it there, and be still more easily deceived than in the smoother water. To get your bait, use a silk casting net; and remember, that the chief art in throwing it is to hurl the right hand well round horizontally, instead of inclining it upwards. Keep your bait, with bran, in anything but tin or metal, which is liable to heat in warm weather. This, I believe, is all that need be said on the best mode of trolling.

I have sent for, and read, the whole of this article, on the subject, to his piscatorial reverence, who, after the most rigid criticism that he could make, approved of it in the extreme, as well as of the improvement in the tackle, with which, before he would pronounce his judgment, he fished for a whole morning. The previous one, on fly fishing, I have submitted to the very best fly fisher I ever saw; but as it would ill become me to repeat his remarks, I must leave the correctness of it to the judgment of the reader.

There are generally known three other modes of trolling. The first is the diving minnow, which is precisely on the same plan as the gorge-hook for pike. This answers well in very deep holes, where you may frequently kill trout when the sun is too bright for the more common mode of trolling. On this plan, you must, of course, loosen the line, and allow the trout some time. to pouch his bait. The second is the artificial minnow, which is the worst of all: because it does not, in general, spin so well; and, particularly, because it is too frequently made of hard materials, on which a fish, unless very hungry, will seldom close his mouth enough to get hooked. The third is called the kill-devil; and although, in appearance, not near so like a real fish as the other,

yet it spins so well, and is so much softer in the mouth, that it answers, I think, the best of all plans, when you cannot procure the natural bait. Any good fishingtackle-shop will furnish these articles, and therefore it would be a waste of time and of paper to give a minute description of them.

1853.- The best are now made of gutta percha; but, after all, none of the artificial can compete with the natural minnow.

WORM FISHING. Though fishing with a lob-worm cannot be called trolling, yet it may be right, en passant, merely to state that this is the best way to kill fish in a mill-hole, when the sun is too bright for the fly, or the minnow; and also a very destructive plan for night-work. But I name such a diversion only as a pastime for the juvenile performer, though not with the contempt that Dr. Johnson does, who says, "Fly fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end, and a fool at the other."

If, however, the poor angler should feel sore at the wit, he might, in his turn (if scavenger enough to descend to verbal criticism), have a little pleasantry with the philologer, by brandishing his rod and exclaiming,

"almost as bad, good doctor,"

as-a wag and a worm-fisher, with a comparison at one end, and nothing to compare with at the other! And when he has put away the stick and the string (and washed his hands) he may substantiate the propriety of his retort by looking out the words "compare to " in the doctor's own dictionary; which we should be as unkind to the doctor,

as he has been to the angler, if we did not acknowledge as the best authority in existence.

The foregoing subject has led to a wide digression, or, to have recourse to a musical comparison, has thrown us into an extraordinary modulation, which, as the great Albrecht Berger observes, "may astonish," but "not please." By this rule, therefore, I should not have presumed to speak on what is foreign to my subject, by introducing that of fishing, if I had not some example of exception, as authority to do so. Isaac Walton appears to please every one; and this gives me a sort of licence to consider that I may now even go further on the subject. Before dismissing it, therefore, I may as well tell a gentleman's cook how to dress a trout, in my shooting book, as he introduced a milkmaid's song in his fishing book, particularly as eating is a more general concern than singing; and, above all, as there is not more than one cook in a thousand that does not spoil every trout in the dressing.

If a trout is out of season, or in poor condition, it would be needless to attempt dressing it in the ne plus ultra way; and, perhaps, the best simple recipe might be to split it, and broil it, with an occasional touch of cold butter. But when fresh caught, and in high season, the way to dress it is thus:

Directly you have caught the trout, crimp it, with about four cuts on each side, taking care to let the blade of the knife be in a sloping direction, so as to make every incision rather circular and parallel to the gills, instead of having the blade of the knife perpendicular, by which you would cut too much across the flakes, and the fish would not be near so firm. Then, if you have a pump at hand, let the trout be pumped upon as hard as possible, for about

ten minutes; and if not, the laying it in cold spring water will do nearly as well. Having done this, put the fish away, not in water, but on stones; or, in short, in the coldest place that can be found.

When dinner is nearly ready, clean the trout, leaving the scales on, and pump on it for a few minutes more. Then have a kettle of water, with a large handful of salt, and when the water properly boils (but not before), put the fish in; and an average-sized trout (say one of a pound weight) will be done in about ten minutes, and should then be sent immediately to table.

A trout, if possible, should always be dressed the day it is caught; and never put to soak and soften over the fire, in cold water, as is the general custom.

Remember, also, that if trout are suffered to remain in the water after being sufficiently boiled, they will directly become soft, and lose all the firmness which is given by this mode of dressing them. The same fish, if a large one, may be brought to table a second time, even for days or weeks after it has been first served up, by being put away in pickle enough to cover it, consisting of three-fourths of the liquor it was boiled in, and one-fourth of vinegar. These should be boiled up together, and poured over the fish, which must have with it some spice, bay-leaves, and either oil or fresh butter. The fish may then be taken from the pickle when wanted; put over the fire into boiling water for a few minutes, and then served up. This is a convenient recipe where a man has dressed some extraordinary fish, and then been disappointed of his dinner party.

It has been remarked by many other people, as well as myself, that of all fish in existence, there is not one that you can partake of so many days in succession, without