food, it has now come to be classed among the health-giving and pleasurable recreations included under the essentially British term Sport; and such are its fascinations, that fishing has not only been pursued by poets and philosophers, but its accompanying charms have been frequently extolled in their writings, while proficients in the art have exhausted the subject in the many works they have issued, giving valuable experiences, laying down excellent rules, and propounding theories alternately upheld or rejected.

Sydney Smith says that fly-fishing is a light, volatile, dissipated < pursuit; nevertheless, and at the risk of repeating some of the writers aforesaid, for there is no new thing under the sun,' we propose to say a few words on that branch of the gentle craft.' Let it not be supposed that we select fly-fishing specially for our theme as being the most killing method of luring fish to the basket-the worm and the spinning minnow are on occasion far more deadly-but because the pleasures accessory to that pastime are the most varied and attractive, and because its successful pursuit, calling for the display of the greatest skill, results in corresponding triumph.

The principal fish angled for with the fly in the United Kingdom are the salmon, the trout in its varieties, and the grayling.

The

The salmon (Salmo salar) is the largest and best of our freshwater fish, migrating to the rivers from the sea annually, for the purpose of spawning, after which it returns to salt water. young fry, called parr, remain in the rivers until the spring following their hatching, and then, as smolts, descend to the sea, returning in about two months as grilse. Again going to the sea, they return a second time full-grown salmon. Salmon appear to attain sizes proportionate to their native rivers. In small streams they seldom exceed 15 lbs., while such rivers as the Tweed and the Shannon produce very large fish. Salmon after spawning are called kelts, black or red fish, and are unseasonable until they have accomplished another migration. The close time, or fence months, varies in different districts: it may be generally stated to extend from the 15th of October to the 15th of January.

The great expense of salmon-fishing bars this magnificent sport to most. Its enjoyment can only be compassed by possession, a kind friend, or a long purse. We once asked an Irish professional piscator if we might hope to have some good salmon-fishing in a certain locality in the south-west of the Emerald Isle Be jabers, yer 'honour !' replied he, 'ye'll be tired flingin' 'em.' Mark the word— not catching, but flinging, as an urchin with stick, string, and crooked pin might throw sticklebacks over his shoulder. Well, we went there, and only killed, on an average, a salmon in a fortnight. But never shall we forget the delight of playing a lively 5-lb. peal -Scottice, grilse-with a very light single-handed trout-rod for twenty-nine minutes by watch, and landing him, or a 13-lb. salmon, hooked foul in the ventral fin, which it took us one hour and fiftytwo minutes to kill. Once we had a salmon on, which jumped quite out of the water and lay on the grass of the opposite bank;

so, propping up our rod with a forked stick, we crossed the river as best we could, and no sooner approached our friend than he jumped in again. Luckily, the prop held the rod, which of itself played the fish until we got back and finally secured him. Another salmonfishing experience, related by a friend, amused us so much that we recorded it in verse. Let the few lines of doggrel tell the tale :

'As I fished down the river, his rod in his hand,
I found Billy Green at my favourite stand,
With a fine salmon hooked, which adroitly to play,
While staggering drunk, he did vainly essay;
So I seized his coat-tails to save him a swim,
And as he played the fish, I deftly played him,
Till the salmon I gaffed and brought to the land,
And Billy subsided in peace on the strand,

Where the fish and his captor together lay prone
By excess, or by drought, alike being undone.'

The white trout, sea or salmon-trout (Salmo trutta) is very similar to the salmon in its habits. It is a shorter fish comparatively, and its tail is more square. One of 10 lbs. is a heavy fish. White trout are, however, occasionally met with larger, and have been caught weighing over 20 lbs. They ascend the rivers on the west coast of Ireland in great numbers about July, and are the gamest fish taken with the fly. We remember a white trout of 6 lbs. on a large lake running straight away with eighty yards of our line, and then coming to a full stop. On rowing up to him, he was found quite dead, the backward drag of that length of line having opened his gills and drowned him.

The sewin of Wales seems to be but a variety of the white trout, and enters the rivers debouching on the coast of the Bristol Channel, the Towy, Loughor, Ogmore, &c., in considerable quantities with the floods of, and after, midsummer. The Welsh claim the sewin to be a distinct species, and it has been named Salmo Cambricus; but the tendency of that people is to glorify their own, and even sometimes to appropriate what is not their own. A Welsh parson, dining at a table on which was set a splendid turbot, turned to his host with the inquiry, I peg you pardon, sir, but was he' (pointing to the turbot) 'cot in Towee? The sewin is a most lively fish, and affords excellent sport for the rod.

The bull trout (Salmo eriox) is like the salmon, but thicker in the nape and shoulders. It rarely exceeds 15 lbs. in weight, but feeds voraciously, and gives good sport. Besides the above, there are the great lake trout and the gillaroo trout; the latter a peculiar fish, with a gizzard like a bird. These are more frequently killed with the spinning bait than with the fly.

But the prince of fish for the angler is the common brown trout (Salmo fario). More sport, in the aggregate, is obtained from this beautiful fish than from all the others; for he is to be found in nearly all our rivers and brooks, and is accessible to many beyond

whose means lies the pursuit of the lordly salmon. The brown trout is too well known to need much description. Reaching perfect condition in June, after the Mayfly is gone, his olive back, studded with black, and his golden side, sprinkled with scarlet spots, present a lovely picture. Trout vary considerably, even in the same river, according to the variations in its bed. Preferring swift and gravelly streams, they are there generally bright and light coloured, while in boggy water they become of a dark saffron hue, and sometimes nearly black. Trout weigh from a few ounces to 3 lbs. or 4 lbs., rarely 10 lbs. Fishing with the natural Mayfly on Lough Arrow, we one day killed eleven trout averaging 4 lbs. each; the heaviest being 7 lbs. The special haunts of trout in any particular stream can only be ascertained by experience; tails of rapids-in the height of summer, when rivers are low, the rapids themselves— spots sheltered by stones, which break the current, and under projecting banks, are all favourite places. Trout are most capricious, though ravenous, feeders, and will sometimes rise very freely for half an hour or so (called the time of the take'); and at others the angler has hard work to add an occasional fish to his basket. 2 lbs. per hour is first-rate performance in trout-fishing. We have lost

The

a fly in striking a trout, and, fishing over the same spot twenty minutes afterwards, caught him and recovered the fly fast in his mouth. Frequently have we caught two trout at a time, and, occasionally, in Hampshire, a trout with one fly and a perch with the other. season for trouting begins generally in April and lasts till the end of September. Warm, cloudy days, with a smart breeze from west or south are the best for trout-fishing, and the times, before twelve and after two; but the conditions desirable for this sport vary with the months, and are altogether doubtful and difficult to determine. A certain knowledge of promising weather is, however, most essential. We certainly consider the results of one really good day's troutfishing to be payment in full for many bad ones.

It remains only to take a slight notice of the grayling, or umber (Salmo thymallus). This fish is so local as to be comparatively little known. He occurs in Hampshire, Yorkshire, Shropshire, &c., and his great merit is that he is in his prime in December, when other fly-caught fish are out of season. He is hog-backed, with large eyes and tapering body, smelling like a cucumber. The grayling is seldom more than sixteen inches in length; but, being a fish that would afford much amusement to fly-fishers on mild days in winter, it is a pity that his habitats are not artificially extended. Perhaps in these days of pisciculture they soon may be.

Beautifully made flies can be procured from the tackle shops at most reasonable rates; but, where leisure and aptitude admit, the pleasures of fly-fishing are greatly enhanced to the fisherman who can dress his own. The possessor of this acquirement does not need to encumber his book with a quantity of imitations of imaginary insects. With a few standard flies and the materials for tying, he will be prepared for every emergency, and be enabled to meet the

frequent change of taste which trout especially display. Sportsmen resident near a river will always have a knowledge of the most taking local flies, and visitors should glean from them every information they can on this important point.

Without entering into the vexed question of fishing up or down. stream, we are disposed to think that the arguments pro and con are sufficiently balanced for the fisher to practise either method, provided the wind be behind him. This is a heresy to some; but to throw against wind requires a stiff rod, and our prejudice is in favour of a light and pliant one. Practice, perseverance, and, above all, observation, may make a good fly-fisher: book-learning never will.

Yet be it not overlooked that the pleasure to be derived from a day's fly-fishing is not limited to the mere killing of fish. The innumerable beauties of nature are spread before the angler; and if he have a spice of the artist, or a little love of botany or natural history in him, he will feel that his time has not passed idly away, even though he return to his home with but a lightly-weighted creel. M. E.

'PUT AWAY.

I RECOLLECT the time full well, not many seasons back,
How yellow-pied old Governess was leader of the pack,
How merry hounds would chorus, and how foxes used to fly,
When once her note rang deep and true, 'preluding to a cry.'

I marked her, too, last autumn, when at dusky break of day,
The cubs ran ringing round the wood (the vixen stole away),
And later, when the line was foiled, and scent was almost gone,
Through woodland and through heather how she led the young ones on.

I noticed but a week ago, when over fallow ground,

The fox had nearly beat them, and there never spoke a hound,
How she took up the running, and though pace was never fast,
We hunted into darkness, and ran into him at last.

But now the fun is over, for the ground is hard and dry,
'Tis time the work were finished, and the tools were all laid by;
There's young blood coming forward, lass; who lag may learn to lead,
Yet what shall rise to take thy place, and help the pack at need?

Next season other hounds may run, and other foxes fly,
For thee there's no more sport on earth; good-bye, old girl, good-bye!
R. E. A.

YACHTING AND ROWING.

THE yachting world is fairly astir, most of the Thames clubs having fixed their opening days early this month; and if the important matches are arranged so as not to clash more than can be helped, there is every prospect of a brilliant season, judging from the number of new vessels on the stocks, and ready, or nearly so. During the winter some of last year's clippers have, as usual, been undergoing sundry alterations, the policy of letting well alone having as many opponents as partisans amongst the yachting fraternity. The New Thames Club adhere to their new system of measurement which provoked so much discussion last year. The Marquis of Ailsa, acting as the mouthpiece of several yacht owners, notified to the Commodore the determination of owners of thirty-five vessels not to enter in the matches sailed under the new scale; but the club, at a general meeting, have unanimously resolved to adhere to it, though the subject will doubtless be again brought forward at the close of the season, if not earlier. Meanwhile, the new plan will have a trial, and, should it succeed, its advocates will undoubtedly score; while, on the contrary-but that remains to be seen, and, as followers of the soothsaying band may remember, in connection with City and Suburban, not to mention other races, it is not wise to prophesy unless you know.

Amongst professional oarsmen there has been quite a revival of energy this spring, and both on the Thames and Tyne several interesting affairs have taken place, bringing out one or two débutants of promise. A double-sculling race early in the year, between Cannon and Coxen of Kingston, and Griffiths and Burgoine of Wandsworth, from Putney to Mortlake, was principally remarkable for the immense confidence of the losing party, 4 to 1 being currently laid against the upriver men, who, although inferior in physique, were well together, while the Wandle pair, though strong enough, lacked lightness and finish, and, after holding their own pretty well for a quarter of a mile, were left behind by the Kingstoners, who at Hammersmith had three lengths to the good, and did as they liked afterwards. On the Tyne, R. Bagnall, who was last spring thought good enough to row Sadler over the championship course, beat Lumsden easily, after a fine race. A foul occurred, owing to Lumsden being too much done to keep his boat straight, and Bagnall, who was palpably the better man, of course got the verdict. The day previous his quondam ally, T. Winship, was less fortunate in a match with Ralph Hepplewhite, who beat him very easily at the finish. The champion's mile spin with Boyd was the next sensation on the Tyne, and proved a very near thing, as the men stuck together nearly all the way; but close home, Boyd, getting a lead, just managed to keep it, and Sadler was beaten by half a length. On the Thames, the invincible little Spencer, who has rowed and won some half-dozen matches in succession, disposed of Griffiths of Wandsworth, a strong but clumsy sculler, who, as is usual with Spencer's opponents, went away at first, but was rowed down as per precedent in due course, and the Chelsea man won easily enough at Hammersmith. Griffiths, however, scored a victory at his next essay, over the same course, against Thomas of Hammersmith, and though neither of the men showed much form,the race proved a most exciting one. Thomas was greatly fancied by his friends until a day or two before the event, when Spencer, giving him a spin, ran right away. The Hammersmith party, however, relying on Griffiths' shortcomings, still made their man favourite, and 6 to 4 was laid at the start.