customs, are looked up to by the rest of the species with admiration and terror, and are considered as comets, rare and splendid indeed, but not connected with any known system, and attached to no common center.

GARRULITY.

Fluency of speech in some persons is no proof of talents or acquirements, and is rather a sign of a morbid than an healthful state of the mind. It is not from the rapid and frequent beats of the pulse that the health of the body is to be inferred, but from their forcible and vigorous pulsation.

FEMALE STUDENTS.

character lose much of that softness and Women by assuming the literary commendations to the love of the other delicacy of manner which are their re

sex.

When birds are kept in cages and taught a variety of notes, their power over sounds is indeed much increased; they are more noisy, but the natural sweetness of their voices is lost. A friend was once asked whether he would choose a learned wife; "Sir," says he, I would as soon take one with a beard."

To be concluded in our next.

ON ANGLING.

LETTER V.

The Trout.-An Anecdote introductory to the Description; various Species, and Haunts of the Trout.

ONE morning at the end of May I sallied forth to the banks of the Stour, near Canterbury, in order to pursue my favourite diversion of angling for trout. The sky, dappled with fleecy clouds that were gently moved by a western breeze, flattered my hopes of fine weather. The season was in its prime; for, as our favourite Milton says, "all things smiled with fragrance, and with joy my heart o'erflow'd," and that joy was excited by "each rural sight, each rural sound." The trees were clothed with newly expanded leaves, of tender green, the hawthorns adorned the hedges with snowy blossoms, the wild rose and the honeysuckle perfumed the air with their fragrance, the notes of the blackbird and the cuckoo saluted my ears; and as I approached the meadows of newly-mown grass, the western wind, that gently agitated the poplars and the willows, seemed to whisper in a language intelligible to an angler, that I should be gratified by abundant sport.

But what are the hopes and expectations of man? Frail and unstable as the being who forms them. Just as I was approaching a favourite station, a gust of wind arose from the south, and a sudden and violent shower compelled me to run for shelter to a neighbouring copse. I soon began to wish I had remained at home, where I should not have consumed the best hours of the day in idleness, and wasted my time without benefit to myself or others. Alas! thought I, when night comes, I shall have reason to exclaim as the Emperor Titus did, when he had passed a day without performing a good action, Diem perdidi-"I have lost a day."

My reverie, in which I was acting the self-tormentor, was interrupted by the deep note of a nightingale concealed in a neighbouring thicket. It was indeed "most musical, most melancholy," and accorded remarkably well with my pensive train of thought. Soon after, a poor woman, leading a little girl in as mean attire as her own, came running to the same spot for shelter from the increasing storm. She told me a tale of woe simple and pathetic; she was a soldier's wife, and was going to a magis

BY AN AMATEUR..

trate in Canterbury to crave an allow ance for herself and her children. I relieved my feelings of compassion by giving her enough to supply the wants of the day, and I then began to think my time was not entirely lost. Have I not, "thinks I to myself," heard the sweetest warbler of the grove; and have I not heard what is far more melodious, the touching and grateful voice of poverty relieved? Courage then, and heartfelt gratulation, Diem non perdidi - I have not lost a day.

You, whose disposition is truly benevolent, and who, like Uncle Toby, have the milk of human kindness flowing in your veins, will, I am confident, excuse my making this incident the introduc tion to my remarks on trout-fishing; as it was the prelude to my beginning that sport upon the banks of the Stour: and during the frequent intervals of my diversion (for I passed several rainy days there) I drew up the following part of this Letter for your use.

The trout is thus described: "Trutta fluviatilis, with red spots, and the lower jaw rather longer than the upper." No fish excel trout in beauty when they are in high season, that is, after they have forsaken the deep for the shallow water, have felt the genial influence of the vernal sun, and sated themselves with minnows and may-flies. Their form is then very elegant, and their most striking characteristic consists in the spots of vivid crimson with which they are marked. Ausonius has given a very happy description of this distinction.

Purpureisque salar stellatus tergore guttis. "The salar's back with crimson spots is starr'd."

The female has a smaller head than the male, is deeper and larger in the body, and is brighter in colour.

In flavour, as in colour, trouts differ much. In Berkshire I have caught some of a dirty white, and yet they were tolerably well tasted. In the Kennet they are, when in high season, of a beautiful pink, and none are of a finer flavour. In the subterraneous stream that runs through the cavern in the Peak of Derby, I saw some that were blackish, and certainly not inviting either to the skill or the taste of the angler.

Small rivers that flow from a bed of peat-moss produce trout of a dark colour, nearly black on the back and shoulders, and of a yellowish white on the belly.

2

In the Sprint and Mint, two rivers which unite their streams just above Kendal in Westmoreland, trout so vary in colour, that you can easily distinguish which are taken from each river. The grey trout, the salmo lacustris of Linnæus, is found in Kentmere and Whinfell Tarns, not far from Kendal. They are likewise found in Ullswater. When I was there I was informed they reached 50 and even 60 pounds weight. This fish is of a lightish grey, marked all over with spots about the size of a per-corn.

half has, in the space of a year, grown in a stew to the weight of eight pounds and a half. Instances have indeed been known of a trout growing a pound per week.*"

This account confirms the observation of Isaac Walton, that "the trout is of a more sudden growth than other fish; you are also to take notice, that he lives not so long as the pearch, and divers other fishes do, as Sir F. Bacon has observed in his History of Life and Death. ተ pep

You will observe how much trout 'differ in size, either as they are of different species, or as particular streams are more or less favourable to their growth. A gentleman who lives at Ramsbury caught one at Avington in the Kennet, that weighed more than five pounds. A trout was caught at Coltishall in Norfolk, in February 1812, that was 39 inches in length, and weighed 16 pounds. One was taken in the Stour in December 1797, that weighed 26 pounds. In Llyndivi, a lake in South Wales, there are trout called Coch y dail, marked with red and black spots as big as sixpences. Others are found there without spots, and of a reddish hue, that sometimes weigh nearly 10 pounds each, but they are of a bad taste. In Lough Neah in Ireland are trout reported to weigh 30 pounds each. A curious species called the Gillarow trout, said to have a gizzard, is a native of the lake of Killarney.

The best rivers that I am acquainted with for trout-fishing are the Kennet in Wiltshire, the Stour near Canterbury, the Dove and the Derwent in Derbyshire, the Eden and the Pettre near Carlisle, and the Usk and the Wye in Monmouthshire. But for a whole county, Mr. Boulker, the author of the "Art of Angling," an excellent little treatise, says, that "Hampshire bears the bell for its many great and small, swift, shallow, clear, lovely and pleasant rivers and brooks, abounding with admirable trout."

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The rapid growth and increase of a trout will cease to be a subject of your surprise, when you are informed that this fish is a most voracious feeder. As a proof of it, a gentleman informed me that he caught a trout in the Avon, near Sommerton in Wiltshire, that weighed not more than two pounds. In his belly were found, undigested and almost perfectly fresh, no fewer than forty minnows. Perhaps it is difficult to produce an example of a fish, or any other animal, that better deserves the name of a glutton-except man, the lord of the creation, who too often disgraces his pre-eminence by excess, and not least in his consumption of the watery tribe, particularly turbot and turtle.

The smallest of the trout kind is called a samlet, the salmo farius of Linnæus; but ought it not to be called more properly a troutlet? It is found in the Wye, and in the rivers in the north of England, and Wales. Some suppose it to be the spawn of the salmon; but Pennant gives very strong reasons for dissenting from that opinion. The most material are these samlets are found in fresh water all the year, but salmon never are. The salmon reaches a considerable size before it begins to breed; the samlets, on the contrary, are found, male and female, distinguished by the milt and the roe, of their common size. They seldom exceed six or seven inches in length.

When I was at Keswick in Cumberland, I saw a fly-fisher catch several of these samlets in a rocky stream_that runs into the lake. At that time I reprobated the practice of killing such small fish; but I have since met with the observations of Pennant, and they have removed my scruples upon the subject. The samlet is, I think, the same little beautiful fish that is called a par in Scotland, and a skirling in Wales.

See Mavor's Berkshire, p. 48. + Walton's Angler, c. 4.

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The favourite haunts of trout are purling brooks, or swiftly-gliding rivers, where the bottom consists of pebbles, gravel, smooth stones, or fragments of rocks. Trouts differ in quality and size according to the nature of the soil over which the water runs; the most delicate in flavour are found where the bottom is of lime-stone. The larger the trout, the more likely he is to be found in deep water, near hollow banks shaded with trees, or at the bending of a stream, or where it makes an eddy. Other favourite haunts are near the piles of bridges, under the roots of willows that hang over the water, or at the tail of mill-streams, where he watches for the various kinds of prey which the current brings down to him.

"The trout of delicate complexion creeps,
Sickly, deform'd, and squalid in the deeps;
Lean and unwholesome, while descending snows
Thicken the floods, and scourging Boreas blows;
But when the vernal energy prevails

O'er Winter's gelid breath-when western gales
Curl the pure shallows, and his strength restore,
His scales he brightens on the pebbly shore;
His colours rise, and in the rapid maze,
Gay as the spring, the lively wanton plays."

your

Having thus informed you where the trout is to be found, and excited desire to catch him, not merely by my humble prose, but by the far more powerful excitement of the above description taken from "The Angler," a very pleasing poem, the whole of which well deserves your perusal : I shall reserve more particulars for another Letter.

LETTER VI.

The subject of Trout-fishing continued.— Choicest Baits, the Minnow and the Fly. Remarks on artificial Flies.. Anecdotes illustrative of the Nature of the Trout.-Approved Method of dressing the Trout.

As trout are very crafty, and very nice in their food, be careful to use the finest tackle, and well-scoured and lively worms, when you angle for them at the bottom of the water. You will find, however, that you will angle to most advantage in the middle and on the surface of the water for them; and that the baits most conducive to a superior kind of sport when you do so, are the minnow and the fly.

No method of angling is so fatal to a trout as spinning a minnow, and no other bait is so cagerly pursued. Isaac Walton observes, with his usual aptness of trout will

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as the highest mettled hawk doth seize
on a partridge, or a greyhound
hare." This method is generally prac-
tised early in the season, before Hy-fish-
ing is begun. It requires very fine and
strong tackle, a quick eye, aud great
dexterity. It keeps the angler, as well
as his bait, in almost perpetual motion.
As I despair of making the practice per-
fectly easy and pleasant to you by par-
ticular directions, I recommend you to
make yourself an adept in the art, by
observing some experienced angler fix
his swivels, hook his bait, so as to make
it spin well, and apply it to use. Among
other points of peculiar nicety which
are requisite in this kind of fishing, you
must ascertain the precise moment
when to strike a fish; be very careful
not to snatch the bait from his mouth,
and never strike till he has turned with
it. Facility and success in doing these
things depend upon the same application
of the eye and the hand, which are ne-
cessary in fly-fishing, as well as in shoot-
ing flying. You desire to be informed,
as artificial flies are found to succeed so
well with trout, why artificial minnows
should not answer the purpose as well?
I see no reason why they should not, if
they are skilfully made, and used at
proper times, that is, when the weather
is rough and windy, or when the water
is not perfectly clear. Isaac Walton
says he used one that would catch a
trout as well as an artificial fly; and he
gives a particular description how it was
made. A Scotch nobleman, an expert
trout-angler, informed me that he caught
a brace of large trout near Pangbourn
in Berkshire, with an artificial minnow
made of some hard composition, and
painted of the natural colour. After
catching the first fish, the paint was a
good deal rubbed off, and yet the second
fish seized the bait as eagerly as if the
imitation of the natural minnow had
continued to be exact. Nicholas Cox,
the author of "The Gentleman's Re-
creation," says, he has found an artificial
minnow made of cloth every whit as
good a bait as what was natural.

Other brothers of the angle will tell you, that it is very true you may attract trout with an artificial minnow to approach and gaze at it, but the instant they detect the artifice they turn short, and retreat to their holds. If real minnows can be procured, those anglers who wish to ensure sport always use them; and say, as King Philip did when

come on "that a large he was asked for his approbation of a

as fiercely at a minnow,

"

mimic who imitated the notes of the

nightingale, "I prefer the nightingale herself."

Yet here I cannot help observing to you, how few improvements have been made for a long time in regard to artificial baits in general. Walton speaks of artificial minnows as commonly received into the practice of angling; and Colonel Venables, in his "Experienced Angler," gives particular directions how to make an artificial cadbait. The fourth edition of his excellent and very scarce work was published in 1676; and no man of ingenuity has since arisen to make improvements during the long period of 144 years that have since elapsed. Yet I see no reason why artificial worms and gentles should not be tried, as well as artificial flies, grasshoppers, minnows, mice, and frogs; and if skilfully made, why they should not succeed under certain circumstances where fish are numerous and greedy. That artist would deserve high praise, and no small reward, who should succeed in such contrivances; and that angler might claim a piscatory crown who should succeed in their application, and thus spare himself the trouble of procuring the living baits, and rescue his humanity from the necessity of putting them to the torture.

The following is the method of angling in the North of England, where trout abound in the rivers and lakes much more than with us, and the knowledge of the fishermen is much greater in proportion to their greater experience.

When a river is swelled by heavy rains, and is muddy, the northern ang lers, the expert natives of Cumberland and Westmoreland, fish at the bottom with a well-scoured worm. When the flood begins to retire, they use the roan, or salmon spawn. The excellence of this spawn as a general bait for fish, was well known to Walton and Barker.* After the river is grown clearer, they use the minnow, and when the water has recovered its original orightness, their bait is the artificial fly."

"In a mild open winter, when the weather is warm, trout are caught with the fly, from the first week in January, and in February; but the regular fishing commences in March, and continues through April and May. Evening and night fishing is begun the latter end of May, and is continued in June, July,

See Bagster's Walton, p. 299, and Venables, p. 65.

J

and part of August. For this sport a larger fly is used than during the day. When the rivers are low in a dry season, it is proper to use a smaller fly; but all fishers do not know this valuable practice. The may-fly, or the stone-fly, is the favourite from the month of May to the end of June."

These observations, lately communicated to me by some northern anglers, are so valuable, that they may be regarded as jewels of the first water, and are most worthy of a place in the young angler's cabinet.

When I proceed to direct your attention to fly-fishing, the first remark I make is, that of all methods of angling this requires the most skill and activity, and a keen eye and a ready hand are as requisite to success as in minnow-fishing. He who is a proficient in this branch of the art, and like our friend Captain R, can throw a fly into a saucer at twenty yards distance, or can willow a fly-that is, throw it upon a willow bough on the opposite side, and make it fall so naturally upon the water, as if it was a real one, is qualified to take his Master's degree in the University of Anglers. Fly-fishing has this great advantage over boat or bank fishing, that it is neither a sedentary nor a stationary amusement, for it requires you to be in constant activity. The ground-angler, compared to the fly. fisher, is a mere statue upon a pedestal; but the fly-fisher is like the herald Mercury with his caduceus in his hand, always in motion, or ready for motion The former has this additional advantage over the latter, that he is free from the trouble of baiting his hook, and fouling his fingers, and the fish he catches are of a superior kind. He leaves the barbel, the gudgeon, and other groundlings, to be caught by " Patience personified in a Punt," and whips the surface of the water to secure the more valuable prizes of the trout, the grayling, and the salmon.

With regard to artificial flies, you may be shown many in the fishingtackle shops that are very neatly finished, and appear to be very fair imitations of nature; but let me be credited when I assure you of what is the result of my long experience, that one home-made fly is worth a dozen of them. The art of making them yourself is not, I think, very difficult to attain, particularly if you have an opportunity of seenig a person so employed. It is fortunate for the tyro in this kind of manufacture, that

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