THE ENGLISH LAKE COUNTRY 



spray from the beck that roars beside it into the lake 

 beyond. And in quiet times, when there are only 

 half a dozen guests in this or even in the large hotels, 

 my landlord is ready for anything. He will row you 

 on the lake while you woo the rather elusive trout of 

 Ullswater, or tramp to a distant tarn and paddle you 

 there if there is a boat on it, or take a long day's walk 

 over Kidsty and the High Street to Mardale, lunch 

 at the Black Bull and back to dinner, and what better 

 could one desire than a companion to whom the whole 

 country from the smallest wild-flower to the rudest 

 dalesman is an open book ! 



I sometimes think I should like to write a tract en- 

 titled * Advice to country hotel-keepers.' They could 

 make so much more of themselves with so very little 

 trouble. But perhaps the genus are born not made. 

 My landlord was born to shine, though so far from 

 being bred to the calling, he didn't take to it till 

 middle age, though he had in some respects a still 

 better preparation. But to imagine that a homily 

 could convert the average Boniface to his like is a vain 

 thought, for there are none like him for this kind of 

 place — no, not one within my knowledge, and I have 

 had a tolerable experience. The only fly in the oint- 

 ment beneath his roof is the temptation to over-eat 

 oneself. 



The trout of Ullswater are something of a mystery 

 even to their intimates. The whole lake with its 

 winding length of nearly nine miles is full of them. 

 Nor are there any coarse fish, but some baby perch. 

 The trout are smaller than those of Windermere and 

 Derwentwater, and only average about three to the 



