PLY-LEAVES FROM A FISHERMAN'S DIARY.
Fly-leaves front a Fisherman's Diary. By Captain G. E. Sharp. (Edward Arnold. 5s. net.)—This is a little book which, the author tells us modestly, does not aspire to rank as a scientific treatise on angling. Nor does he claim the possession of skill or knowledge above that of his brother-fisherman. Yet he feels impelled to write about his sport. Nor do we regret that he should have yielded to the impulse. Captain Sharp tells us in his preface that he writes of fishing because it is one of the greatest pleasures which the world holds for him. To those who share his tastes we cordially recommend Ply-leaves from a Fisher- man's Diary. It is a small book with little of the diary about it, for it is rather a series of descriptive essays than a fisherman's journal. The specimen days, mixed with an angler's reflections, extend from February to October. Captain Sharp, even in the dullest months of winter, cannot keep away from his beloved stream. He writes simply and without effort, describing with the proper words what he and others feel about trout-fishing. He does not name the favourite river, of which his club rents a stretch, but we recognise a typical South Country chalk-stream not fez from a Cathedral city. His days of fishing are snatched between intervals of work, and many a long bicycle ride does he take to be there for the evening rise. Be does not profess to teach, nor does he describe great days, but he has given us a pleasant little book.
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