Page:Blackwood's Magazine volume 137.djvu/192

186 == THE WATERS OF HERCULES. – PART VII. ==

CHAPTER XXIII. – FISHING.
"Bait the hook well; this fish will bite."

– Much Ado about Nothing.

this time a fishing mania took possession of the Hercules valley. One eccentric Englishman had been enough to fire the enthusiasm of several dozen people, who immediately discovered that they had a passion for this watery sport. Everybody fished, and everybody had a different system of fishing, and everybody likewise spoke with withering scorn of every system but his own. The fish in this wild Djernis river were unwary and ignorant; and with so many systems brought to bear against them, it would go hard, surely, if some hundreds of those finny barbarians were not landed before the week was out.

Dr Kokovics's System.

Dr Kokovics was all for energetic measures; he usually was for energetic measures, both in public and in private life. He quite deprecated any system which professed only to lure or coax the fish out of their element. He argued, amidst frantic gestures and with much throwing back of his head to clear his eyes from the fringe of hanging locks, that the fish should be got out of the water with as much noise and general rejoicing as could by any possibility be managed. This object was satisfactorily attained by the means of explosive bombs, which being thrown into the river, sent the fish floating, stunned, to the surface. In this way the process was raised to the level of a public entertainment. Seats could be arranged for the ladies by the side of the river; torches could be used; and a band of music, stationed behind the bushes, could fill up the intervals between the bombs with martial or operatic strains – so that in the case of no fish being caught, the public amusement need not suffer on that account. A choice selection of pieces bearing a piscatorial allusion, such as "Vieni la barca e pronta," or "Di pescatore ignobile," together with Schubert's "Forelle," were already noted down on one of the innumerable slips of paper to be rehearsed for the occasion.

The Conte Francopazzi's System.

The Conte Francopazzi timidly objected to the foregoing system; his own nerves were not strong, and bombs had played too serious a part in the political feuds of his beloved country ever to be viewed by him in the light of a mere frivolous amusement. He ventured to suggest that fish should be accustomed to the sight of man by gradual stages. Find a quiet, retired pool; go there for a week daily, with your pockets full of bread and cheese and broken meat; and – if you are not particular about your lining – cold vegetables. Empty the contents into the retired pool every day at the same hour. At the end of the week the fish will be fat, tame, and unsuspicious. You have nothing to do now but to abuse their confidence and betray their trust by throwing in the daily meal, with the addition of hooks and lines, and you will soon have a basketful beside you. (This