A BOOK OF FISHING STORIES.* THESE true tales of fishing
experiences, written by famous anglers and superbly illustrated, will form welcome reading during the winter season to those whose year begins with the opening of the waters. Mr. Aflalo has cast his net wide Trout and salmon naturally take the chief place, but there are chapters on coarse fish and on sea-fish ing, as well aa on the taking of foreign monsters. Mr. Sydney Buxton, wisest of guides, gives some notes from his long experience, and a few of the bags which he has been fortunate enough to make. The chapter on "Sea Trout" from Sir Edward Grey's book is reprinted, with a picture of the author which reveals an unexpected likeness to Cecil Rhodes. Lady Evelyn Cotterell writes of great catches of salmon in the famous Gordon Castle waters on the Spey, and Sir Thomas Eamonde tells of " dapping " with the may- fly for Lough Derg trout. Mr. Gathorne-Hardy, who most have cast a line oftener and further than most men, confesses that he has never killed a salmon heavier than twenty-fivepounds, while Sir Henry Seton•Karr has fish to tell of which make a modest man's mouth water. Such are the chances of the sport. Sir Herbert Maxwell explains how in these over-populated days trout-fishing can be created or improved—a lesson which must soon be taken to heart if there is to be any cheap fishing left in the land. Lord Desborough contributes a delightful chapter on tarpon-fishing, where the ordinary excitements of angling are increased by the dangers of sharks, of being towed out to sea, and of having the tarpon jump into the boat beside you. As for the fishes of Santa Catalina, which Dr. Holder describes, with them angling becomes a reckless form of big. game hunting combined with water-polo. A swordfish weighing several hundred pounds looks like tempting Providence. The question, as in the famous Tweedside story, would be not "Did he get a fish ?" but "Did a fish get him? " The mahseer is a gentler creature, though big enough for most tastes, and Colonel Bairnsfather tells vividly of his pursuit among the warm muddy rivers of the Indian hills. Every chapter is worth reading, and the hook provides also one of the finest portfolios of angling pictures that we remember to have seen.
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