246 A YEAR OF LIBERTY ; OE, 



must soon be a portion of the dead past, and no longer a part of the 

 living joyous present 



Donegal, if the season be wet, makes excellent head-quarters for 

 the autumn. Our rod is never taken to pieces, but stands ready in 

 the yard night and day. Close to the door flows the river, and 

 at any moment, before breakfast or after sunset, the Esk is at our 

 service, and seldom fails to yield us two or three trout. Whether, 

 under favourable circumstances, the river would offer occupation for 

 an entire day I do not know, as it was not in order during any of 

 my visits ; nevertheless, the pools round the walls of O'DonneU's 

 Castle were rarely neglected, and for an hour, night and morning, 

 regularly formed part of the day's work. Should the weather be 

 dry, there is always plenty of water in Lough Esk a lake 

 unsurpassed for beauty ^from which the angler will rarely return dis- 

 appointed. In the event of rain the Inver cannot fail to delight him, 

 and should he possess any power of appreciating grand combinations 

 of rock, heath, and mountain, a day on its banks will, I venture 

 to say, live long in his memory. Thus, in our present bivouac, 

 we are nearly independent of weather a great matter to a keen 

 sportsman. 



In the old-fashioned window sat my patient follower, pulling to 

 pieces the wings of certain used-up insects, in order to collect 

 sufficient fragments of brown mallard to tie a few salmon and white 

 trout flies for the Inver. It was not yet six o'clock, and the rosy 

 east showed that the sun, now sadly given to lying in bed, was only 

 just preparing to rise. " They'll never do, master," remarked the 

 perplexed artiste, looking at his small collection ; " there an't no 

 more to strip to-mon^ow, and how will it be for the last month ? " 

 This was a poser, for no feather answers so well on mountain 

 streams, and of this particular article we were, unfortunately, fairly 

 cleaned out. "We could make a good many things, but we could 

 not make what was now wanted. In a desponding frame of mind I 

 walked down stairs into the yard, took the rod from the corner, 

 and. stepping across the road, commenced casting below the Cutts. 

 Presently a soft quacking caught my ear. I could hardly believe my 



