Out of the Chalk. 79 



they would have gulped a buttercup, or a fusee, or anything 

 that came floating down the stream. And then, obeying 

 some unseen law that always puzzles the angler, in a 

 moment everything was quiet. There was not a rise to be 

 seen. Who or what issued that sudden command, " Stop 

 rising " ? By what unknown system of telegraphy could the 

 trout in the mill sluice fifty or a hundred yards off be 

 brought into the same frame of mind, on the instant, as 

 these other trout close under the bridge ? This is a pheno- 

 menon the trout-fisher often observes, but can never ex- 

 plain; nor can he explain why by-and-by, perhaps in an 

 hour, perhaps in six, the fish in every part of the river 

 simultaneously resume their rising. 



The Wandle, association artificially breeds thousands of 

 fish by which the water is constantly replenished. Having 

 had the secretary's permission to walk through the grounds 

 in the company of the bailiff, I had the opportunity of in- 

 specting the boxes in a byewater, where the young fry were 

 dining heartily off liver boiled, hardened, and powdered 

 fine upon a nutmeg grater. The keeper spoke of his trout 

 in terms of almost paternal affection, and apparently longed 

 to take each mite out of the shoal in order to pat its head 

 and otherwise bestow upon it proofs of his undying attach- 

 ment. The Wandle generally owes a good deal to this 

 association, which carefully breeds and guards the fish for 

 the benefit of the entire river. 



The most memorable treat I can remember in connection 

 with the Wandle was a visit paid to the scene of " My 

 Garden." Though ostensibly concerning a small plot of 

 ground in the hamlet of Wellington, in the parish of Bed- 

 dington, in the county of Surrey a plot which, according to 

 the Ordnance map, consists of 7*925 acres of land and 

 water it is a charmingly written and carefully studied de- 



